Expandability
Historically the number and type of ports
on a laptop has varied greatly between different makes and models. This has a
massive influence over just what your laptop can do, and how easy it is to
increase storage, schedule backups or even work with your other devices.
This
USB 3 controller is capable of running up to four ports - most laptops have up
to three.
Thankfully this has become less complex in
recent times, thanks largely to the introduction of a few new technologies, and
the mainstreaming of USB 3. Until. Ivy Bridge, USB 3 support had to be enabled
through a third party controller chip. This not only increased the
manufacturing cost by a small amount, but the chip also had to be fit somewhere
onto the laptop motherboard. This is no longer the case, as Intel now builds a
USB 3 controller into the chipset designed to work with Ivy Bridge CPUs.
This USB 3 controller is capable of running
up to four ports - most laptops have up to three. So, apart from some niche
desktop replacement solutions, you shouldn’t see any Ivy Bridge-based laptops
with USB 2 ports. We’ve been advocates of USB 3 for some time, and the 5Gbps
transfer speed that the port is b capable of is going to be more than enough
for external storage needs. You can also continue to use existing USB
peripherals, thanks to the inherently backwards-compatible nature of the
technology.
Some laptops will also have a USB - port
designed to be able to charge . devices when the laptop is turned off. This can
be quite handy for smartphones and similar devices, especially when
travelling., as you can happily let your laptop sleep while still ensuring
you’re other devices will be good to go when it . Wakes.
The other big new expansion port is
Thunderbolt. This is still largely confined to Apple laptops but it is now
available for use by other manufacturers. Thunderbolt comes in either one or
two port configurations. While it offers double the bandwidth of USB 3. devices
are expensive and it is still a technology in its infancy
You’ll have some sort of display outputs
onboard as well. Larger laptops will tend to have HDMI and D-Sub outputs. which
means you’ll need an HDMI to DVI adapter if you want to connect to some
monitor. The combination of D-Sub and HDMI is actually quite optimal because it
allows for connection to the widest range of devices. Thunderbolt laptops will
also support Mini-DisplayPort connections, as will some other laptops on the market.
CPUs
Over the past decade CPU development has
shifted focus significantly. It used to be that companies like Intel and AMO
developed big. powerful desktop CPUs and then adapted the design for use in
mobile products. Nowadays it is the opposite, thanks to the ever-increasing
dominance of laptops over desk tops A product like Intel’s Ivy Bridge or AMD’s
Trinity APU has been designed for the best mix of performance and power
consumption on laptops and then beefed up in power consumption and raw speed for
use on the desktop.
Over
the past decade CPU development has shifted focus significantly.
This means that CPUs are better at mobile
than ever before, delivering more and more battery life while still managing to
keep up with the demands of modern computing tasks. It also means that there is
a lot of variance In mobile processors, with several different types of CPU
available for different market areas.
If we start at the bottom of the pile we
have Intel’s Atom, This is the processor that drove the netbook craze, and has
largely fallen out of favour. More and more manufacturers are abandoning
netbooks and while Atom is still around. it isn’t really a serious player in
the mobile PC space anymore. Cheap netbooks are still an option for very light
web use, but it is an area that tablets are better suited to.
For proper processing grunt you are best
served looking at either Intel’s Core ¡series of CPUs or AMIYs A series APUs.
Again, these are not all created equal. and knowing this can be a big boon when
making a purchase. Inters Corel processors are now In their third generation,
using the recently released “Ivy Bridge” CPU core. There are also still plenty
of second generation Sandy Bridge’ Core I CPUs out there, which Still perform
Admirably, but the Ivy Bridge design is such that you’ll get better CPU
performance. battery life and noticeably better graphics performance out of the
third generation product.
Distinguishing between generations of Intel
CPUs is a somewhat easy process Sandy Bridge processors all have model numbers
beginning with a 2 e.g. the Core iS-2410M. Ivy Bridge CPUs start with a 3, e.g.
the Core 15-3360M. Besides this generational difference, there are also
differences within the Core family. These are denoted by the suffix on the
model number and refer to the TOP (Thermal Design Potential) of the processor.
TDP is essentially the amount of power the CPU draws (and in turn the maximum
heat output of the processor) and this is key to how much battery life you can
eke out of a laptop.
With the third generation Core series Intel
has gone for a few different designations. Mainstream dual-core laptops get the
suffix M (e.g. the Core 15-3360M). This means that the processors have a TOP of
33W and generally run somewhere between 2GHz and 3GHz. These processors form
the bulk of mainstream laptop CPUs, with a very solid mix of battery life and
performance.
Some higher end Core i7 models have the
suffix QM (e.g the Core i7-3610QM). These are quad-core CPUs that have a
slightly higher TOP of 45W. While you will find these processors In
mainstream-focused laptops. they consume slightly more power than the dual-core
versions, and tend to turn up in gaming laptops. entertainment powerhouses and
other desktop replacement style products. There is also a sole Extreme Edition
in this line up, the Core 17-3920XM, which has a 56W TOP and will likely only
be found in the most expensive of gaming laptops (in other words it really
isn’t a CPU for mere mortals).
Some
higher end Core i7 models have the suffix QM (e.g the Core i7-3610QM).
While that covers the mainstream product
lines from Intel, It doesn’t touch on Ultrabooks. Intel tweaked its numbering
with the launch of ivy Bridge, and now all of the Ultrabook-focused CPUs come
with the suffix Ti (e.g. the Core i5-3427U). These processors have a TOP of
17W. which help them not only fit into the thermal constraints of tiny
Ultrabook chassis, but enables the long battery life that makes Ultrabooks
shine. These U series processors have base frequencies of between 1.7GHz and
26Hz. which means they don’t have the raw processing grunt of the M processors.
Whilst Intel is by far the dominant player
in laptop CPUs, AMO still delivers a respectable product. AMD’S processors are
dubbed APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) rather than CPUs, which references
the fact that they are comprised of both CPU and GPU cores. Generally speaking,
AMD’s APUs offer lower CPU performance than Ivy Bridge, but better GPU
performance (more about that later). Battery consumption is also excellent on
these APUs, delivering benchmark times competitive with Intel.
With its 2012 Trinity’ design AMD has three
major processor designations. The first is the A6 (e.g. A6-4400M). These are
dual- core processors and are available in both 35W and 17W versions. As with
Intel, the 35W models are designed for mainstream laptops and the 17W versions
are designed for thin and light laptops (Ultrabook is an Intel trademark, so
AMD doesn’t use the term but the intent is for the 17W APUs to turn up in
Ultrabook-style products).
The higher end models of APU sport either
the A8 or AlO prefix (e.g. the AlO 460DM). These have quad-core CPUs, a Little
more cache and better onboard GPUs than the A6 models. The mainstream versions
have a 35W TDP, while there is also a 25W AlO APU designed to fit into the thin
and light category.
