What Should I Consider When Buying a Laptop?

Buying a laptop may be a new endeavor for you, or you may be replacing an older model. Either way, there are a few things to consider about your new purchase. Buying a laptop computer can represent a big investment. By assessing your needs, you can make a more calculated choice about what type of laptop to purchase. This can save you money and potential problems.

The first question to ask yourself is if you truly need to be buying a laptop. Laptops tend to lag behind desktops in terms of upgradeability and features. If you handle heavy graphics, do a great deal of video editing, or you are a gamer, a laptop might not be the best choice for you. In addition to having to spend a lot of money to get the system you need, you will also be unable to upgrade that system when the time comes. However, if you are highly mobile, a laptop is a good choice.


The second step is to look at what you require from your laptop computer. Students, for example, probably need Internet access and word processing capability. A laptop for business may need similar features, as well as the ability to handle databasing software. Assess your individual needs with care when buying a laptop. If you travel frequently, or carry a lot of heavy belongings already, you will want to look into buying a laptop which is very lightweight. If you travel less frequently, or have fewer concerns about heavy luggage, a larger laptop with more power and an easier to read large screen is a good choice.
Laptops tend to be more expensive than desktop equivalents. Do not buy a laptop which exceeds your needs. Make sure that the laptop features will meet expectations, without the need for expensive upgrades. Make an honest estimate of what you require, and seek out systems that will match your requirements. Often companies offer packaged deals, making it cheaper to buy a preconfigured laptop.
Determine what features you need when buying a laptop. A ready availability of ports, is very useful. Many devices are designed to connect to Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, so you may want several to connect multiple peripheral devices. If you have devices which use FireWire or other connections, make sure that your laptop will support them. A space for PC cards is also a good idea, as is an internal modem, wireless card, or ethernet port. Make sure that your laptop has headphone jacks so that you can quietly listen to music. In addition, you may want to consider a CD or DVD ROM drive. Software comes on CDs, data can be backed up onto CDs, and you can also listen to music or watch DVDs on your laptop computer.
When buying a laptop, it is important to think about what operating system you would prefer to use. Apples tend to be more expensive, overall, than PCs, but you may want to go that route if you interact frequently with an Apple network or use Apple programs. Especially if you are a student, look into what kind of software you need to succeed in school and which operating system it is designed for. Some schools also have promotional agreements with computer companies which can assist you in getting a good deal. Also look at what kind of software comes preloaded on the system, to see if it will meet your needs or if an additional outlay of cash is required to purchase software. 
Numerous laptop buying guides are available. When you are getting ready to purchase a laptop, pick up several so that you can compare features and prices. Buying a laptop should not be a guessing game-do not be afraid to call companies to talk to them about their equipment, and to seek out examples of laptops you are considering to test them. Narrow your choices down to a few models, and then seek out the best deals. When buying a laptop, an extended warranty plan is highly recommended. Accidents happen, and it is better to be safe than sorry. 

The Battle of the Trench

WHEN the Prophet (pbuh) first arrived in Medina, the Jews who were living there had welcomed him. The Prophet (pbuh) had returned their greeting, as he wished to be on good terms with them. An agreement was also reached between the Muslims and the Jews, which gave the Jews the freedom to practice their religion and which also set out their rights and their duties. Among these duties was that in the case of war with Quraysh, the Jews would fight on the side of the Muslims. Despite this agreement, however, some of the Jewish tribes, who resented the Prophet's presence in Medina, soon began to cause trouble amongst the Muslims. They tried to set the Muslim Emigrants from Mecca and the Ansar against each other. The troublemakers were given many warnings but they continued to be a nuisance. In the end, the Muslims had no choice but to drive them from Medina. A new agreement was offered those Jews who remained but the trouble did not end there. One of the Jewish tribes, the Bani Nadir, plotted to murder the Prophet (pbuh) but their plan was discovered and they, too, were exiled from the city.


Knowing that they could not defeat the Muslims themselves, some of the leaders of the exiled Jews secretly went to Mecca to enlist the help of Quraysh. Knowing what the Meccans would like to hear, they pretended to believe in the same things. They said that they thought that the old Arab tradition was better than the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and that they believed that the Quraysh religion of worshipping many idols was better than the Prophet's with only one God. Then the Jews told them that if all the Arab tribes attacked Medina, the Jews inside the city would help to defeat the Prophet (pbuh) and Islam once and for all. The leaders of Quraysh were pleased to hear all this and seizing on what seemed to them a very good opportunity, agreed to the plan and began to gather together a formidable army. In the meantime in Medina, only one Jewish tribe, the Bani Qurayzah, refused to betray the Muslims.

