Laptop Special: Packing The Punch

With the constantly changing profile of notebook users, customers' demands
also change according to the needs. These demands include greater security,
better connectivity on the move, extended battery life. Today, accessories form
a very important part of the notebook portfolio while adding value along with
increasing mobility and connectivity. The accessories make the desktop
environment convenient and also maintain the mobility and flexibility of a
notebook.

Vendors offer a wide range of notebook accessories that can help in
addressing a variety of business requirements. These accessories boost
performance, increase productivity, add functionality and deliver more value to
create truly customized solutions that fit the bill perfectly. These features
emphasize on ease of use in functionality and design and commonality across,
almost the entire range. The user benefits in simplified purchases and
deployment reduced spare parts inventory, fewer options to support, thereby,
lowering the total cost of ownership.

Some of the notebook accessories available in the market today are:

Extended battery life: Imagine
you are traveling to another city for business meetings and at the end of the
day you find that the battery of your notebook is dying. With a last urgent
e-mail remaining to be sent don't you wish you had little bit of battery left
to finish the job? And invariably you have long hours to spend at airport
waiting for your flight. One likes to utilize that time to wrap some work. Well!
laptop makers understand your personal business needs and thus offer extended
and high capacity batteries that can double and triple battery life
respectively. This will greatly benefit business professionals who tend to
travel long distances and wish to be connected while they are on the move. This
helps the user get all-day computing, with the notebook getting charged when
docked.

Power options: Just think how
wonderful it would be if you could charge your notebook even while you are
traveling so that work never stops due to such silly technical hitches. The AC,
auto and air combo adapters available today let you charge the notebook when in
the automobile or anywhere there is a power outlet. These can also allow the
notebook to be powered while traveling through air. You can also have an
additional AC power adapter for your home so that you don't need to worry
about carrying the office adapter everyday for your home use and then back to
office. With this you can have power, wherever you go be it office, home, or
while traveling.

Docking accessories: This gives
the freedom of working at the desk with minimal cables. A lot of time we tend to
strain our eyes and trying adjusting the monitor display that suits us. Vendors
now offer a complete suite of docking accessories. All this in an easy-to-use
design and commonality across the notebook range makes buying all the more easy.

The notebook adjustable stands conveniently elevate the notebook screen to a
comfortable eye-level, thus eliminating the need for an external monitor. The
docking station connected on the notebook stand gives freedom of working desk
with minimal cables and easy viewing through the adjustable lever option. This
avoids unnecessary strain to your neck, back and eyes. 

The monitor stands provide optimum use of desktop space by allowing a docked
notebook to be stored under a CRT or flat panel monitor. This is, if you would
like to use an external TFT monitor with the notebook CPU.

The docking station and advanced docking stations provide total cable
management through comprehensive port replication thus avoiding clutter of
cables of various peripherals like mouse, keyboard, printer all merging to one
common hub ie docking station and the notebook simply docked on this docking
station.

With new age locking mechanisms, one can now lock both the docking and the
notebook through a single unique cable lock, keeping the devices secure while
away from the desk.

The three-in-one NAS (network attached storage) docking station is also
available in the market and is an ideal solution for small business or workgroup
solution for notebook PC users. It gives a three-in-one solution of
dock-store-share. This NAS docking has an in-built HDD integrated, a network
attached storage (NAS) chipset that allows sharing of files and access data
remotely. Via the integrated two USB network ports, one can share everything in
a network (printers, scanners, additional HDD). The integrated backup and
recovery manager software allows for convenient automatic or manual system
backup to prevent data loss and reduce potential downtime.

Expandable memory: If one is
working on an important document and his notebook refuses to support him —
taking too long for the operations — expandable memory options can help him to
not only increase the memory, but also run operations more quickly. By
increasing memory capacity the notebook runs more quickly and efficiently,
improving its overall performance.

Storage and Optical devices: For
additional storage on notebook PCs, vendors offer different options to choose
from. The flexible MultiBay design provides access to several types of optical
and storage media, whereas, the External MultiBay allows the use of MultiBay
drives externally via notebook's USB. The MultiBay Module increases the
expandability of business notebooks with innovative, removable storage bays.

Security: Vendors also offer
optimum security through security physical cable lock and smart card reader for
user authentication.

Carrying Cases: Today, different
executives have different needs of notebook carry cases. There is a broad
portfolio of notebook carrying cases available. This ranges from rugged sports
backpack carrying cases, which give convenient carrying, distributing load
across both shoulders and enough padding to your back and the notebook inside to
leather case that adds style and durability to your computing experience.

So next time if you are the buyer, judge your product on these parameters and
then make a choice.

P Raghuraman

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

The author is country manager—Business Notebooks, Personal Systems Group,
Hewlett-Packard, India