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A laptop (America) or ordenador portatil (Spain), also called notebook or laptop in English, is a small mobile personal computer, which typically weighs between 1 and 3 kg. The laptops are capable of doing most of the tasks of the desktop computers, with the advantage of being smaller, lighter and have the capability to operate disconnected for a specified period.

The laptops are currently the most widely used in the market. Such is their strength in the market that are currently replacing desktop computers for use.

Its great advantage is the mobility that allowed them, and you can take your computer anywhere. The laptops can also perform the same functions as any other computer.

The first laptop as such was the Epson HX-20 developed in 1981, after which there were great benefits to scientific, military, entrepreneurs and other professionals who saw the advantage of being able to take your computer (either work, home or anywhere else) with all the information they needed.

The Osborne 1 came to the commercial market in the format that distinguishes the present, but then were extremely limited, even for the technology of the time.

In 1991 Apple took out his notebook model, which became the standard for others who have flooded the market since then. In 1995, with the arrival of Windows 95, sales of laptops increased dramatically, now exceeding the sales of PC desktops.

In the third quarter of 2008, sales of laptops for the first time surpassed those of desktop PCs, according to research firm iSuppli Corp.

In 2005, members of the university MIT Media Lab including Nicholas Negroponte introduced the $ 100 laptop and one laptop per child project. The objective was to design, manufacture and distribute laptops cheap enough to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern teaching methods. The laptops would be sold to governments and distributed to children in schools. These teams, whose prototypes have already been submitted, had GNU / Linux operating system and were supplied by energy produced by an embedded handle. They also had to share wireless Internet access.

Components

Many of the components of a laptop are similar to components of desktop computers but are usually smaller, with similar components to name a few:

Low CPU: Intel Pentium M or AMD Turion.
Hard Disk Drive 2.5 inches or less, compared with 3.5-inch disks for desktop computers.
RAM Modules SO DIMM (Small Outline DIMM) DIMM smaller than usual in the desktop computers.
Unit reader and CD or DVD format reduced.
Keyboard. Integrated Display type TFT WXGA or which in turn performs the function of the notebook lid easy transport.
Touch Panel touchpad or trackpad to handle instead of the mouse pointer (mouse).
Charger (can be used to optimize load time and energy).

Features

We generally operate using a battery or an adapter AD / DC which allows both to charge the battery as a power supply.

- They usually have a small battery that keeps the clock and other data in case of power outage.
- In general, the same price, the notebooks tend to have less power than desktop computers, including their smaller capacity hard drives, less power of video and audio, and less power in their microprocessors. However, they tend to consume less energy and are quieter.
- They tend to have an LCD screen and a touchpad.
- In general with PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) or ExpressCard expansion card.
- There is a kind of notebooks called subnotebooks, which are smaller and lighter.
- There is still an industry standard form factor for notebook, that is, each manufacturer has its own design and construction of these. This increases the prices of the components in the event that repair or replace, as well as make them more difficult to achieve. Even there are often incompatibilities between components of a notebook manufacturer.