Eventually the Muslims learned of the preparations being made for war in Mecca and of the plotting of the Jews within Medina itself. The betrayal of the Muslims by the Jews did not surprise the Prophet (pbuh), who said of them: 'The hearts of the Jews have become closed to the truth. They have forgotten what Moses taught them long ago-that there is only one God.’ In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Evil is the likeness of the people who deny the revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. The Holy Qur’an,Chapter 62,Verse 5

The Muslims wondered how they could defend Medina. They heard that Abu Sufyan was coming to attack them with an enormous army which included many other Arab tribes, as well as Quraysh. What were they to do with only a single week to prepare? The Prophet (pbuh) and his men knew that it would be impossible for them to fight off all these tribes! The only thing they could do was to stay inside the city and try to defend it as best they could. Now among the people of Medina was a Persian named Salman, who had come to live in the city some time before the Prophet's arrival there. As a convert to Christianity he had traveled to Medina after Christian sages had told him that a Prophet would be born in Arabia. On arriving in Medina he was, however, sold into slavery by the merchants with whom he had traveled. Later he became a Muslim, gained his freedom and became a member of the Prophet's household. When the people gathered to discuss a plan of action against the approaching enemy, Salman was present and it was he who suggested that they should dig a trench around the city. The Prophet (pbuh) thought this a good idea, so the Muslims set to work, although it was in the middle of winter. They worked day and night, digging the trench as quickly as possible. The Prophet (pbuh) himself carried rocks and when the men were tired he gave them the will to carry on. Someone later recalled how beautiful he looked, dressed in a red cloak with dust upon his breast and his dark hair nearly reaching his shoulders.

There was little food at this time and the men were often hungry as they worked. On one occasion, however, a little girl gave some dates to the Prophet (pbuh), which he spread out on a cloth. The men were then called to eat and the dates kept increasing in number until everyone had been fed. Even after everyone had eaten their fill, the dates continued to increase so that there were more than the cloth could hold. Similarly, there is the story of the lamb that has come down to us from one who was there:

'We worked with the Apostle at the trench. I had a half-grown lamb and I thought it would be a good thing to cook it for Allah’s Messenger. I told my wife to grind barley and make some bread for us. I killed the lamb and we roasted it for the Prophet (pbuh). When night fell and he was about to leave the trench, I told him we had prepared bread and meat and invited him to our home. I wanted him to come on his own, but when I said this he sent someone to call all the men to come along. Everyone arrived and the food was served. He blessed it and invoked the Name of Allah over it. Then he ate and so did all the others. As soon as one lot were satisfied, another group came until all the diggers had eaten enough, but still there was food to, spare.’

On March 24, 627 A.D., Abu Sufyan arrived with more than ten thousand men. The Muslims numbered only three thousand. Quraysh and their allies surrounded Medina but between the two armies was the long, wide trench. The Prophet (pbuh) and his men stayed behind this trench for nearly a month defending the city against their more powerful enemy. Many times enemy warriors tried to cross the trench and enter the city, but each time they were pushed back by the Muslims. The Muslims were afraid that if any did manage to cross over, the Jews inside Medina would join forces with them and the Muslims would be beaten. The Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayzah, who had stood by the agreement with the Muslims, were pressed by a Jewish emissary from the enemy without, to break their promise. Eventually they agreed to do so and when the news of this reached the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions they were greatly troubled. Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, the leader of the tribe of Aws, was sent by the Prophet (pbuh) with two other men to find out if this were true. When they arrived in the part of Medina where the Jews lived, they found that things were even worse than they had previously thought. Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, whose tribe was closely allied with the Bani Qurayzah, tried to persuade their leader not to break the treaty with the Muslims, but he refused to listen. This meant that the Muslims could not relax their guard for one moment, for they were now threatened not only by the enemy beyond the trench, but by the Bani Qurayzah, within the walls of the city.

Things became more difficult for the Muslims day by day. It was extremely cold and food began to run out. To make matters worse, the Bani Qurayzah began openly and actively to join forces with the other Jews and cut off all supplies to the Muslims, including food. The enemies of Islam then planned how to capture Medina. The situation looked desperate and the Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah to help the Muslims defeat their enemies. That very night a sandstorm blew up which buried the tents of Quraysh. The storm continued for three days and three nights making it impossible for the enemy to light a fire to cook a meal or warm themselves by. On one of these dark nights the Prophet (pbuh) asked one of his men, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, to go on a dangerous mission. The Prophet (pbuh) told him to make his way across the trench to the enemy camp where he should find out what they were doing.

With much difficulty Hudhayfah crossed the trench and made his way to a circle of Quraysh warriors talking in the darkness. He sat near them, but as there was no fire, no one noticed him. He then heard Abu Sufyan 's voice: 'Let us go home!' he said. 'We have had enough. The horses and camels are dying, the tents keep blowing away, most of the equipment has been lost, and we cannot cook our food. There is no reason to stay!' Shortly after hearing this Hudhayfah made his way quickly and quietly back across the trench and the next morning the Muslims rejoiced to find that what he had overheard had come true-Quraysh and their allies had gone away! The siege of Medina had ended in a great victory for Islam. But this was not to be the end of the difficulties, for the Archangel Gabriel came to the Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he should punish the Bani Qurayzah for betraying him and the Muslims. On hearing this, the Prophet (pbuh) ordered the Muslims to march against the Bani Qurayzah as they hid in their fortress. The Muslims besieged them for twenty-five days until they finally gave in. On surrendering, they asked the Prophet (pbuh) to let someone judge their case, and he agreed. He also allowed them to choose who would give the ruling.

The man chosen to judge the Bani Qurayzah was Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, leader of the Aws, a tribe which had always protected the Qurayzah in the past. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, who had himself been wounded in the battle, decided that the Jews should be tried by their own Holy Law , according to which anyone who broke a treaty would be put to death. As a result all the men of the Bani Qurayzah were executed and the women and children made captive. If the Jews had succeeded in their pact, Islam would have been destroyed. Instead, from that day on, Medina became a city where only Muslims lived.

