Looking for a laptop computer? Or just curious about the history of the laptop? - myoddPc.com

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Laptop, Notebook or portable computer?

The early Laptop

Definition: A laptop computer or simply laptop (also notebook computer) is a small mobile computer that run on a battery and/or AC/DC power.
Notebook often refers to a smaller Laptop, (who in turn used to be seen as smaller 'Portable computer')

A brief history of laptops

The idea of Laptop came as early as the late 1960 with the Dynabook. But the Tablet PC was mainly for children.
It wasn't until the early 80s that the first truly portable computer was developed, the Osborne 1 did not have any batteries, (it had to be plugged in), but at least the data and computer could be transported.
A couple of years later, in 1982, the Compaq computers were released.
It is widely accepted that the Compaq was not much better than the Osborn 1 but because it was using the new popular MS-DOS operating system, (used on most IBM computers at the time), it proved an instant success.
A year latter Epson announced the first truly portable computer with a nickel battery. The Epson was more like an advanced calculator with only 80 characters displayed at any one time.

The Compass 1101 also introduced around the same time is credited for giving us the, now familiar, design of the laptop computer with the screen folded shut over the keyboard.

In 1984 the Gavilan SC and the Sharp PC-500 entered the market, with the Gavilan been the first to introduce the concept of laptop, (and a basic pointing device).
1984 also saw the arrival of the Kyocera Kyotronic 85, it was small and offered many applications such as a word processor, a modem or Spreadsheet and it was very popular indeed.

By the end of the 1980s many laptop manufacturers had developed fairly similar machines. All about ranging from the size of an A4 page to an A3. Most notably the NEC Ultralite, the Cambridge Z88 and the IBM PC Convertible. The Compaq LTE introduced the concept of a portable hard drive, (until that time the operating system was stored on ROM and Floppy drives were used).

By the beginning of the 1990s the look and feel of the laptop was defined by the Apple computers, (built in trackball, keyboard and Palm rest). Not to be outdone the IBM Thinkpad 700C introduced the TrackPoint a year later.

Since the mid-90's only technology has improved the laptop computers. Longer lasting batteries as well as huge hard drives now make the Laptop a serious challenger for the desktop.

What am I probably going to forget/get wrong?

The number one mistake made is to under estimate what you will use your laptop for, too little memory and not enough hard drive space.
Consider that 1GB is about the size of one DVD, do you think that 20GB would be enough? Probably, but also consider that most operating systems use 1GB of space and most popular applications also use about the same amount do you still think it will be enough?
To make matters worse, some of the popular operating systems like about 50%, (yes 50%), of empty space to operate properly.

The same problem occurs when it comes to memory, is 256Mb enough? Probably, at the end of the day most, (big), applications only need 32Mb. But as you will probably have 10 or 20 applications running at any one time, (big and small), you run the risk of running out of memory very quickly.

As a rule, multiply by 2 what ever you think you will need.
As simple step is to ask your family and friends, who already have laptops, what they would like that their laptop does not offer, (for example, more HD space, more than one USB port, a modem).

Another common mistake is to blindly believe what the salesman might say.
They might be right, but why not take the time too double check some of the claims they might make?
It is also a common trend for most humans to refuse to admit their ignorance. Rather than asking to clarify a point most people will keep quiet and assume that what ever was said is true.

So, still looking for a new laptop? >>
Buying a laptop, what will you get wrong? >>

Other Hardware articles

30GB Zunes mysteriously begin to fail at 12AM, December 31st -- day of reckoning to follow


2009 - 12 - 31

The Zunes are failing! The Zunes are failing!

Do you have a Zune 30? If so, does the thing look something like the above? That is to say, stuck at a loading bar and completely non-functional? If so, you are not alone. We've been flooded with tips about users whose 30GB players started locking up at midnight last night, essentially bricking themselves without any help from their owners. The failures are coming 24-hours ahead of the big '09 changeover, but that hasn't stopped Zune aficionados from dubbing this unfortunate flaw "Z2K." No official word yet from Microsoft, but we're guessing a made-for-TV doomsday movie staring Louis Gossett Jr. can't be too far off. Trailer after the break.

Update: Jim wrote in to let us know that someone at Microsoft has apparently finally woken up and checked their e-mail (yikes, imagine that inbox). The official Zune site now has a message stating that Redmond's best are aware of the problem and "are working to correct it." We'll keep you posted.

Update 2: Major Nelson just tweeted that anyone with an issue "should be good to go." Exactly what that means, however, remains to be seen, as there's still no word of an official fix on the Zune site.

Update 3: Oops, sorry for getting your hopes up. Seems the Major was wrong and is now indicating the team of Zune developers is working like mad to figure it out. Somebody had better order in lunch for those guys -- it's going to be a long day.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading 30GB Zunes mysteriously begin to fail at 12AM, December 31st -- day of reckoning to follow

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30GB Zunes mysteriously begin to fail at 12AM, December 31st -- day of reckoning to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple rumor roundup: aluminum Mac minis and supersized iPod touches


2009 - 12 - 31


Listen, you know the drill by now: Macworld is less than a month away, and that causes a Cupertino-sized rumor mill to fill up with hints of new / refreshed hardware of all shapes and sizes. The crew at TUAW claim they've heard from sources that a new Mac mini will be unveiled with an aluminum finish, a Time Capsule-esque "lip," and a SATA optical drive that can be customized as a second HDD instead. Additionally, TechCrunch says it has three independent sources that confirm there's a large iPod touch is coming next Fall with a 7 or 9-inch screen. There's no indication if they expect a Macworld announcement here, but if true, we expect the cargo pants industry to react accordingly. Finally, and possibly related to the TechCrunch rumor, a Taiwan news site claims Quanta Computers is expecting to add Apple and Sony (is that you, Vaio P?) as clients for manufacturing netbooks in 2009. For those playing along at home, at some point next year we should expect a bigger iPod touch, a netbook, a smaller iPhone, a revised iMac, a revised Mac mini, and absolutely no love at all for the Mac Pro.

Read - Large form iPod touch to launch Fall '09
Read - Rumor watch: new Mac mini go for launch
Read - Quanta expects zero YoY NB shipment growth in Q4, 2008

Filed under: ,

Apple rumor roundup: aluminum Mac minis and supersized iPod touches originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Curse of Silence' exploit squelches inbound SMS/MMS to Nokia S60 devices


2009 - 12 - 31


Here's an odd one for you. Tobias Engel of the Chaos Communication Congress has discovered a rather nasty exploit that'll cause any Nokia S60 devices running versions 2.6, 2.8, 3.0 or 3.1 to stop receiving SMS and MMS messages. The "Curse of Silence," which has been independently verified by F-Secure, is triggered by sending an SMS that begins with an email address that's at least 32 characters long. The attacker must also change the protocol identifier to internet electronic mail before sending. Devices with versions 2.8 and 3.1 lock up after 11 such messages and still have some limited receiving capabilities, while 2.6 and 3.0 devices will go completely mum after just one attack. In both cases a factory reset is required to fix it, and he says there is no other known workaround for the user. We don't imagine this being a pervasive issue, but if you've got any tech-savvy enemies or malevolent pranksters in your life, you've been warned. Video demonstration is after the break, or hit up the read link to see if your device is among those listed at risk.

[Via Hack a Day]

Read - Vulnerability Advisory
Read - F-Secure Verification

Continue reading 'Curse of Silence' exploit squelches inbound SMS/MMS to Nokia S60 devices

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'Curse of Silence' exploit squelches inbound SMS/MMS to Nokia S60 devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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