What is the Difference Between a Laptop and a Notebook?

The laptop was originally designed to be similar to a desktop, but be small and light enough that it could be used while sitting in your lap. For this reason, years ago, you would find that a laptop had more features than notebooks did, but the tradeoff was it was also a larger and heavier than a notebook. This is because the notebook style of portable computers was for mobility, not just portability. To be a more mobile device, the notebook was a thinner design and it weighed less than the laptop, simply because it didn't come packed with features and multiple devices and drives.

Years ago, notebook computers would have a smaller display than a laptop, fewer internal drives (hard drive, floppy or CD-ROM - depending on the year manufactured), and the sound, modem, and such would be integrated - not separate upgradable hardware devices. Laptops were considered to be desktop replacements; portable computers with features, functions, and options comparable to your desktop computer.

So while there technically is a difference between the two -- and that is the size and weight of the device (which in turn impacts the system's features) -- today there is even less of a difference between the two since technology advancements means that most common computer devices and peripherals are much smaller now.

For example, When NEC released its UltraLite Notebook in 1989, a portable PC that many attribute to being the first notebook computer, it contained a CPU, RAM, ROM, 2MB solid state memory storage, a built-in modem and one RS-232C port. It weighed 5 pounds. The laptops from around this same time frame, such as the Compaq SLT/286, would typically have a CPU, memory, hard drive, floppy drive, VGA display and could weigh up to 12 or 14 pounds. The laptops could be two to three times the thickness of the notebook.

Is The Term Laptop Being Phased Out?

Today technology allows devices to be slimmer, smaller and better for mobile computing by design, so the size of portable computers (both in thickness and weight) is decreasing. For this reason, options that once defined the difference between a laptop and notebook computer are separated by a small, almost invisible fine line today.

Another reason the term laptop is becoming less frequently used is because a portable "comparable to desktop" system today could easily lead to heat discomfort and possible injury if left in your lap for extended periods of time. By calling a laptop a notebook, it also removes the association that the portable device is well-suited to being used only on your lap. Another reason that the term laptop does not fit in with today's technology is that these traditionally heavier portable computers that once were clearly a laptop are just not being made anymore.

Consumers frequently call their notebook a laptop and use the two words interchangeably. However, most mobile computing manufacturers have actually dropped the term laptop completely from their product lineup in favor of the term notebook.

HP for example offers a selection of "Performance Notebooks", starting at 6.1 pounds with 15.4" - 17" displays and a line of "Balanced Mobility Notebooks" starting at 4.7 pounds with "14.1" - 17" displays.  Here, the Balanced Mobility Notebooks fit the traditional definition of a notebook, while the specifications of the "Performance Notebooks" are more inline with the traditional definition of a laptop (bigger, heavier than 6 pounds and more features).

On the Acer Web site you'll find the Aspire and TravelMate notebook series. Gateway uses only the term notebook to describe its products, as does Sharp, Sony, NEC, IBM, Fujitsu, and others. Dell is one of a few manufacturers who use the term laptop on its Web site to market their mobile computing systems.