Laptops Arena

Mini notebook computers are often referred to as netbooks because they are built in such a manner and using such components that they are only suitable for running the most basic of computer applications. Some people choose them because they are cheap, as mini notebook computers generally have prices below the $500 limit. Other people buy them because they are ultra portable and because of their size and weight, they are easy to carry around even you have to move here and there all day long as the weight will not bother you.



We are going to briefly show you some models that people absolutely fell in love with and this is easy to see from the number of laptop units that each of these manufacturers has sold. One of these best selling models is the HP Mini Note. The starting price of this mini notebook is about $499 but if you add some of the extra features, it is going to cost you more. However, If you are looking for a portable laptop to be your secondary computer and want to spend less than $1000, the HP Mini Note is definitely a good choice. With a 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor and 2 GB of RAM, this mini notebook may not be the most powerful one on the market. There are different storage options as you can choose between a 120 or 160 GB hard disk.

The 8.9 inch display has a native resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. The unit comes with 2 USB ports, one VGA out, an Ethernet port, an Express Card slot, an SD card slot, an integrated webcam (this feature is optional) and the headphones out and microphone in jacks. The unit comes with all sorts of other features like preinstalled software which might prove to be useful (Microsoft Office, Roxio Creator etc.).



Another good mini notebook computer which you can purchase for as low as $399 is the Toshiba Mini NB205. This unit comes with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system. This netbook has a display which is just a bit bigger at 10.1 inches in diagonal. The unit is based on the regular choice for a netbook processor which is the 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280. The graphics card is the Intel Graphics Media 950 which is the common integrated video card which is chosen for the weaker laptops. With 1 GB of memory, we can’t say that this is unit is going to amaze us with the multi tasking performance but this 1 GB will surely help you get your job done as long as you stick to the basic computing needs. the total storage capacity of the hard drive is 160 GB and thanks to the SD media card reader you can increase that figure. The unit also comes with a 0.3 Megapixel webcam, a 6 cell battery and almost 3 lbs in weight. The dimensions are 10.4 x 8.3 x 1.0/1.27 inches so portability is one of the strongest points of this unit.

The HP Pavilion dv7-1260us notebook was one of the laptop with which HP has stuck gold. It has been the best selling notebook on Amazon for quite a few months and users simply loved it: from the looks and way down to the price and the performance. But what is it exactly that made this notebook so cool and popular among laptop users worldwide?



With a 17 inch display, we can understand that it was a very popular desktop replacement. The unit was based on a 2.2 GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-74 dual core processor and on 4 GB of RAM. It comes with other super features like and included Blu-ray optical drive and a preinstalled version of the Windows Vista Premium operating system. This means that multitasking would never be a problem due to the good combination of processor and RAM which can run multiple applications without slowing the overall speed and performance of the unit. Since we have an integrated Blu-ray optical drive, we can enjoy HD movies on the beautiful 17 inch display which uses the HP BrightView technology; the one that makes color look sharper and more vibrating. It is without a doubt that the HP Pavilion dv7-1260us notebook can handle entertainment and it does it very well.

The unit comes with those HP QuickPlay multimedia buttons which we have grown to love so much. Just by taking a first look at this laptop you can tell that it is original and elegant since it uses that bronze color which is not commonly seen on other laptop models. We can definitely say that this laptop manages to stand out from the crown and attract your look inside any laptop store. The display offers a native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels and if you find that this is not enough for you to enjoy high definition movies, you can always take advantage of the HDMI port and attach an external HD TV which will provide you with the ultimate movie watching experience.



For a price of $588 you can never say that this laptop is too expensive and you can’t afford it. In fact, it is quite cheap is we consider that it comes with a lot of cool features. The unit also has an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card which can handle up to 1918 MB of video memory. Due to the 4 GB of RAM, the unit can perfectly run the 64 bit version of the Windows Vista Home Premium but I think it could also handle a 64 bit version of the brand new Windows 7 operating system. Aside from the regular USB ports, this unit also hosts an Ethernet port, a docking station connector, a VGA out, a HDMI port, an infrared receiver, a modem port and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. You have to admit that there is quite a lot of performance is a unit which you can buy for less than $1000. The HP Pavilion dv7-1260us notebook may just be your next choice when you are on the market looking for a good desktop replacement.

HP touchscreen notebooks (and all touchscreen notebooks from different manufacturers) are my favorite type of laptops. Why you ask? Well, it’s mainly because they offer 2 different possibilities for you to take notes: you can either type on them just like you do on any other kind of laptop or you can rotate the display into tablet mode and, using the included stylus pen, you can simply write on the display and take notes just like you would on a regular piece of paper using a regular pen.



Two of the best examples of HP touchscreen notebooks are the TouchSmart tx2z and the TouchSmart tm2t. The TouchSmart tx2z is a 12 inch laptop that offers both performance and portability for the price of $1733. This beautiful tablet notebook comes with a 2.4 GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor ZM-86 and 4 GB of RAM. The graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 3200 with 64 MB of video memory. The total storage capacity of the hard disk is 400 GB which is more than enough for a 12 inch laptop. In fact, I think that the specs inside this tablet PC can justify the price which is considered too high by many people. Compared to other tablet PCs, the TouchSmart tx2z comes with a DVD burner that uses the LightScribe technology on a market where we often see that small notebooks lack an optical drive. Other features of this tablet notebook are the integrated webcam and the fingerprint reader.  The HP TouchSmart tx2z is pretty good when it comes to the selection of ports and features as well. The unit hosts 3 USB ports, one Express Card slot, an Expansion port for connecting a docking station, an Ethernet port, a modem port, a VGA out, a Kensington lock slot, a 5-in-1 multi format card reader and two headphones out plus one microphone in jack. Since this tablet PC is a symbol of portability, the battery life should be good enough to meet our expectations. If you turn the screen brightness to the maximum level and set the Windows power management profile to “High performance”, this laptop will provide about 2 hours of battery life. However, should you choose to save power by reducing the brightness of the display and setting the power management profile to “power saver”, you could get about 5 hours of battery life.