Very soon after peace had been restored to Medina, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh died of his wounds. It was said that the Archangel Gabriel came in the middle of that night and said to the Prophet (pbuh) 'O Muhammad, who is this dead man? When he arrived, the doors of heaven opened and the Throne of Allah shook.' The Prophet (pbuh) got up as soon as he heard this, but found that Sa'd was already dead. Although he had been a heavy man, the men who carried his body to the grave found it quite light. They were told that the angels were helping them. When he was buried, the Prophet (pbuh) said three times 'Subhan Allah!' (Glory be to Allah!), and' Allahu Akbar!' (Allah is Most Great!) When asked why he did this, he replied, 'The grave was tight for this good man, until Allah eased It for him.’ This is one of the rewards that Allah gives to martyrs and good Muslims

Conquest of Makkah

According to the terms of the treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Arab tribes were given the option to join either of the parties with which they desired to enter into treaty alliance, the Prophet's (peace be upon him) or the Quraysh's. As a consequence, Banu Bakr joined the Quraysh, and Khuza'ah joined the Prophet, (peace be upon him). According to the Treaty they could not attack one another for a period of ten years. But Banu Bakr developed an evil scheme against Banu Khuza'ah and they planned to take revenge on their rivals. The Quraysh of Makkah should have held Banu Bakr back from implementing their plan against Banu Khuzaa'ah making them uphold the Treaty. Instead of preventing them, the Quraysh, totally at variance with their obligation to the Treaty, came out in the open lending full and active support to Banu Bakr with men and material. They broke their covenant to the extent that Safwaan ibn Umayyah, 'Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl, and Suhayl ibn 'Amr joined the fighting along with Banu Bakr.



The combined attack of Banu Bakr and the Quraysh inflicted on Banu Khuza'ah a heavy loss of 20 or 30 men. Being caught by a surprise attack at night while they were asleep, they found no where to take refuge except at the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, and even some of them were killed there (this was also a breach of trust as the Ka'bah was a sanctuary for all).

A Few days after the incident Budayl ibn Warqa' and 'Amr ibn Salim came to Al-Madinah and put their complaint before the Prophet (peace be upon him). 'Amr ibn Salim told his tale of woe in a poem filled with gloom and grief at their being brutally attacked and killed.

The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) consoled them saying, "You will be helped." At the time of their departure from Al-Madinah the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) remarked: "Abu Sufyan has set out from Makkah to seek an extension in the duration of Peace Treaty and get it consolidated, but his mission will end in failure."

When the Makkans found time to think over the consequences of their misconduct, they were struck by fear. They sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Peace Treaty. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered the Muslims, on the other hand, to make preparations for the ensuing battle and to keep it a top secret. On the way back to Makkah, Budayl ibn Warqa' and his group came across Abu Sufyaan who was heading for Al-Madinah. "Where have you been?" asked Abu Sufyan. "I was only up in this valley," Budayl replied. Abu Sufyan was under the impression that the Prophet was unaware of the attack against Banu Khuza'ah that had just occurred. He was determined to get the Peace Treaty renewed as soon as possible.

Abu Sufyan in Al-Madinah

Abu Sufyan came to Al-Madinah and went to the house of his daughter Umm Habibah, may Allaah be pleased with her, (wife of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him)). But as he went to sit on the apostle's carpet she folded it up. "My daughter," said he, "Do you think that the carpet is too good for me or am I too good for the carpet." She replied, "It is the apostle's carpet and you are an unclean polytheist."

Being disgusted at the curt reply of his daughter, Abu Sufyan stepped out of her room and went to the Noble Prophet, (peace be upon him) but he (peace be upon him) was well aware of his tricks and did not hold him any assurance. He then approached Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, but he declined to interfere. He contacted 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, also to intercede but he made a point-blank refusal. At last he saw 'Ali ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, in this connection, but he also regretted his inability to do anything for him.

Preparations for the Attack on Makkah

Immediately after the departure of Abu Sufyan, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the Companions to march on Makkah. In spite of the massive size of the military preparations, the Companions did not know the target of attack. It was simply because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wanted the Makkans to be caught unaware.

However, a Companion of the Prophet, Hatib ibn Abu Balta'ah, may Allah be pleased with him, informed the Quraysh of the impending Muslim attack, in a letter sent through a woman. Allah The Almighty inspired His Messenger with this. He (peace be upon him) sent 'Ali and Az-Zubayr ibn Al-'Awwam, may Allah be pleased with them, immediately after the woman with the description of her features. They caught her after a hard chase, searched her belongings but the letter remained hidden. However, 'Ali was quite sure about the letter because he knew the Prophet (peace be upon him) would not say anything that wasn't absolutely true. When 'Ali threatened her with dire consequences, she drew out the letter from her hair and handed it over to them. The letter was from Hatib ibn Abu Balta'ah, may Allah be pleased with him, to the Quraysh. The letter along with the woman was brought to the Messenger of Allaah. Hatib was sent for and was asked for an explanation. He said, "Since my relatives were still in Makkah and in danger, I wished to oblige the Makkans by informing them about the ensuing Muslim attack so that my relatives would remain safe from them." Having heard this, 'Umar lost his temper and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to cut his head off." But the Prophet (peace be upon him) forgave him and told 'Umar that Hatib was truthful in his claim, and Allaah would forgive him due to his partaking in the battle of Badr.

