notebook / laptop whats difference?

[luvvbuzz]

hi, i hope you dont all think i am stupid in asking this question, can anybody tell me what the main difference is between a notebook and a laptop? i ask because a friend is wanting to buy a laptop for his daughter, but asked what a notebook is. i have seen some notebooks in the shops and as far as i can tell they seem the same as a laptop in the sense that they have cd/dvd drives, colour screen, usb ports etc, so be grateful of a few answers please.

[Faustus]

They are used pretty much interchangably. Either word works.

Just remember there are "Desktop replacements" big notebooks with lots of power and "slim line" designed for size and weight.

[Jayhawk]

Flaystus is correct (as usual). In the "olden days" there was a difference. Laptops had 15" screens and weighed 8 - 9 lbs. Notebooks had smaller screens (sometime 12") and smaller keyboards (less than 101 keys). The big selling point was 4- 6 lbs. of weight

The marketing geniuses finally figured out that customers were thinking laptop = big,heavy and notebook = small, light - so they changed the name. When you go to HP, Toshiba, or Gateway's site (or Best Buy for that matter) and click on Laptop, you go to the Notebook section. Hp has a "notebook" with a 15" screen that is 2 inches thick and weighs over 9 pounds. Go figure.

It's all marketing.

[luvvbuzz]

thanks guys thats answered my question very well.