Built-In Wireless (Wifi) Connectivity Or PC Card

Notebook owners are generally mobile information warriors. It is almost impossible to ignore wireless revolution going around; WiFi and soon, WiMAX Hotspots abound wherever you go. Instant access to Internet's unlimited resources and communicative offerings are just a little electronic card away.

If your notebook does not have built-in WiFi, get a PC card version which is often sold for less than $30 at computer stores. Plugging in a WiFi PC card means you can access Web, read and send your emails, instant-message your colleagues/family/buddies, broadcast your vacation video/photos or company presentations, and retrieve company information on secure virtual private networks anywhere, anytime you are around a hotspot, in broadband speed.

A Heat Dissipating Cooler Or Pad

Heat is number one notebook computer killer. Today's notebooks are little thermal generators, with internal temperatures that rise up to 150 degrees even with built-in cooling fans.

Those internal fans and heat-dissipating systems work full time more often than you think. That’s why they are usually first components in a notebook to die on you. When that happens, you'd better not fire up that notebook, as it'll fry even before you see start screen.

So help out your hardest working notebook component and extend its lifespan. Invest in a notebook cooler or a cooling pad. Notebook coolers typically are low-rise, plastic or metal-faced pedestals on which your notebook sits. They are equipped with a fan or two inside, which serves to draw hot air away from under your notebook, and thus promote a cooler operating environment. Usually efficient enough to drop up to 15 degrees operating temperature, notebook coolers however require power for its fans and would typically draw its power off your notebook's USB ports. This could somewhat decrease your notebook's battery operating time, but so far have proven to be negligible for many users.

Cooling pads normally do not have fans, and are constructed from some type of heat-dissipating material or designed a way that your notebook would have extra clearance at bottom to promote natural air circulation. Despite lack of fans, these cooling pads do a surprisingly good job of cooling your notebook. They are also much easier to carry with your notebook because they are slimmer, lighter, and do not require power to do its job therefore highly recommended.