comparing+laptops

Theory Research Component 4 – Technical and Operational Understandings Emily Harris

The laptop is a portable computer. They are designed to be easy to move and are small and light enough for a person to be able to carry it around with them. It also has a rechargeable battery which enables the user to be able to take their laptop with them and can charge it when needed. Laptops are becoming increasingly popular and this could be because they are easy for businesses to use rather than desktop computers. There is a large variety of laptops on the market but some are better than others.

I have chosen to compare the Dell Studio XPS 13” and the Dell Inspiron Mini 10” Netbook, which is very similar to a notebook computer. There are many differences between these two laptops including the memory size, hard drive space, battery life, weight and so on. There are also a couple of similarities between the two, including webcam, Bluetooth and software. Both the Dell Studio and the Dell Mini have inbuilt webcams, they both have Bluetooth and they both have standard software, including word processor, excel and more. However, the memory size and the hard drive space of the Dell Studio is considerably bigger than that of the Dell Mini. The Dell Studio has a 4GB memory and a 500GB hard drive while the Dell Mini has a 1GB memory and a 250GB hard drive. Another difference is having a DVD and CD player. The Dell Studio has an inbuilt DVD and CD player while with the Dell Mini you need to purchase and external one which you plug in when needed. The problem with an external DVD and CD player with the Dell Mini is that is only has one USB port. This means that if you want to plug your USB in to your laptop and listen to a CD or watch a DVD at the same time you can’t. This is another benefit that the Dell Studio has over the Dell Mini. The battery life of the Dell Mini is 9.5 hours, however the Dell Studio does not state the exact battery life time but it does tell us that it doesn’t over heat and this means that is has a potentially longer battery life. The weight of the Dell Mini is reasonably smaller than that of the Dell Studio. The Dell Mini weights in at 1.2kg while the Dell Studio weighs in one kilo more than the Mini at 2.2kg. The biggest difference between these two laptops is the price. The Dell Studio comes in at $1845 while the online price for the Dell Mini is $449.

Although there are considerably big differences between the two laptops I believe that the Dell Studio would be better than the Dell Mini if being used for high performance needs as it can work fast and has a lot of storage. However, the Dell Mini would be better than the Dell Studio if being used for travel and school assignments as it is a very light weight and is at a very affordable price.

The Dell Mini

The Dell Studio