Computer Spot

When someone refers to a laptop or a notebook, they are talking about a portable computer. The term laptop came about because the computer itself is small enough to fit on ‘top’ of your ‘lap’.

Pretty simple really. It is amazing how technology has evolved from needing a whole entire room to house a computer machine — to being able to have high speed internet and 200 GIGABYTES of information right in your lap!

Laptop computers really became popular around 1983 with the first ever portable computer, the Compaq Portable. They were not called laptop computers quite yet at that time, they were called “luggables.”

The Commodore SX-64 was the first full color portable computer to ever be released in January 1984.
Then there was the Macintosh Portable which was made by Apple Macintosh in 1989.

However, portable computers were still a little bit larger than laptop computers.

So what is a laptop or a notebook?

Laptop computers are considered to be just as effective as desktop computers and can handle basically all of the same tasks.

The modern day laptop computers are used widely by students, professionals and for recreational purposes as well.

It is extremely convenient especially with the addition of Wi-Fi (Wireless Internet) where you can access the internet from your laptop computer from anywhere!

Extended battery life and much more comfortable ergonomics have also added to the increase in popularity of laptops and notebooks.

A notebook is the same as a laptop. Sometimes they are more flat and the keyboard is slightly smaller.
Hewlett Packard (HP) sells the most popular notebook laptop computer.

It is very popular amongst students and professionals, but can also be enjoyed by anybody. They can also be referred to as mobile computers, however laptop or a notebook are the most widely used terms for this type of computer.