Desktop Replacement Notebooks

A desktop replacement notebook is all about giving you a bigger screen. These portables sport 16- to 18-inch displays, giving you plenty of real estate for having two windows open simultaneously or watching video in high-def. On the low end you can expect to pay about $799 for a well-equipped machine, but if you want a system with all the bells and whistles, you’re looking at at least $1,200.

Desktop replacements are ideal for buyers who don’t travel with their notebook often, if at all, so portability is more of a convenience—to shuttle the machine from room to room or to a weekend place—than a necessity.

Businesses use desktop replacements to save valuable office space, while getting workstation-level performance. A desktop replacement is also ideal for consumers with smaller quarters (a bedroom, dorm, or small apartment), where a full-size desktop/monitor/keyboard (and the accompanying cables) are too cumbersome, or where you want a machine to serve multiple purposes (PC, TV, audio system, etc.).

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What Can You Expect From a Desktop Replacement?

• Processor: Count on a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad CPU. At this size and price, battery life is not much of a concern.
  
  
• Display: Desktop replacement screens start at 16 inches, but the 17- and 18-inch models tend to offer more screen real estate. Resolutions range from 1366 x 768 on the low end to 1900 x 1200.
  
  
• Huge Keyboard: Expect a large, comfortable keyboard; a numeric keypad is usually included.
  
  
• Hard Drive: Expect at least 320GB of storage capacity, but typically 500GB or more if a system is sporting a hard drive rather than an SSD. Some desktop replacements have two drive bays, allowing them to house both an SSD and a traditional hard drive, or two hard drives at once.
  
  
• Graphics: Although you can get integrated graphics on some desktop replacements, most will come with strong discrete graphics chips (with a minimum of 512MB of video memory) to increase performance.
  
  
• Short Battery Life: Since portability isn’t paramount, expect a runtime of less than three hours.

Buying Tips

• Get 16:9 screens for play, 16:10 for work: If the main goal of the system is watching movies and general home use, a screen with a wider 16:9 aspect ratio (such as 1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080) is ideal for playing full-screen HD movies without large black bars showing up on the top and bottom. However, if you’re using it mostly for work, you’ll want to try for a more vertically-oriented 16:10 aspect ratio, since more vertical pixels means you scroll less when reading documents.
  
  
• Consider HD options: Though it adds  to the price of the machine, consider a setup that combines a Blu-ray drive, a screen with 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080), and strong speakers. This lets the notebook function as a self-contained HD home theater. You might also consider an integrated TV tuner (if such an option is available).
  
  
• Grab lots of drive space: If you’ll be using the machine as your multimedia hub, get as much hard drive capacity as you can afford. If you opt for a TV tuner, you’ll want that disk space to record TV programs and movies.
  
  
• Splurge for a solid state drive: If you have two drive bays, use one for a high-speed SSD that holds your OS and programs, and another for a large hard drive that holds your media.
  
  
• Spend wisely on graphics: If you aren’t into 3D gaming, you can save some coin by opting for a mid-level GPU solution, or even integrated graphics. If you’re a gamer, be prepared to shell out for a high-end GPU from ATI or Nvidia.