Laptop Offers
Information and great deals on laptop pc products

Notebook or Laptop? Any difference?

There is confusion in the portable computer world, some people are buying laptop PCs, some people are buying notebook PCs, but neither knows what the difference is, or indeed if there is any difference... enter our guide to the differences (or not) between a laptop and a notebook.

In the beginning

When portable PC's first came into existence in the 80's they were called laptops, plain and simple. Everyone knew if they wanted a portable PC that they had to go to the shop and ask for a laptop, nothing else, just a laptop (and probably mention something about the specification they were after but you get the point).

Just when everyone was happy with the term 'laptop', some people somewhere decided that this was too simple, that the term 'laptop' was not enough, laptops come in different sizes and are aimed at different types of users, they decided we needed another term to describe a PC that fitted on your lap, as 'laptop' was no longer sufficient...

The 'Notebook' was born

Laptops, as they became more advanced and more capable of replacing a desktop PC, were also increasingly becoming available in smaller sizes. Some laptops were so small they could easily fit into a briefcase and be carried around without a problem, something bigger laptops were not so popular for because of their weight.

A new term came into being to describe these smaller laptops, where the term originated from we do not know, but our guess is it was by some corporate marketing department somewhere who wanted to make a distinction between a laptop that fitted on your lap, and a laptop that was smaller and um... fitted on your lap!

Hence the term 'notebook' was born and generally began to be used to describe smaller laptops by some people, indeed some manufacturers started to (and still do) actually refer to certain ranges of laptops as notebooks.

The difference

The difference really was not great, mainly size, laptop meaning it fitted on your lap, and notebook meaning it fitted on your lap but was a bit smaller than a laptop, the term 'notebook' being in reference to the size of a paper notebook.

There are some technical differences between what people would describe as a laptop and a notebook, but these differences are due to the difference in size, a notebook for example may not have a built in CD drive, instead relying in one built into a 'docking station'.

What ever makes you feel good

Generally people use the terms 'notebook' and 'laptop' interchangeably, different geographical locations may use one term or the other in preference, but most people will know what someone is referring to if they hear either term mentioned.

Some people will think a notebook and laptop are the same thing, others will think a notebook is simply a small laptop, either way they are referring to a laptop of some description.

So which one should you use? Well by far the majority of people use the term laptop rather than notebook, but either one is fine, just remember some people may think your talking about a small laptop if you use the term 'notebook'.

Simple eh!

Return to Home Page