a notebook
takes up less room in your home, and if you go away on vacation, you can
take the notebook with you—if you're so inclined. Windows XP, which is
installed on virtually every notebook now sold, lets your computer go
for weeks at a time without crashing. And it can send your notebook into
suspend mode reliably every time you close the cover.
Four manufacturers control just over half the market:
new market leader Dell (which was fourth a year ago), Toshiba, Compaq,
and IBM. Each sold between 3 and 4 million computers worldwide last
year, according to the market research firm Gartner. Sony, NEC, Fujitsu,
Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Apple are the other major players, with at
least 3 percent market share each. (See the table "Top Ten Mobile PC
Vendors.") Actually, many of these manufacturers turn to production
partners in Taiwan for assembly and increasingly for design services.
You shouldn't be surprised to see that a Dell notebook bears a more than
striking resemblance to a Gateway notebook.
With the May 2002 merger of Compaq and HP, both
commercial and consumer notebook operations will be combined into one
group and managed from Houston, Compaq's home. In the consumer sector,
both Compaq and HP brands will continue, while the commercial notebooks
will be sold under the Compaq brand. That reflects Compaq's higher
profile and market share (third place versus eighth, worldwide) in
portable computers.
| Top Ten
Mobile PC Vendors: Worldwide Market 2001
|
| 2001 |
2000 |
Vendor |
| 1 |
4 |
Dell |
| 2 |
1 |
Toshiba |
| 3 |
2 |
Compaq |
| 4 |
3 |
IBM |
| 5 |
6 |
Sony |
| 6 |
5 |
NEC |
| 7 |
7 |
Fujitsu |
| 8 |
9 |
Hewlett-Packard |
| 9 |
8 |
Acer |
| 10 |
10 |
Apple |
| Source: Gartner,
April 2002. |
To give desktop PCs their due: The same amount of
performance costs about a third less in a desktop. And for those who
must have the most power, the fastest desktop will be about 30 to 50
percent faster than the fastest notebook. Most users have found,
however, that midrange notebooks adequately provide the level of
performance they need. Some notebooks priced around $1,000 may now have
1-GHz processors.
In this buying guide you and your company's decision
makers will find the basic choices (categories), learn how much they
cost, and get a rundown of key features as well as a "reality check"
that clears up some common myths and misconceptions. The guide also
lists the pros and cons of buying notebooks, provides crucial buying
tips, and explains notebook lingo.
