Laptop, Tablets and Palmtop Computers

The second type of computer that you may be familiar with is a laptop computer. Laptops are battery or AC-powered personal computers that can be easily carried and used in a variety of locations be a car, a taxi or airjet. 

 Example Laptop Computer

The primary benefit of a laptop computer is its small size and easy portability. They use special screens, rather than the traditional bulky VDUs (Visual Display Units), which allows for longer battery life as well as portability.

A laptop computer is sometimes called a notebook computer because of its size.

Notebooks and Palmtop computers

A newer term, “Notebooks”, simply indicates a VERY small laptop. These are especially popular with salespersons on the move or people giving presentations.

While they tend to still be more expensive than an equivalent Desktop computer, they can now match the power of a Desktop computer.

Palmtops are even smaller computers which can literally fit into the palm of your hand.

 Netbook computers

 A laptop computer is small enough to carry in one hand and use in your lap, though using it is more pleasant if you rest it on a desk. To let the laptop be carried in one hand, it’s built using these tricks:

The computer’s brain & memory hide under the keyboard, in the same case that includes the keyboard.

The keyboard is attached to the screen by a hinge, so you can pick the keyboard and screen up by a single handle. (Having a hinge is called a clamshell design: opening and closing the laptop is like opening and closing a clam’s shell. Open the laptop to use it; close the laptop to transport it.)

To indicate which part of the screen interests you, you don’t have to use a mouse; instead, just rub your finger across a touchpad on the keyboard’s surface. So the laptop doesn’t require or include a mouse. (But since using the touchpad is awkward, you’ll be happier if you buy a mouse to attach to the laptop.)

Modern laptops come in 2 sizes:

If a laptop is about the size of a student’s 3-ring-binder notebook, it’s called a notebook computer.

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If the laptop is even smaller — small enough to fit in a woman’s clutch purse — it’s called a netbook because it’s the minimum size needed to handle the Internet well (though the Internet is more pleasant if you use a bigger computer instead, such as a notebook computer or desktop computer).

How big is the screen? For a notebook computer, the screen size is between 11½" and 17½", with 15.6" being the most common. For a modern netbook, the screen size is between 10" and 11½", with 10.1" being the most common. If the netbook is older, its screen is smaller (between 7" and 10").

The next size down is called a modern tablet computer. It’s so small that you can use it while holding it in your two hands: you don’t need a lap or desk to rest it on(though resting it on a desk can be helpful).

To let the modern tablet be used without a lap or desk, it’s built using these tricks:

There’s no mouse or touchpad. Instead of using a mouse or touchpad, you tap directly on the screen. (Such a screen, which can detect your taps and touches, is called a touch-sensitive screen.)

Tablet computers

There’s no keyboard. Instead of having a real (physical) keyboard, the screen shows a picture of a keyboard, and you tap on the picture. The picture is called a virtual keyboard.

 

The computer’s brain & memory hide in the screen. So when you look at a modern tablet computer, you see just a screen: there’s no mouse, no touchpad, no physical keyboard, and no separate system unit.

 The modern tablet’s screen size is between 7" and 10", with 9.7" being the most common. Of all the modern tablet computers, the most popular is the iPad, invented by Apple in 2010; its screen is 9.7". Now other companies are inventing competitors.

Figure 8 Ipads are very popular today

If a tablet computer’s main purpose is to read electronic books(e-books copied from the Internet, the tablet computer is called an e-book reader:

Ebook readers

Barnes & Noble invented an e-book reader called the Nook.

Amazon invented an e-book reader called the Kindle, but the Kindle is substandard: its screen isn’t touch-sensitive, so the screen’s case includes a tiny keyboard.

The smallest size of personal computer is called a handheld computer or palmtop computer or pocket computer, because it fits in the palm of your hand and in your pocket. It’s about the size of a pocket calculator or a cell phone or a pack of cigarettes.

Its screen size is under 7", with the most popular size being 3½". The typical handheld computer comes with programs that help you jot notes, store phone numbers, and keep track of appointments and to-do lists; that kind of handheld computer is called a personal digital assistant (PDA).

If the PDA also includes a built-in cell phone, it’s called a smartphone. The fanciest smartphone is the iPhone, invented by Apple.

Iphone

Any computer that can be carried in one hand is called a portable computer. A modern portable computer is therefore a laptop computer or modern tablet computer or handheld computer.

(An older kind of portable computer, called a luggable computer, can be carried in one hand by using a handle but is too big to fit on your lap.) Each modern portable computer includes a rechargeable battery, so when unplugged from a wall socket it keeps running for several hours.

Traveling with a portable computer is called mobile computing, and the computer being transported is called a mobile computer.

IBM and Apple's Computers

iMac all-in-one computer

 

Two popular types of personal computers are the IBM compatible and Macintosh computers. The first personal computer was produced by IBM in 1981 and was called the IBM PC.

 

In 1984, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh, or Mac, and it became the first widely sold personal computer with a graphical user interface or GUI (pronounced gooey). Although both IBM and Apple computers are personal computers, the term PC came to refer to IBM or IBM-compatible personal computers.

Apple now produces a Macintosh computer called the iMac, which is a desktop computer that features an all-in-one design. This means all the internal components are located behind the monitor, rather than in a tower case, which is customary in desktop computers.