Toshiba Satellite R830-143 reviews: 13.3" Laptop computer

Software on which the device runs

Computer processors are made up of 1 or more cores. Having multiple cores allows the computer to run two or more processes at once, improving multi-tasking and speeding things up.

The number of pixels the screen has. The more you have, the more detail the screen can display, given a high quality source.

A breakdown of resolutions can be found on Wikipedia here

This is the processor model range. Different types of processor have different types of functionality. For example Centrino processors are specifically designed to increase battery life in laptops.

The processor is the driving force of your personal computer. The higher the number in Gigahertz or Ghz the faster your computer will run. Don’t forget that other factors such as the number of cores will have an effect on speed.

Built-in disc drives can be used to copy data, music, documents or films from your laptop, netbook or desktop computer, onto a blank DVD. DVD writers can also copy info onto blank CDs but CDs have a lower storage capacity. Normal DVD discs can store up to 4.7GB of info. DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc.

Battery life is important if you travel a lot. Long train journeys can be a pain if you don’t get more than 3 hours of life out of your laptop. It’s worth remembering that a lot of trains offer power sockets now so don’t be put off by a low battery life unless your lifestyle demands ultra portability.

Graphics cards in desktop computers and graphics chips in laptops are manufactured by 3 main companies: Intel, ATI and nVidia. If you want to play modern games aim for an ATI or nVidia card or chip. Intel cards and chips work perfectly for general laptop use, video playback and older computer games.