Top Ten Must Have Laptop Accessories

With the current boom of laptops and notebooks in the digital world, there are literally thousands of accessories people can purchase to go along with their gadgets. However for people who do a lot of travelling, an essential accessory is a laptop bag.

When choosing a bag for your laptop or notebook, the most basic and vital requirement is that should suit the dimensions of your laptop. There are a lot of large laptop cases and bags out there, but if the bag's space is too big compared to your laptop, then your laptop is subjected to a lot of movement which may cause scratches or damage. There is however bags which come with Velcro straps that holds your laptop in place whilst inside the bag.

The quality of the bag is determined by how much protection the bag offers against damage to your laptop. The more padding a laptop bag has the better! For the ultimate protection there are bags made with hard shell covering, although such bags are bulky and quite heavy.

For those heavier laptops, an ideal bag would be a rolling laptop bag which is on wheels and thus reduces the need to be carried around. A good quality rolling laptop bag in one which has heavy duty plastic or metal wheels and an aluminium extendable handle (aluminium is lighter and stronger than most other materials).

For better carriage there are laptop sling backpacks, which add a bit more style and may be more appealing for women.

Lastly, when purchasing a laptop case try and look for one which has plenty of space and compartments to carry all those laptop accessories and peripherals such chargers, batteries and optical discs.

Here's a wish list of laptop accessories you may want to
consider purchasing:

1. Carrying Bag or Backpack This is essential if
you will be doing a lot of traveling. You might even
want to consider a wheeled bag for those heavier laptops.
Try to purchase a laptop carrying bag that has plenty of
compartments for all those notebook peripherals. Always
check to see if your laptop or notebook will fit!

2. Extra Battery Since most batteries last less
than 5 hours you will need an extra battery or two. You
should also check out bringing along an external battery
for your laptop.

3. Port Replicator This is one essential you should
consider buying for your laptop or notebook computer. It's a
real hassle dealing with all those wires and connections on
your laptop, that's where your port replicator or docking
station solves your problem. Plug all your peripherals into
the docking station or port replicator -- connect and disconnect
your laptop with ease without having to deal with all those
wires and connections. A must have!

4. Auto and Airplane ac adapter Another essential
laptop accessory if you do a lot traveling, battery life on
most notebooks is not great so having a handy source of ac
power from your auto or from an airplane is a 'no-brainer'!

5. USB Hub Some older model notebooks come with only
one or two USB ports; if you need more -- try a handy USB hub.
It will give you more options.

6. Wireless Card Most laptops and notebooks now come
with a wireless card. Many top brands have 802.11a, 802.11b,
802.11g or all three! If your notebook doesn't have a wireless
card, you can get a rather inexpensive 802.11b Linksys PC Card
adapter for under $50.

You may also want to check out the new Sony VAIO VGN-T350P
-- it has the world's first 'Cellular Modem Built In'-- access
the Internet thru your cell phone. It has an Integrated EDGE,
Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth for the ultimate in wireless networking.

EDGE stands for 'Enhanced Data for Global Evolution' thru
the Cingular Wireless national network.

7. Optional External Hard Drive Most notebooks or
laptops now come with a 40 to 100 gig hard drives, but still
if you download and save a lot of movies or songs you will take
up that storage space quicker than you ever thought possible.
If you need an extra hard drive for storage or back-up, try
an external hard drive.

8. Optional External DVD Burner Many laptops now come
with a built in DVD drive but in case you need this extra for
or DVD burning (movies, songs, videos, etc.) try an external
DVD burner for your notebook. For maximum compatibility, try
to get one that supports both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW formats.

9. Optional Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Might sound
strange suggesting this option since most laptops already come
with a keyboard! But depending on your notebook make and model,
the keyboards on most notebooks are not the greatest to type with.
It all has to do with the wrong angles and the shape of the
laptop, so if you want a wireless desktop style keyboard and
mouse, it is relatively cheap to buy.

10. Insurance! If you do a lot of traveling, you may
want to invest in some laptop insurance. Laptop theft is
still a big problem and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Acquiring any of these laptop accessories will greatly improve
your notebook computer, making for a hassle-free computing
experience that you will appreciate and enjoy much more. So
don't skimp, instead, bring your laptop enjoyment up to its
highest level by purchasing some of these much needed laptop
accessories.

You will thank yourself later!

Notebook accessories Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins. Notebook Buyer's Guide

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