March to Makkah

On Ramadan 11, 8 AH, the Prophet (peace be upon him) set out from Al-Madinah at the head of a ten-thousand-man army of the Companions. The failure of Abu Sufyan's mission had disheartened the Quraysh and they were in the dark about the plans of the believers. The Prophet's march to Makkah was very swift. They came across his uncle Al-'Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, on the way who, along with his wife and children, was moving to Al-Madinah after they had embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah took Al-'Abbas to Makkah and sent his family to Al-Madeenah. Marching quickly, the Muslim army reached Marruaz-Zahran at a distance of 8 miles from Makkah. The Makkans were still unaware of the presence of Muslim troops even though they were so close to Makkah. They encamped at that place. The Makkans came to know of the Muslim force only from the shepherds who went back in the night. Informed of this, Abu Sufyan came out to look into the matter. The Prophet (peace be upon him) had already deputed 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, at the head of a patrol party to ward off a night attack.

Al-'Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib was anxious about the safety of his people and wanted them to accept Islam and be safe. He came out mounted on the mule of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the night and moved towards Makkah. As per the order of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the entire Muslim army had, in separate groups of one thousand each, lit their campfires.

When Abu Sufyan witnessed the blazing campfires spread over a vast area, he was shocked and stunned to the core to think how such a large army had been collected.

Al-'Abbas recognized the voice of Abu Sufyan even in the dark night and sounded back that the army belonged to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and was ready to invade Makkah the next morning. Abu Sufyan was left more confounded at this disheartening news. He, in a state of utmost bewilderment, drew near Al-'Abbas to seek his counsel at this juncture. Al-'Abbas said to him, "Ride on the back of this mule and I will bring you to the Prophet (peace be upon him) for he alone can give you protection." Abu Sufyan got on the mule without a moment's delay. 'Umar recognized Abu Sufyan and wanted to kill him at once, but Al-'Abbaas spurred the mule and quickly went into the camp of the Prophet. 'Umar came chasing him and said, "O Prophet of Allah! Command me to kill this disbeliever, for he has come under our control without any condition." Al-'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I have already given him protection." But 'Umar sought permission once again. Al-'Abbas replied to him with a pinch of taunt, "'Umar'! You would not have insisted on his being killed had he belonged to your family." Thereupon 'Umar said, "O Al-'Abbas! I felt more happy on your accepting Islam than I would have been had my father done so because I found the Prophet eager for your becoming a Muslim." After this exchange between the two, the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) enjoined, "Well, Abu Sufyan is given respite for a night." Following this he asked Al-'Abbas to keep Abu Sufyan in his own camp. And next morning Abu Sufyaan appeared before the Prophet (peace be upon him) and confessed Islam.
Abu Sufyan honored

Al-'Abbas may Allah be pleased with him appeared before the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) and submitted, "Abu Sufyan is a person who loves honor, so would you please give him some special honor." At this he (peace be upon him) said, "He who enters the Sacred Mosque will be safe, he who enters the house of Abu Sufyan will be safe, and he who shuts his doors upon himself will be safe." Abu Sufyan felt elated.

The army on the move surged like an ocean. Different tribes had passed by with their tribal colors. Abu Sufyan ascended a raised spot to witness the spectacle of the Muslim troops on the march and hurried back to Makkah ahead of all to announce: "He who enters the Sacred Mosque or my house will be safe." The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) wanted to avoid bloodshed at all costs. His exit from Makkah in a state of helplessness and then his victorious and glorious return must have been on his mind. This day he made a triumphant entry into Makkah with his head lowered giving thanks to Allah The Almighty. He (peace be upon him) then circumambulated the Ka'bah seven times mounted on his animal and then cleared the Ka'bah of idols. He then took the keys of the Ka'bah from 'Uthman Ibn Talhah, and entered the Ka'bah and prayed to Allah The Exalted. Following this the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) stood at the door of the Ka'bah, holding its frame, while the Quraysh arranged themselves in front of him in the courtyard filled with fear and shame.

Historic Address of the Prophet:

The Prophet said addressing them: "None has the right to be worshiped but Allah. He has fulfilled His Promise and help to His slave. He has alone overthrown all the Confederates. All the rites, privileges and claims to retaliation and blood compensation are beneath my feet except the custody of the Ka'bah and the giving water to the pilgrims. Even cutting down a green tree is not valid within the sanctuary. O you people of the Quraysh, Allah has abolished the haughtiness of paganism and the pride of lineage. Man comes from Adam and Adam came from clay. Allah the Almighty Says (what means): 'O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted'. [Quran, 49:13]

O Quraysh! what do you think I am about to do with you?" "We hope for the best," they replied, "You are a noble brother, son of a noble brother." The Prophet of Allah said in reply, "I say to you what Yoosuf (Prophet Joseph may Allah exalt his mention) said to his brothers: 'Have no fear this day, go your way for you are all free'."

The address being over, the Prophet (peace be upon him) went up to Mount Safa and sat down to take the oath of allegiance to Allah and His Messenger from the people. After finishing with men, he deputed 'Umar to take the oath from the women, and he kept seeking forgiveness of Allah for them. Safwan ibn Umayyah fled to Yemen for fear of life. Umayr ibn Wahb from his tribe sought safety for him and he was granted immunity. Safwan was the man who had resisted the entry of the Muslims into Makkah and fled from Makkah after the conquest; so did 'Ikrimah Ibn Abu Jahl, and he too was granted safety. Both of them had the pleasure of coming to the fold of Islam after the battle of Hunayn.

