Thus, if one vendor starts offering a DVD-ROM drive or an integrated modem as standard equipment, you can bet others will, too. Of course, such uniformity in the market makes for a more complicated shopping process. Instead of being able to choose from a wide range of features, capabilities, and price points, today's notebook buyers must pick from a field of candidates that appear to be almost identical. But you can still take steps to ensure that the choice you make is the right one. Once you're confident that the model you're considering has all the features you need, be sure to check out the software bundle, the selection of additional hardware, and most important, the warranty.
Software bundles can also be a determining factor when shopping for a new notebook.
For example, home users should look for models that ship with a decent productivity suite such as Microsoft Works. Small-business users, meanwhile, may want to consider Microsoft Office Small Business as their productivity suite. If you're a corporate user, you may want to forgo the software bundle altogether since your IT department probably supplies software for you. ZDNet and ZDNet logo are registered trademarks of ZD Inc. Content originally published in Ziff Davis Media publications is the copyrighted property of Ziff Davis Media. Ziff Davis Media.