Laptop/notebook ?

[anneasquith]

what is any is the difference between a laptop and a notebook ? TIA.

[woofgang]

notebooks tend to be smaller but there's no hard and fast rule

[hc4361]

No difference at all. Netbooks are smaller and don't have a dvd/cd drive but the use of laptop and notebook is interchangeable and the manufacturers preference.

[andy-hughes]

The phrase 'laptop' was phased out of advertising because during the early days of their manufacture, the cases got extremely warm, and if memory serves, one owner successfully sued the company who manufactured his laptop for burns sustained when using his laptop, on his lap - as their marketing inferred was its purpose.

Since then, the notion of using a portable computer on a user's lap was discouraged, and the name slowly faded away - although it is often used in common parlance, it doesn't appear in advertising any more.

[Buenchico]

I can't really argue with anything above except that
(a) if it's relatively big and hefty, with a built-in DVD drive it's more likely to be called a 'laptop' ; but
(b) if it's lightweight and with no DVD drive it's more likely to be called a 'notebook' (or, if it's smaller still, a 'netbook').

This article is more dogmatic. While I can't wholly go along with it (because there are definitely some grey areas) it does give you an indication of the points that you need to consider when buying a portable computer - whatever it's called!
http://differvs.com/difference-laptop-notebook/