A laptop, often called a notebook, is a small, portable personal computer with a "clamshell" form factor, typically having a thin
LCD or LED computer screen mounted on the inside of the upper lid of the clamshell and an alphanumeric keyboard on the
inside of the lower lid. The clamshell is opened up to use the computer. Laptops are folded shut for transportation, and thus are
suitable for mobile use. Its name comes from lap, as it was deemed to be placed on a person's lap when being used. Although
originally there was a distinction between laptops and notebooks, as of 2014, there is often no longer any difference. Today,
laptops are commonly used in a variety of settings, such as at work, in education, for playing games, Internet surfing, for
personal multimedia, and general home computer use.
Laptops combine all the input/output components and capabilities of a desktop computer, including the display screen, small
speakers, a keyboard, hard disk drive, optical disc drive, pointing devices, a processor, and memory into a single unit. Most
modern laptops feature integrated webcams and built-in microphones, while many also have touchscreens. Laptops can be
powered either from an internal battery or by an external power supply from an AC adapter. Hardware specifications, such as the
processor speed and memory capacity, significantly vary between different types, makes, models and price points.
Design elements, form factor and construction can also vary significantly between models depending on intended use. Examples
of specialized models of laptops include rugged notebooks for use in construction or military applications, as well as low
production cost laptops such as those from the One Laptop per Child organization, which incorporate features like solar
charging and semi-flexible components not found on most laptop computers. Portable computers, which later developed into
modern laptops, were originally considered to be a small niche market, mostly for specialized field applications, such as in the
military, for accountants, or for traveling sales representatives. As the portable computers evolved into the modern laptop, they
became widely used for a variety of purposes.
Terminology variants
The terms laptop and notebook are used interchangeably to describe a portable computer in English, although in some parts of
the world one or the other may be preferred. There is some question as to the original etymology and specificity of either term—
the term laptop appears to have been coined in the early 1980s to describe a mobile computer which could be used on one's lap,
and to distinguish these devices from earlier, much heavier, portable computers . The term "notebook" appears to have gained
currency somewhat later as manufacturers started producing even smaller portable devices, further reducing their weight and
size and incorporating a display roughly the size of A4 paper; these were marketed as notebooks to distinguish them from
bulkier laptops. Regardless of the etymology, by the late 1990s and towards the 2000s, the terms were interchangeable.
History
As the personal computer became feasible in 1971, the idea of a portable personal computer soon followed. A "personal,
portable information manipulator" was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968, and described in his 1972 paper as the
"Dynabook". The IBM Special Computer APL Machine Portable was demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the
IBM PALM processor. The IBM 5100, the first commercially available portable computer, appeared in September 1975, and was
based on the SCAMP prototype.
As 8-bit CPU machines became widely accepted, the number of portables increased rapidly. The first "laptop-sized notebook
computer" was the Epson HX-20, invented by Suwa Seikosha's Yukio Yokozawa in July 1980, introduced at the COMDEX
computer show in Las Vegas by Japanese company Seiko Epson in 1981, It had an LCD screen, a rechargeable battery, and a
calculator-size printer, in a chassis, the size of an A4 notebook. It had no battery, a cathode ray tube screen, and dual singledensity floppy drives. Both Tandy/RadioShack and Hewlett Packard also produced portable computers of varying designs
during this period. The first laptops using the flip form factor appeared in the early 1980s. The Dulmont Magnum was released
in Australia in 1981–82, but was not marketed internationally until 1984–85. The US$8,150 GRiD Compass 1101, released in
1982, was used at NASA and by the military, among others. The Sharp PC-5000, Ampere and Gavilan SC released in 1983. The
Gavilan SC was described as a "laptop" by its manufacturer, while the Ampere had a modern clamshell design. The Toshiba
T1100 won acceptance not only among PC experts but the mass market as a way to have PC portability.
From 1983 onward, several new input techniques were developed and included in laptops, including the touchpad, the pointing
stick, and handwriting recognition . Some CPUs, such as the 1990 Intel i386SL, were designed to use minimum power to
increase battery life of portable computers and were supported by dynamic power management features such as Intel SpeedStep
and AMD PowerNow! in some designs.
Displays reached 640x480 resolution by 1988, and color screens started becoming a common upgrade in 1991, with increases in
resolution and screen size occurring frequently until the introduction of 17" screen laptops in 2003. Hard drives started to be
used in portables, encouraged by the introduction of 3.5" drives in the late 1980s, and became common in laptops starting with
the introduction of 2.5" and smaller drives around 1990; capacities have typically lagged behind physically larger desktop drives.
Optical storage, read-only CD-ROM followed by writeable CD and later read-only or writeable DVD and Blu-ray players,
became common in laptops early in the 2000s.
Types
Since the introduction of portable computers during the late 1970s, their form has changed significantly, spawning a variety of
visually and technologically differing subclasses. Except where there is a distinct legal trademark around a term, there are rarely
hard distinctions between these classes and their usage has varied over time and between different sources.
