For a little while I`ve been thinking of getting a laptop , but something has me confused . The ones advertised have two types of screen HPA and TFT , What is the difference?
Cheers Dave

Hi Big Bear.

TFT = Thin Film Transistor
HPA = High Performance Addressing

Basically, TFT screens are damn expensive to produce as the yields are low (a fair amount of materials are wasted).

HPA is a lower quality screen for entry level (ie low cost) laptops where the manufacturer needs to save on the cost of the screen.

Although some HPA screens aren't bad, a TFT has a far better quality display. HPA are sometimes quite dark as well.

If you have the money, I highly recommended you get a TFT notebook. We supply a few notebooks to our business customers and we stay well away from HPA models.

What sort of money are you looking to spend?

I'd avoid cheap, no name notebooks. You might be able to save a few quid against a tier one brand (Compaq, HP, Dell etc) but the problem starts when you need to track down spares (battery etc) after a couple of years. Asus do a good range of OEM notebooks that a few people rebrand. Hi-Grade do three of their ranges - the AS8400 is a very well spec'd machine (DVD etc).

Check out the Apple PowerBooks and iBooks. Much better than those horrible PC type things http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

Just the thing if you don't want to be able to do anything useful! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

Seriously, think hard before buying an Apple. If all your old data is on a PC and you use PC's at work, then it simply isn't worth the effort to get a Mac. Remember, they can connect seamlessly to invading alien spaceships, but IBM PC's running Windows are a bit more complicated! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

On the other hand, if you plan to do a lot of multimedia design work, or you're simply after a web browser, then look at the Macs.

Have to agree go the Mac route if you want ease of use and a nice looking package. If you just want something cheap for word processing and basic stuff both HP and Compaq have some seriusly good value Celeron based laptops.

I prefer Macs but must admit for general Word and Excel the route is better ( well for a few weeks intul MS Office 2001 for the Mac is released).

What are going going to be using it for ( not just now but further down the line) ??

I can give you some suggestions.


AllanB

Jeez I need to type slower. Sorry about the typos...I can spell . Honest !!


AllanB