The Truth came and Falsehood vanquished

Destruction of idols installed in the Ka'bah meant the destruction of the idols all over Arabia. Likewise, the entry of the Quraysh into Islam implied the whole Arabia coming to the fold of Islam, for all eyes were fixed on the Quraysh of Makkah to see whether they accepted Islam or not.

After the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) announced throughout the land that nobody becoming a Muslim was allowed to keep an idol in his house. Following this he sent a few parties to destroy idols installed in the area around Makkah. He sent Khalid ibn Al-Walid may Allah be pleased with him at the head of thirty soldiers to break 'Uzza, the idol of Banu Kinanah and to pull down its temple. Khalid ibn Al-Walid went and broke 'Uzza to pieces and razed its temple to the ground. 'Amr ibn Al-'As may Allah be pleased with him was sent to destroy Suwa', the idol of Banu Huthayl. When 'Amr ibn Al-'As reached the spot, the priest said, "How will you be able to overpower it?" 'Amr said, "Just watch." Saying this he entered the temple and broke the idol to pieces. Sa'd ibn Zayd was sent to Qadid to destroy Manat. The priests were sure the Muslims would fail in their task but they saw with their own eyes the believers break the idols and pull the temple down. All idols and temples were destroyed.

The first priority being completed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) resumed his mission of preaching Islam through Muslim missionaries and sent them near and far

Impact of Treaty of Hudaybiyah

At the end of the sixth year after Prophet Muhammad’s migration to Al-Madinah, he (peace be upon him) wanted to perform pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah and visit Allah’s Sacred House (the Ka`bah). He went out accompanied by one thousand and four hundred Muslim men and he appointed `Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum to be in charge of Al-Madinah during his (peace be upon him) absence. When they reached a place called Thul-Hulayfah, the Prophet(peace be upon him) and those who were with him, assumed the state of Ihram (the state of ritual consecration). The Prophet (peace be upon him) moved on until he reached the creek of Thatul-Ashtat where he met Bishr Ibn Sufyan Al-Ka`bî, who told him: 

"O Messenger of Allah! The tribe of Quraysh has found out where you are going, so they have prepared themselves to fight you. They insist that you will never enter Makkah while they are in it, so they have prepared an army to fight you and Khalid Ibn Al-Walid is the head of this army with the cavalry (horsemen).

The Prophet was grieved, and said: "Woe to the Quraysh! War has eaten them up! What harm would it be to them if they let me address all the Arabs?"

Then he (peace be upon him) asked his companions for their suggestions saying: "O people what do you suggest I should do?" Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "O Messenger of Allah! You have gone out with the intention of performing pilgrimage and not to fight anyone. So go ahead and do what you have intended to do, and if anyone should prevent us, we shall fight him."

The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said: "Move on in the Name of Allah!"

Then he (peace be upon him) ordered the Muslims who were with him to take a road leading to Hudaybiyah. When he reached a place called Thaniyyatul-Murar, his she-camel knelt down and refused to move on. The Muslims were amazed when they s aw that but the Prophet (peace be upon him) told them that she had been commanded to do so and that Allah had prevented her from entering Makkah.

The place at which the Muslims stopped was a wasteland near Hudaybiyah and there was no sign of life there except for the small hole of an old well where there was only a small quantity of water. The Muslims had become very thirsty because of their long march in that barren desert under the burning rays of the sun. Therefore, they rushed to the water and drank all of it. Then they went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and told him that they were still thirsty and asked him to camp in another place where grass and water would be available.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) pulled an arrow from his quiver and commanded them to prod it in that well. Then he sat at the edge of the well and asked for a vessel then rinsed his mouth with some water and invoked Allah then poured it into the well. He asked them to wait for an hour. After that, water sprang out of the well until all the Muslims drank their fill.

During that time Budayl Ibn Warqa’ Al-Khuza`i came with a group from his people 'Banu Khuza`ah' who were allies of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Budayl told the Prophet (peace be upon him) what Bishr Ibn Sufyan had told him before and added:

'I have left Ka`b Ibn Lu’ay and `Aamir Ibn Lu’ay with a group of Quraysh encamping at Hudaybiyah. They have gone out with their wives and children so that no fighter would flee if war should start between them and the Muslims.'

The Prophet became even more grieved because of the way the Quraysh was dealing with the matter, for he had not gone there for war.

When Banu Khuza`ah returned to the Quraysh, they told them that the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, had not come for war, saying:

"O People of Quraysh! You have been hasty and judged Muhammad wrongly! He has not come to fight, but rather to visit this House (the Ka`bah)."

However, the chiefs of Quraysh were arrogant, and said stubbornly:

"Even if he has come for that purpose, he will not enter it by force, as the Arabs will talk about that."

The Quraysh did not believe that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had come with that large number of Muslims without the intention of fighting them. They wanted to discover the truth, so they sent Mikraz Ibn Hafs Ibn Al-Akhyaf.

When he met the Prophet, he knew that he only intended to visit the Sacred House, so he returned to the Quraysh and told them. They then sent Al-Hulays Ibn `Alqamah Al-Kinani to him. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw him he asked his Companions to display the sacrificial animals which they had brought with them (for Pilgrimage) to let Al-Hulays see them so that he would realize that they were being truthful. The man saw them then returned to the Quraysh, and said:

"O People of Quraysh! I have seen something that cannot be legally prevented! The sacrificial animals have been allotted (i.e., marked to be recognized as being for Pilgrimage), and they have eaten their hair because they have been kept away from their grazing area for a long time!"