Traditional laptop
The form of the traditional laptop computer is a clamshell, with a screen on one of its inner sides and a keyboard on the opposite,
facing the screen. It can be easily folded to conserve space while traveling. The screen and keyboard are inaccessible while4/2020 EssayTyper
www.essaytyper.com 2/2
closed. Devices of this form are commonly called a 'traditional laptop' or notebook, particularly if they have a screen size of 11
to 17 inches measured diagonally and run a full-featured operating system like Windows 10, macOS, or GNU/Linux. Traditional
laptops are the most common form of laptops, although Chromebooks, Ultrabooks, convertibles and 2-in-1s are becoming more
common, with similar performance being achieved in their more portable or affordable forms.
Subnotebook
A subnotebook or an ultraportable, is a laptop designed and marketed with an emphasis on portability . Subnotebooks are usually
smaller and lighter than standard laptops, weighing between 0.8 and 2 kg, Since the introduction of netbooks and ultrabooks, the
line between subnotebooks and either category has blurred. Netbooks are a more basic and cheaper type of subnotebook, and
while some ultrabooks have a screen size too large to qualify as subnotebooks, certain ultrabooks fit in the subnotebook
category. One notable example of a subnotebook is the Apple MacBook Air.
Netbook
The netbook is an inexpensive, light-weight, energy-efficient form of laptop, especially suited for wireless communication and
Internet access. Netbooks first became commercially available around 2008, weighing under 1 kg, with a display size of under
9". The name netbook is used as "the device excels in web-based computing performance". Netbooks were initially sold with
light-weight variants of the GNU operating system, although later versions often have the Windows XP or Windows 7 operating
systems. The term "netbook" is largely obsolete, although machines that would have once been called netbooks—small,
inexpensive, and low powered—never ceased being sold, in particular the smaller Chromebook models.
Convertible, hybrid, 2-in-1
The latest trend of technological convergence in the portable computer industry spawned a broad range of devices, which
combined features of several previously separate device types. The hybrids, convertibles and 2-in-1s emerged as crossover
devices, which share traits of both tablets and laptops. All such devices have a touchscreen display designed to allow users to
work in a tablet mode, using either multi-touch gestures or a stylus/digital pen.
Convertibles are devices with the ability to conceal a hardware keyboard. Keyboards on such devices can be flipped, rotated, or
slid behind the back of the chassis, thus transforming from a laptop into a tablet. Hybrids have a keyboard detachment
mechanism, and due to this feature, all critical components are situated in the part with the display. 2-in-1s can have a hybrid or a
convertible form, often dubbed 2-in-1 detachables and 2-in-1 convertibles respectively, but are distinguished by the ability to run
a desktop OS, such as Windows 10. 2-in-1s are often marketed as laptop replacement tablets.
2-in-1s are often very thin, around, and light devices with a long battery life. 2-in-1s are distinguished from mainstream tablets
as they feature an x86-architecture CPU, such as the Intel Core i5, run a full-featured desktop OS like Windows 10, and have a
number of typical laptop I/O ports, such as USB 3 and Mini DisplayPort.
2-in-1s are designed to be used not only as a media consumption device, but also as valid desktop or laptop replacements, due to
their ability to run desktop applications, such as Adobe Photoshop. It is possible to connect multiple peripheral devices, such as a
mouse, keyboard and a number of external displays to a modern 2-in-1.
Microsoft Surface Pro-series devices and Surface Book are examples of modern 2-in-1 detachables, whereas Lenovo Yoga-series
computers are a variant of 2-in-1 convertibles. While the older Surface RT and Surface 2 have the same chassis design as the
Surface Pro, their use of ARM processors and Windows RT do not classify them as 2-in-1s, but as hybrid tablets. Similarly, a
number of hybrid laptops run a mobile operating system, such as Android. These include Asus's Transformer Pad devices,
examples of hybrids with a detachable keyboard design, which do not fall in the category of 2-in-1s.
Desktop replacement
A desktop-replacement laptop is a class of large device which is not intended primarily for mobile use. These devices are bulkier
and not as portable as other laptops, and are intended for use as compact and transportable alternatives to a desktop computer.
Desktop replacements are larger and typically heavier than other classes of laptops. They are capable of containing more
powerful components and have a 15-inch or larger display. The names Media Center Laptops and Gaming Laptops are used to
describe specialized notebook computers, often overlapping with the desktop replacement form factor.
Rugged laptop
A rugged laptop is designed to reliably operate in harsh usage conditions such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures, and
wet or dusty environments. Rugged laptops are usually designed from scratch, rather than adapted from regular consumer laptop
models. Rugged laptops are bulkier, heavier, and much more expensive than regular laptops, and thus are seldom seen in regular
consumer use.
The design features found in rugged laptops include a rubber sheeting under the keyboard keys, sealed port and connector
covers, passive cooling, very bright displays easily readable in daylight, cases and frames made of lightweight magnesium alloys
that are much stronger than plastics found in commercial laptops, and solid-state storage devices or hard disk drives that are
shock mounted to withstand constant vibrations. Rugged laptops are commonly used by public safety services, military, utilities,
field service technicians, construction, mining, and oil drilling personnel. Rugged laptops are usually sold to organizations rather
than individuals, and are rarely marketed via retail channels.
0 comments: