notebook computer?

[keannu]

Do you say notebook computer as well for laptop computer? Is it common? I think laptop or laptop computer is more common. When I hear "notebook computer", it doesn't sound normal English.

[J&K Tutoring]

There is some overlap, but 'notebook computer' is a relatively new term for the latest generation of lightweight computers held in one arm and operated by the other hand. They often don't have a traditional keyboard, so look and feel rather like using a notebook.

[tedtmc]

There is some overlap, but 'notebook computer' is a relatively new term for the latest generation of lightweight computers held in one arm and operated by the other hand. They often don't have a traditional keyboard, so look and feel rather like using a notebook.

I think what you described is the 'i-pad'.
Laptop and notebook computers or just 'laptop' and 'notebook' mean the same thing.
The other smaller portable computer with a 10" screen is called a netbook.

not a teacher

[konungursvia]

Do you say notebook computer as well for laptop computer? Is it common? I think laptop or laptop computer is more common. When I hear "notebook computer", it doesn't sound normal English.

A laptop is a notebook computer. Same thing. A very small laptop could be a netbook computer. A computer with no keyboard is a tablet computer.

[BobK]

I seem to remember back in the '80s some marketing people made a distinction between the two, but I never understood (or cared) about it; maybe it was just DEC's marketing types being bolshy.

As someone else has said, those little 10" things are called 'netbooks'; it seems possible that this word could be misheard and then misused as 'notebook'.

Incidentally, the dozens of manufacturers other than Apple who make' table computers' would object vehemently to the suggestion that they were all called iPads.

b

[SoothingDave]

When laptops started getting smaller, the manufacturers tried to make a distinction between laptops and notebooks. Normal people, for the most part, continued to call portable computers laptops.

Netbooks are a newer phenomenon, where the computer is geared for connecting to the internet and lacks things like a DVD player, or processing power for serious applications.

[Barb_D]

I thought notebook computers were just small versions of laptops. I've seen some laptops with some ginormous monitors that I'd never call a "notebook" computer. But I agree with the prevailing sentiment that it was a failed attempt to make a distinction and there was never a clear dividing line between where a notebook stopped and a laptop begain.