They told him: "Sit down! You know nothing about that!"

The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent `Uthmaan Ibn `Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, to the Quraysh to tell them that he had not come for war but as a visitor to the Sacred House. `Uthman went to Makkah. Aban Ibn Sa`id Ibn Al-`As met him so he dismounted and carried him on his mount. He also promised to protect him until he had told them the Prophet’s message. Thus `Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, moved on until he met Abu Sufyan and the chiefs of Quraysh and told them the Prophet’s message.

They said to `Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him: "You may circumambulate the House if you want."

 `Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I would never do that until the Messenger of Allah has done so!"

`Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, stayed waiting in Makkah until the Quraysh had consulted one another and made up their minds. `Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, did not return to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims fast enough, and a rumor to the effect that Quraysh had killed him had spread. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) called the Muslims to pledge allegiance to him that they would support him and fight alongside him. That was the pledge of Ridhwaan which took place under the tree.

While the Prophet and the Muslims were preparing to march toward Makkah, the Quraysh had made up their mind and decided to negotiate with the Prophet (peace be upon him). So, they sent Suhayl Ibn `Amr to negotiate on their behalf with the Prophet (peace be upon him).

When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw him coming, he said: "The people (of the Quraysh) have chosen peace, as they have sent this man."

Suhayl came to the Prophet and told him that the Quraysh wished to make peace with him, and that they wanted the Prophet and his followers not to enter Makkah that year, so that their dignity might not be lost among the tribes and so that people would not say that the Muslims entered it against the will of the Quraysh.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was listening to Suhayl solemnly and calmly and no sign of anger appeared on him. However, the Muslims who were listening to the Quraysh’s conditions could not hide their rage because of those unjust conditions, but they remained silent venerating and glorifying the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was the most enraged person among them.

Suhayl moved his eyes between the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims who were surrounding him, then said:

"Write down a document about what we and you will agree upon."

The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked `Ali Ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, to write down the peace treaty with the Quraysh, but `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, could not endure it any longer so he jumped up from his place and approached the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said:

"O Messenger of Allah! Is it not right that you are the Prophet of Allah? "

The Prophet said: "Yes, I am."

`Umar Ibn Al-Al-Khattab said: "Is it not right that we are following the truth and that our enemy is following falsehood?

The Prophet answered: "That is right."

`Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was astonished and said, as he was resisting his anger:

"So why are we given (such) ignoble (conditions)?"

The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied confidently and quietly:

"I am the Messenger of Allah. I will not disobeying Him, and He will help me."

Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: "Write 'In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful'."

Suhayl said: "I do not know this, but write instead 'In Your Name, O Allah'."

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Write, 'In Your Name, O Allah! This is what was said according to which Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has reconciled with Suhayl Ibn `Amr'."

Suhayl Ibn `Amr said: "If I testified that you are the Messenger of Allah, I would not fight you. Write, 'Muhammad Ibn `Abdullaah'; your name and the name of your father."

The Prophet (peace be upon him) went on dictating to `Ali confidently and quietly:

"This is what was said according to which Muhammad Ibn `Abdullah has reconciled with Suhayl Ibn `Amr. They have agreed to stop fighting for ten years during which time the people will live in safety and will not harm one another."

Thereupon, Suhayl declared that whoever would come to the Prophet (peace be upon him) without the Quraysh’s permission, he was to send him back to them; and whoever would go to the Qurasyh from among the Muslims without the Prophet’s permission, they would not send him back. When the Muslims heard that, some of them objected.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"Yes, whoever will go to them from among us, then may Allah keep him away; and whoever will come to us from among them and we send him back, Allah will make a way-out for him."

Then Suhayl turned to `Ali and went on dictating the treaty to him:

"He who wishes to enter into a covenant and agreement with Muhammad may do so, and he who wishes to enter into a covenant and agreement with the Quraysh may do so."

On one hand the people of Khuza`ah jumped up and said, “We are in a covenant and agreement with the Messenger of Allah”. On the other hand, the people of Banu Bakr said, “We are in a covenant and agreement with the Quraysh”.

Suhayl said to the Prophet (peace be upon him):

"You should also return this year. You shall not enter Makkah against our will. But the following year, we shall leave it for you to spend three days with your Companions therein, and you will then bring with you nothing more than riders’ weapons; swords in sheaths."

When they finished, the Prophet (peace be upon him) called some men from among the Muslims and some from among the Qurasyh to testify to the peace treaty. The Muslims who signed this agreement were: Abû Bakr As-Siddîq, `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, `Uthman Ibn `Affan, `Ali Ibn Abu Talib, `Abdur-Rahman Ibn `Awf, Sa`d Ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu `Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarrah, and Muhammad Ibn Salamah Al-Ansari. Also, two men from among the disbelievers signed it: Huwaytib Ibn `Abdul-`Uzza and Mikraz Ibn Hafs Ibn Al-Akhyaf.

When the Prophet, and the Muslims who were with him, returned to Al-Madinah, a man from the Quraysh came to him; he had embraced Islam and escaped to Al-Madinah. Then the Quraysh sent two men to ask for him and the Prophet (peace be upon him) handed him over to them. The man managed to escape and moved on until he reached the sea shore where he stayed. Then it was not long until Abu Jandal Ibn Suhayl came after him fleeing. Moreover, whenever a man of Quraysh embraced Islam and escaped, he would catch up with the others who had gone out before him until they became a group. Whenever they heard that a caravan of the Quraysh had gone out to the Levant, they would stand in its way and take its goods. As a result, the Quraysh sent a message to the Prophet (peace be upon him) begging him not to return any one who would come to him from among them after that day!

