2. What's A Business Notebook?

The four notebook computers we look at in this review were designed for business use. More than anything else business notebooks, their parts and support from their manufacturers must be available for significantly longer than the one to three month periods associated with the average consumer notebook. This helps corporate information technology departments minimize maintenance and end user support costs. In corporate IT environments, only major changes in technology justify major changes in corporate notebook computer standards. How long should corporate notebook standards remain in effect? The answer varies depending on the organization and how it uses notebooks, but one to three years is usually the target.

The computers we examine here meet the longevity test. Proof of this is that each of the four notebooks is available in the same configuration we tested, six months after we asked their manufacturers to send them to us and should be available for at least the rest of this year. Try that with a consumer notebook where models can change in what seems like a few blinks of the eye.

Long product life cycles are not all that distinguish business from consumer notebooks. The former are much less likely to have flashy components. For example, none of the notebooks in this review has a display larger than around 15 inches. These computers are for business, not entertainment and, even though two of the notebooks we look at have high-end discrete graphics processors from ATI, those processors are there for business graphics and Windows Vista whenever it arrives, not playing games or enjoying the latest movie on DVD. Speaking of DVDs, DVD readers and then writers came to business computers slowly. They are justified today mostly on the grounds that they can be used to backup key data or even an entire notebook.

And, when is the last time you found a serial or parallel port on a consumer notebook? So much more space and user friendly USB 2.0 and Firewire ports long ago replaced 9- and 25-pin connectors on these models. But they're still available along with USB 2.0 ports on many business computers including one of the computers in this review, Fujitsu's LifeBook E8210.

Fujitsu's LifeBook E8210 still sports serial and parallel ports along with a PC Card slot and more modern PCIe and Smart Card slots.

The PC Card is another anachronism that has been replaced mostly by USB 2.0 technology. However, while they are very rare on consumer notebooks, you'll find a PC Card slot on all four of the business computers we look at here.

All of these ports are there because businesses are still using components (printers, modems, etc.) that require them. These ports will disappear as the components they support are no longer used. For example it's refreshing to see that none of the notebooks we look at here has a PS/2 keyboard or mouse port. USB keyboards and PS/2-to-USB adapters have finally relegated PS/2 connectors to the scrapheap of history.