page_title: Laptop
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Laptop / Types
caption_attribution_description: English: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 2-in-1 detachable tablet with a red Type Cover accessory attached.
context_page_description: A laptop, is a small, portable personal computer with a "clamshell" form factor, typically having a thin LCD or LED computer screen mounted on the inside of the upper lid of the clamshell and an alphanumeric keyboard on the inside of the lower lid. The clamshell is opened up to use the computer. Laptops are folded shut for transportation, and thus are suitable for mobile use. Its name comes from lap, as it was deemed to be placed on a person's lap when being used. Although originally there was a distinction between laptops and notebooks, as of 2014, there is often no longer any difference. Today, laptops are commonly used in a variety of settings, such as at work, in education, for playing games, web browsing, for personal multimedia, and general home computer use.
  Laptops combine all the input/output components and capabilities of a desktop computer, including the display screen, speakers, a keyboard, data storage device, sometimes an optical disc drive, pointing devices, with an operating system, a processor and memory into a single unit. Most modern laptops feature integrated webcams and built-in microphones, while many also have touchscreens.
context_section_description: Since the introduction of portable computers during the late 1970s, their form has changed significantly, spawning a variety of visually and technologically differing subclasses.  Except where there is a distinct legal trademark around a term (notably Ultrabook), there are rarely hard distinctions between these classes and their usage has varied over time and between different sources.
caption: Microsoft Surface Pro 3, 2-in-1 detachable
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