for example if there is no room in the house for a permanant desktop setup. In this case you can get a bargain laptop computer with a 'dead battery'! Be aware that many companies selling second user laptops with warranty DO NOT OFFER WARRANTY FOR THE BATTERY.
Consider whether you will need a CD, DVD and 3.5" floppy drive. If you do need these items later laptop accessorys are VERY expensive if available at all. A USB (preferably USB2) port can help as you may be able to buy external drives that can be connected by USB2 or firewire. Targus provide some excellent external drives as well as other laptop accessories.
Most people will want USB for attaching printers, scanners etc. USB2 can be used for adding extra hard disk capacity and optical drives externally. Many early computers, especially laptop computers, do not have USB ports. It is not easy to add a USB port to a laptop computer!
Screen size is a major consideration, unless you are using an external monitor it may be best to have an 800x600 pixel resolution at least - this can be checked by right-clicking on desktop and selecting 'properties'. Many websites and programs are designed with 800x600 resolution as a minimum. Remember to check the display for 'dead pixels'.
PCMCIA card slots feature on most laptops - even the old ones! They are very useful for adding external devices, especially if you have no USB ports. If your laptop computer has no modem or Local Area Network (LAN) connections these can be added with PCMCIA cards. Will you want a laptop bag? They can be expensive - try to get one in a deal at the same time as you buy the computer.
More laptop resources:
Checkout Cheap Computer Guys guide to laptop bags
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