There are many advantages to using laptops\notebooks over a personal computer. Even if you already own a home PC, a laptop or notebook portable computer can bring more convenience to your busy schedule. But what features are important? Is cost the only issue when shopping for laptops\notebooks?

Features Of Laptops\Notebooks
There are many technical specifications on laptops, many of which you will never know or miss. However, some features will make all the difference and can turn your laptop into a lifesaver or a thousand dollar nuisance. The average user will appreciate processing power, such as in a 1.73 Ghz Core Duo Processor. With this processor you get good performance and excellent battery life. For memory, at least 512 MB is recommended, as less will only slow down the speed of the unit. Multiple USB ports are also very advisable, otherwise you will not be able to connect the computer to printers, larger keyboards, cameras, and other devices. If you plan on installing large programs, and keep other large files like music or movies, then you need at least an 80GB hard drive for your laptop.

Other bonuses that the average shopper seems to appreciate are a wide screen (the smaller the screen the more eyestrain, so aim for something larger than 12 inches), a high capacity supplemental battery for extended use away from an electrical outlet, and a touch pad point device, which makes operating the small computer much easier than installing a mouse or using an eraser head point device.

The Price Of Laptops\Notebooks
What makes cheap laptops? A cheap laptop in a retail store would be probably be a unit with only limited processing power, or memory and one that generally lacks all of the best features. Retail stores mark up prices to make a profit and thus any cheap laptop computers you see on display are probably not that great of a buy. There may be some exceptions, like if there were a cheap laptop sale going on. However, in these cases the sale usually consists of clearance items that are not selling very well anyway.

This is not to suggest that online laptops are amazingly cheap and that retail stores are just ripping you off. You get what you pay for and a cheap laptop computer that has solid performance will cost slightly less than a laptop at retail price. There are some online vendors, such as PCSurplusOnline.com and USANoteBook who claim to sell laptops at $150.00 to $500.00, which sounds amazing considering that most quality laptops are not cheap, but cost upwards of $1,000.00. What's the catch? While there are some companies that sell wholesale laptops, it's not likely you will find a unit that offers an 80%
discount.

These buy cheap laptops for $200.00 ads refer to used cheap laptops or cheap refurbished laptops. Cheap used laptops do run for less money because they are previously owned faulty models that have either been rebuilt and cleaned up, or were simply laptops\notebooks that the previous owner didn't want anymore. While you can buy cheap laptops or even cheap new laptops by visiting cheap laptops online vendors like LapTopsDirect in the UK, or consulting comparative sites like CheapLapTops.org, a new functioning laptop is worthy a hefty price.