The HP TouchSmart tm2t comes with a 1.3 GHz CULV Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300. The standard configuration comes with 4 GB of DDR3 RAM which is superior to the DDR2 found in the model above. The unit also comes with 320 GB of free disk space, an integrated webcam and the following ports and connections: 3 USB ports, one HDMI port, a VGA out, an Ethernet port, a 5-in-1 media card reader and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. The presence of the HDMI port is quite a nice surprise and none of us expected to find it on a 12 inch laptop. The truth is, both of these models are probably the best HP touchscreen notebooks on the market at the moment.

If you have a Sony laptop which has a damaged keyboard, in this article we are going to explain how to remove keyboard from Sony laptop without having to spend a small fortune by taking the laptop to a specialized store and paying a specialized tech to perform some easy steps that you could do by yourself at home. In general, the process of removing and replacing a keyboard should not take more than 15 to 20 minutes. Follow the instruction below and you should be able to remove keyboard from Sony laptop is a matter of minutes.



The process of removing the keyboard will depend on the Sony VAIO laptop model that you have. Since we cannot explain the process for the all the VAIO laptop models, we shall do it for the Sony VAIO PCG-FXA63 laptop. First of all, make sure there is not electricity running though the unit. For that, you have to disconnect the power cord from the laptop and also to remove the battery from inside the unit. After you have completed this step, look on the left side of the laptop and very close to where the display meets the rest of the unit, you will see one screw which has to be removed as that screw secures the speakers and the hinges cover. After you have removed the screw, you will notice that the cover will slide to the right.

After it has slide all the way, you have to carefully flip it over and place it upside down somewhere because this panel is still secured to the motherboard using a small ribbon cable. You can remove the keyboard without having to disconnect that panel from the motherboard so just put it somewhere close and leave it like this for now. Right above the F7 and F8 keys you will notice a flat ribbon cable which is the one holding the keyboard connected to the motherboard. You have to very very careful in unlocking this connector because this is one part that you cannot replace: you have to replace the entire motherboard if you break it. You can use your fingernail to pull that top side of the connector up about 2 mm. it is now safe to pull the cable from the connector. Above the F6 key, you will notice one screw which keeps the keyboard into place and which needs to be removed.



Once you have removed the keyboard, you have now gained access to a lot of other important laptop components: the hard drive, the optical drive and the fan. All these components can also be replaced and upgraded. This could be a god time to clean you Sony VAIO laptop fan while we are here. You can just insert a new keyboard and the do this steps again from end to beginning. Make sure you carefully connect the keyboard to the motherboard using that flat ribbon cable and that you put back the keyboard screw into its place, as well as the one securing the speakers cover.

HP notebooks generally have a very good reputation. The HP manufacturer is very well known for producing the Pavilion line, a series of laptop from small to big which can cover quite a lot of consumer needs all over the world. Aside from the Pavilion line which made HP notebooks famous, we do have the ProBook and the EliteBook series of business laptops that can cover from small to extra large companies.



With a starting price of $899 and the total price of this configuration at $1099, the HP ProBook 4710s is surely one of the most affordable business laptops that money can buy. Surprisingly, this business laptop comes with a 17 inch display which can prove to be very useful in the office. The unit is powered by a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor and 4 GB of RAM. The total storage capacity of the hard drive is 320 GB and the graphics card is the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 with 512 MB of video memory. The 17.3 inch display is quite a beauty. It has a native resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels and it provides us with great brightness and contrast levels as well as beautiful and sharp colors. The horizontal viewing angles are good. The speakers on the other hand need a lot of work. The sound quality on the ProBook 4710s is very poor and even with the volume turned to maximum, you can barely hear some sounds. On the other hand, the location of the speakers is great. Since they are placed right above the keyboard, the sound is projected straight up.

The keyboard is fully sized and it provides quite a lot of space between the keys. The flat keys really reminded us of the ones found on the Apple MacBook. There is also a dedicated numerical pad and some flex registered when you type on these keys. The touchpad is very responsive for a notebook this cheap. The left and right touchpad buttons are easy to press using your thumbs. As for the selection of ports and features, the unit comes with 4 USB ports, one modem port (hidden by a rubber flap), a VGA out, a HDMI port, an Ethernet port, an Express Card slot, a multi format media card reader, a Kensington lock slot and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks.



I think that battery life is not very important when you are dealing with a 17 inch notebook which is not meant for portability anyway. In fact, battery life is most of the time lousy when it comes to desktop replacements. However, with the display brightness set to 70%, the wireless card activated and with the laptop set to “HP Optimized” mode, you can squeeze about 3 hours and 35 minutes of battery life. Quite a good performance for a 17 inch notebook, especially is you consider the fact that you can save some battery life by lowering the brightness of the display and setting the Windows power management profile to “power saver”.