laptop computer

The component parts of a notebook computer. Although as powerful as a microcomputer, the battery pack enables the notebook to be used while travelling.

Portable microcomputer, small enough to be used on the operator's lap. It consists of a single unit, incorporating a keyboard, hard disk drives, and a screen. The screen often forms a lid that folds back in use. It uses a liquid-crystal or gas-plasma display, rather than the bulkier and heavier cathode-ray tubes found in most display terminals. A typical laptop computer measures about 210 × 300 mm/8 × 12 in (about the size of an A4 sheet of paper), is 5 cm/2 in in depth, and weighs less than 3 kg/6 lb 9 oz. In the 1980s there were several types of laptop computer, but in the 1990s designs converged on systems known as notebook computers. The first of these, such as the Epson HX-20 and Tandy 100, became available in the early 1980s, with the first PC-compatible notebook, the Toshiba T1100, following in 1985. In the 1990s, the notebook format became the standard for portable PCs and Apple PowerBooks. Since then, the ability to make smaller and smaller chips and associated hardware has led to hand-held, palm-sized, and pocket PC models. At the end of 2002, manufacturers began to supply a new type of laptop, the tablet PC.