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Laptop tips for writers:

When buying a laptop to be used primarily for writing, get the biggest screen, the most RAM, the fastest CPU, the biggest hard drive, the longest battery life and the most accessory ports you can afford. Laptops usually can't be upgraded, so what you get when you buy it is what you are stuck with. Nothing is perfect, so make the best choice you can and live with it.

The big screen is helpful; the bigger the screen, the more useful the workspace. If you are writing a book and have multiple notes and outlines open, you will soon be wishing you had a bigger screen no matter how big it is!

Lots of RAM makes for a happier computer, regardless of what you are using it for. You can't have too much RAM. It's especially helpful if you are working with large files, like a full book manuscript. If you are thinking of upgrading your software in the future, the new versions will probably require more memory. I bought my laptop with 480MB RAM two years ago that was a lot at the time but many programs on the market today recommend a minimum 512MB RAM.

A fast CPU will help a lot when moving around in your computer. You probably wouldn't notice what a difference a fast CPU makes unless you have switched from a slow one to a fast one. Believe me, the faster the better.

Hard drive size shouldn't be a problem if you use the computer primarily for writing. I have 80GB, which I think is the smallest you can get nowadays. On it, I have four complete novels and tons of short stories and poems as well as pictures from my camera and assorted other work and it is still not even half full.

Long battery life is essential if you want to move around with your laptop at all. I work all over the house (I'm sitting on the couch writing this). On summer mornings I love to sit out on the porch and type away. Because I move around a lot, I am always running out of battery and stringing extension cords all over the place. It's really annoying when you are in a critical place in a story and typing away like mad and the low battery warning comes on. Grrr!

Some applications require more power than others and will affect battery life. I once tried watching a DVD on my laptop and the two-hour battery lasted about 15 minutes.

I didn't know anything about accessory ports when I bought the computer, but I hook my printer and camera into USB ports. I also bought a portable memory drive that plugs into a USB port so that I can save my files without worrying about the computer

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