By Jason Romney

Technologic receives so many inquiries from readers wanting advice on how to choose the best computer for their needs that we have decided to offer a second round of advice. Today we cover tips for notebook computer buyers and next week we tackle desktop units.

The tiny portable computers so commonly used by students and travelling business people are generically called `notebooks' (because they are about the size of an A4 pad).

Notebook computers are extremely useful because as you computerise ever more areas of your life, you face a corresponding need to access your information more frequently. Hence the need for a computer that goes everywhere you go.

Different people you ask for advice will vary in the priorities they assign to notebook computer features. The following list is based on five years intimate experience with notebook computers of various kinds - in sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad.

Pointing device:

Especially as more people use Microsoft Windows, the pointing device has assumed critical importance in notebook computers.

You can use a traditional mouse which plugs into the notebook. Alternatively, you may purchase a notebook with an integrated trackball mouse mounted on the computer itself. Or you may opt for more innovative designs such as the IBM swivel stick - a small pivetting nob between the G and H keys.

I've used them all. If you can afford one of the expensive IBM machines with the pivetting mouse nob, it is arguably the best choice. A trackball does a workmanlike job.

One of the undoubted advantages of the Apple Powerbook is its excellently ergonomic and responsive implimentation of the trackball mouse, mounted at the front of the keyboard.

If your mouse trails off your notebook via a cord, you will get it forever tangled through your briefcase, clothing, airline seat tray etc. But if you must have a corded mouse, I've found the Appoint mouse pen is an excellent choice. It is light to hold and responsive on many surfaces.

Removable components (and clips):

Some recent notebook offerings have removable components such as floppy and hard disks, battery compartments, keyboards and even screens. This features allows you to optimise your notebook (eg in terms of weight versus functions) for your particular tasks and is definitely a feature to look for.

But be wary of notebooks that sport a multitude of removable covers. These will inevitably fall off and become lost.

Keyboard quality:

It is essential that you do a typing test on any proposed notebook purchase. Keyboard quality - in terms of lightness and responsiveness of touch - differs dramatically between brands, models and even different units of an identical make and model.

For the record, Toshiba keyboards are generally regarded to be the best for fast typing.

Plug in monitor port and notebook displays:

You may well find that if you use your notebook at home or in the office (as opposed to out and about), you want to plug it into your desktop monitor. Make sure the notebook you choose supports at least a color VGA output.

Some notebooks nowadays offer a color screen. Opt for the crisper so-called `active matrix' color (eg on the excellent IBM Thinkpad 700C) over `passive matrix' - if you can afford it. But when you are `on the road', do you really need color? It is just another option about which you need to make a personal choice.

Auto resume

Some notebooks (such as Toshibas) offer you the invaluable feature that if you switch them off, they remember exactly what you were doing when they are reactivated.

The autoresume function (which goes under various similar meaning names) is tremendously useful. The time taken by the average desktop computer to go through its startup routine, while not great, is a delay you will often not want when you wish to quickly look up, for example, a phone number, while travelling.

The bottom line:

Notebooks now dramatically outsell desktop computers and offer many advantages. But functions and quality offered vary so dramatically with different units that you should always try out the machine before you buy it, and, if possible, read the manual as well. It's a big investment - spend the time to buy wisely and you'll enjoy the rewards for years to come.