may be too weak for your integrated wireless to detect. If you plug a more
powerful adapter card into an extra laptop slot, you can probably pull in
those weak signals. (So what kind of adapter card do you need? Glad you
asked! Check the criteria for choosing a wireless adapter in "Adapting Your
Laptop or PDA for Wireless," later in this chapter.)
Employing a Wi-Fi-friendly
operating system
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) is the operating system you really
want installed on your laptop. Could you get by with Windows 98, SE, ME
or 2000? You could but XP does everything the older systems do, with regard
to wireless Internet access, and much more. Additionally, many wireless
adapters and security programs aren't compatible with the older operating
systems.
By employing Windows XP with SP2 as your operating system you assure
yourself that the hardware or software you purchase, at least for the foresee-
able future, will be compatible with your system. And Windows SP2 provides
an enhanced security infrastructure that defends against viruses, worms and
hackers.
Here's one thing to keep in mind: Windows XP requires more memory than do
the Windows 98, SE, ME or 2000 operating systems. Microsoft indicates that
you need a minimum of 128MB of RAM to run Windows XP, but my recom-
mendation is that you consider 256MB to be your rock bottom minimum.
Chapter 3: Gearing Up
Purposeful laptop abuse tests durability
A couple of years ago, a PC-focused magazine
tested a handful of laptops to determine which
would stand up to the most abuse. Innocent and
unsuspecting laptops got dropped from a desk,
frozen, cooked, and kicked. I suspect the test-
ing staff enjoyed it; they spilled coffee on the
keyboards, slammed the lids, and inflicted a
host of other tortures. (Okay, maybe they didn't
bounce the poor laptops down the road in the
cab of a truck or drop 'em out the door of a
Freightliner, but I've taken care of both those
tests.) Result: Every one of the laptops passed
the tests. Some took longer than others to
recover from the ordeal, but recover they did.
Laptops, at least the top brand names, are
becoming more and more durable as technol-
ogy progresses.
Page 33
