Mini Laptops, Mini Notebooks, otherwise known as Netbooks have been making a surge into the laptop marketplace. It was not until the "One Laptop Per Child" program, did this reviewer notice the mini laptop.
Soon after, Asus was the first to offer a mini-laptop with a screen size less than 10 inches. Soon thereafter, all the major laptop makers would follow suit and come up with thier own form factor to fit the mini laptop.
The size of the mini laptops, as well as the processing power, would make them a very solid option for laptop users who did not need a great deal of processing power. The small laptops could fit into a briefcase, or a large purse for that matter.
The Mini Laptop does have a huge cute factor. As a fan of small gadgets, I was definitely enamored with the small laptops. Be forewarned, however, pudgy fingers may want to opt up to a larger keyboard, than mini laptops provide.
The mini laptop also would bring the Solid State Hard Drive, to the forefront. Many of the mini-laptop offerings, come standard with a Solid State Drive, typically under 20 GB. The more recent mini laptops to come on the market, have been opting for larger hard drives. Laptop buyers can find many mini notebooks on the market with 5400 rpm Hard Drives, in excess of 100 GB. One would guess that the need arose, as more folks realize that the mini laptop form factor does not cater to an optical drive. It won't be long before mini-laptops start carrying
Optical drives (CD,DVD Players/Burners).
Users: Students, Teens, Bloggers
Config: Intel Atom Processor,4-8 GB Solid State Drive,Wireless 802.11 b/g
Read our Mini Laptop Review Here. We review the Dell Inspiron Mini and the Lenovo Mini.
Business laptops, dominated by lightweight and ultraportables, are the bread and butter of the laptop industry. Corporate executives need a laptop that is readily mobile, with plenty of processing power to crunch those numbers.
Typical screen size of most business laptops will range between 13 inches and 15 inches. The laptops for the business set will demand better than average processing power, and at a minimum, the potential to connect wirelessly as well as hard wired.
The specifications of a typical business laptop, will definitely meet the needs of most students, especially college-bound students. Just as corporate users move around from work to home, or from town to town, College students, and students in general, typically require the ability to connect anywhere.
We review many laptops for Business users, and the specs coming on todays business grade laptops are a far cry from a year ago. It is our task to stay abreast of new technology and keep our readers in tune with the latest technological advancements. The typical business notebook will be easily portable. While all laptops are portable by nature, weight is usually a factor in determining the level of portability. Laptop durability, security, and long battery life are other factors that make a good business laptop.
Users : Corporate, Business, Small Business,Students, College Students
Multimedia laptops are growing in popularity. Many of the laptops we review fall under this category. They have earned the title of multimedia, due to the ability to handle heavy processing tasks, and multimedia laptops can handle intense graphic tasks as well. Screen sizes range between 15 and 17 inches, larger screen sizes will typically be considered gaming laptops, or desktop replacement laptops. Additional video outputs are often present for either viewing on a television, projector, or dvd creation.
The average Multimedia laptop focuses heavily on processing power, video capabilities, memory size, and hard drive capacity. Customers who purchase multimedia laptops will typically use the machine to view DVD's or to push media to a home entertainment system from the laptop. The Dell Studio Line of laptops is a great example of a solid multimedia laptop.
Config: Intel Core2 Duo, 2GB Ram, 160GB HD, ATI Radeon Video Graphics
Desktop Replacements are a new trend in laptop design. These powerhouses are typically packed to the gills with all the bells and whistles and usually make use of the latest greatest technologies. Budget concious consumers will avoid this class of laptops. Price ranges usually start at over $1000. The Dell XPS family of laptops would be a perfect Desktop Replacement Laptop.
Many of the Gaming laptops are also categorized seperately, but for our purposes they will fit nicely into the desktop replacement category. Many of these laptops will harness technology from desktops and scale them down to fit the laptop form factor. Hard Drives with 7200rpm, and video cards with more graphics memory than the average consumer laptop, and gamers can mobilize. Typical resolutions for these models are 1400x1050 or even 1600 x 1200.
Config: Intel Core2 Duo, SXGA+ (1400x1050) and even UXGA (1600x1200), 15-17 inch displays.
The mini laptop also would bring the Solid State Hard Drive, to the forefront. Many of the mini-laptop offerings, come standard with a Solid State Drive, typically under 20 GB. The more recent mini laptops to come on the market, have been opting for larger hard drives. Laptop buyers can find many mini notebooks on the market with 5400 rpm Hard Drives, in excess of 100 GB. One would guess that the need arose, as more folks realize that the mini laptop form factor does not cater to an optical drive. It won't be long before mini-laptops start carrying 
The specifications of a typical business laptop, will definitely meet the needs of most students, especially college-bound students. Just as corporate users move around from work to home, or from town to town, College students, and students in general, typically require the ability to connect anywhere.
handle intense graphic tasks as well. Screen sizes range between 15 and 17 inches, larger screen sizes will typically be considered gaming laptops, or desktop replacement laptops. Additional video outputs are often present for either viewing on a television, projector, or dvd creation.