After only two years from the time the Quraysh entered into a covenant with the Prophet (peace be upon him) they broke that covenant. It so happened that they helped their allies from Banu Bakr in their assault against the tribe of Khuza`ah, the Prophet’s allies. When the Prophet knew what the Quraysh had done, he was very angry and decided to go to Makkah and put an end to the Quraysh’s assaults and disloyalty. Thus, he commanded the Muslims to prepare for war.

The Quraysh expected that the Muslims would prepare to fight them, so they realized the danger of what they had done. Therefore, they sent Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb to meet the Prophet (peace be upon him) and renew their covenant.

When he mentioned this to the Prophet (peace be upon him) the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not reply to him. So he went to Abu Bakr and asked him to intercede for him with the Messenger of Allah but he refused to do so. Then Abu Sufyan went to `Umar Ibn Al-Al-Khattab who scolded him, so he went to `Alî Ibn Abi Talib but he also refused. Thereupon, Abu Sufyan returned to Makkah as his mission had failed.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) appointed Abu Ruhm Kulthum Ibn Husayn Al-Ghifari to be in charge of Al-Madinah and headed for Makkah on the 10th of Ramadan in the 8th year after Hijrah (migration).

The Muslims approached Makkah until they reached its heights. The night came and enveloped the wide desert along with the Muslim army which had encamped near Makkah waiting for the Prophet’s order to march.

Worry and expectation prevailed throughout Makkah and so its people spent that night in fear and caution. In the morning, Abu Sufyan went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and on seeing the Muslim army he became terrified. The Prophet (peace be upon him) offered him to embrace Islam and he hardly hesitated. Then Abu Sufyan returned to Makkah and declared to the Quraysh loudly:

"O People of Quraysh! Muhammad has come to you with something that you cannot put off. So, he who enters the house of Abu Sufyan will be safe; he who shuts his door and remains in his house will be safe; and he who enters the (Sacred) Mosque will be safe.”

Upon hearing this, the people scattered to their houses and to the Mosque.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) marched towards Makkah while wearing a black turban whose ends fell loose over his shoulders. His banner was white and his flag was black.

The Prophet’s procession entered the streets of Makkah amidst the crowds of Muslims. He proceeded until he reached the Sacred House, which he then circumambulated and destroyed the idols that were surrounding it. Then he ordered Bilaal to call the Athaan (call for the prayer) from above the Ka`bah as an indication that Allah had given power to His religion. After that the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed two rak`as (units of prayer) inside the Ka`bah.

The Quraysh assembled around the Prophet while they were overcome by despair and fear; they had always declared themselves to be the enemy of the Muslims and they had tormented them severely. The Prophet was the first to speak, saying:

"O People of Quraysh! What do you expect I will do with you?" They were full of hope and all of them answered: "Good, as you are a noble brother, and the son of a noble brother!" Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to them tolerantly and humbly: "Go, for you are free!"

With these words, which are full of mercy and love, and with this moral victory the Prophet (peace be upon him) topped his great military victory. And Allah’s promise to His believing slaves was fulfilled and the people entered Allah’s Religion – Islam overwhelmingly. 

Arrogance Defeated at Hunayn

The formidable Bedouin tribes, the Hawaazin, the Saqif and various others pastured their flocks on the territories bordering Mecca. Some of them possessed strongly fortified towns like Tayef, and were unwilling to render obedience to the Muslims without resistance. They formed a league with the intention of overwhelming Prophet Muhammad (SAW) before he could make preparations to repulse their attack.

It was the usual practice with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that whenever he conquered a region, he personally looked after its political problems and the religious matters of its inhabitants, so long as he stayed there, and as and when he left that place he appointed there suitable persons on different posts. Its reason was that the people of these regions, who were acquainted with the old and wound-up systems, did not possess information about the system, which had replaced it. Islam is a social, moral, political and religious system, its laws emanate from revelation, and acquainting people with these laws and their enforcement amongst them needs distinguished, mature and learned persons, who should teach them correct principles of Islam intelligently and should also enforce Islamic system amongst them.



When the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) decided to leave Makkah for the territories of Hawazin and Saqif, he appointed Mu'az bin Jabal as a guide to educate and instruct the people and entrusted the government and administration of the city and imamate (leading prayers) in the mosque to Atab bin Usayd, who was a capable person. The threatening information compelled the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to cut short his stay in Makkah. After staying in Makkah for fifteen days the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) proceeded to the land of Hawazin tribe.

An unmatched army

On that day the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had twelve thousand armed soldiers under his standard, out of them ten thousand were those, who had accompanied him from Madina and had taken part in the conquest of Makkah, and the other two thousand were from amongst Quraysh, who had embraced Islam recently. The command of this group rested with Abu Sufyan. Imam Ali as usual, held the Sacred Standard of the Prophet Muhammad.

In those days such an army was hardly found anywhere and this numerical strength of theirs became the cause of their initial defeat. It was because, contrary to the past, they prided themselves on the large number of their soldiers and ignored the military tactics and principles of war. When Abu Bakr's eyes fell on the large number of men he said: "We should not at all be defeated, because our soldiers far outnumber those of the enemy". He did not, however, pay attention to this reality that numerical superiority is not the only factor for victory and in fact this factor is of little importance.

The Holy Qur'an itself mentions this fact and says: Allah has helped you on many occasions including the day of Hunayn. When you were happy with the number of your men who proved to be of no help to you and the whole vast earth seemed to have no place to hide you (from your enemies) and you turned back in retreat. (Surah al-Tawbah, 9:25)

Acquisition of Information

After the conquest of Makkah great excitement and enthusiasm could been seen in the areas inhabited by the tribes of Hawazin and Saqif. Special contacts existed between them. The connecting link between them was a war like person named Malik bin Awf Nasri. The result of their mutual contacts was that before the Islamic army could pay attention to them they themselves came up to encounter it, so that, before the Muslims moved, they themselves should strike them hard by military tactics. They also selected from amongst them a thirty-year-old brave and courageous man to act as their commander.

Besides the aforesaid two tribes, the tribes of Bani Hilal, Nasr and Jasham also participated in this battle and all of them came up as a single striking force.

As ordered by the chief commander, all those, who participated in the battle, stationed their women and retinue, behind the rear of the army. When he was asked about the reason for this decision he said: "These men will remain steadfast in their fighting to protect their women and property and will not at all think of flight or retreat".

When Durayd bin Sammah, an old man and an experienced warrior, heard the wailing's of the women and the children, he quarreled with Malik, and, considering this act of his to be wrong from the point of view of principles of war, said to him: "The result of this action will be that if you are defeated you will be surrendering all your women and property to the army of Islam gratuitously". Malik did not pay heed to the words of this experienced soldier and said: "You have grown old and have lost your wisdom and knowledge of military tactics". However, the later events proved that the old man was right and the presence of women and children in a sphere of operation in which one has to strike and run proved to be of no use, except that the soldiers got involved in difficulties and their activities were hindered.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) sent Abdullah Aslami Ibn Abi Hadrad to collect information about the equipment, intentions and itinerary of the enemy. He roamed about in the entire army of the enemy, collected the necessary information and placed it at the disposal of the Prophet Muhammad. Malik, too, sent three spies towards the Muslims in a special manner so that they might bring the requisite information for him. They, however, returned to Malik with their hearts full of awe and fear.

The commander of the enemy army decided to make amends for the numerical inferiority and weak morale of his soldiers by means of a military trick i.e. by making a surprise attack, create confusion among the army of Islam so that the discipline of their units might be disrupted and the schemes of their high command might be frustrated.

To achieve this end, he encamped at the end of the pass, which led to the region of Hunayn. He then ordered all the soldiers to hide themselves behind the stones, the rocks and gaps of the mountains and at elevated places around the pass, and as soon as the army of Islam arrived in this deep and lengthy pass, all of them should come out of their places hiding and attack the units of Islam with arrows and stones. Thereafter a special group should descend from the mountains in an orderly manner and put the Muslims to sword under the cover of their archers.

Equipment of the Muslims

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was aware of the strength and the obstinacy of the enemy. Before leaving Makkah therefore, he called Safwan bin Umayyah and borrowed one hundred suits of armor from him and guaranteed its return. He personally put on two suit of armor, put a helmet on his head, and mounted a white mule, which had been presented to him, and moved on behind the army of Islam.

In the dead of night the army reached the Hunayn valley, which lies about midway between Mecca and Tayef. In order to reach the fertile valley of Tayef, they had to pass through a narrow defile called Hunayn. This was the key point or the enemy's defense. It was a narrow and dismal place leaving little room for an army to pass through, except in single file, nor could camels and horses be maneuvered within its narrow walls. The army of Islam rested at night at the mouth of the Hunayn and the day had not yet dawned fully when the tribe of Bani Salim arrived in the passage of Hunayn under the command of Khalid bin Walid. When a major part of the army of Islam was still in the pass. Concealing themselves under the precipitous side of the rocky valley, the tribesmen, from the heights, showered avalanches of rocks and arrows on the Muslims, and prevented all attempts by the Muslim cavalry to organize a charge. Panic began to spread amongst the Muslim troops and defeat seemed very probable.

This sudden attack terrified the Muslims so much that they began to flee and created, more than the enemy itself, disorder and disruption among their ranks. According to Habib-us-Siyar and Rouzath-ul-Ahbab, Khalid Bin Walid was the first to leave the field. These developments were a source of great joy for the hypocrites present in the army of Islam, so much so that Abu Sufyan said: "Muslims will run up to the coast of the sea". Another hypocrite said: "The magic has been counteracted". A third from amongst them determined to do away with Islam in that confused state of affairs by killing the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and thus destroy the belief of the Oneness of Allah and the Prophet Hood of Islam lock, stock, and barrel.

The steadfastness of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and of a group of self-sacrificing persons

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was disturbed immensely by the flight of his friends which was the main cause of all the alarm and disorder, and felt that if matters were allowed to take their own course, even for a moment longer, the pivot of history would be different, humanity would change its course and the forces of polytheism would beat down the army of monotheism. While riding his mule, therefore, he said loudly: "O supporters of Allah and His Prophet! I am the servant of Allah and His Prophet". He uttered this sentence and then turned his mule towards the battlefield, which was occupied by Malik's men, who had already killed some Muslims and were busy killing others. A group of self-sacrificing persons like Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, Abbas, Fazal bin Abbas, Usamah and Abi Sufyan bin Hirith, who had not left him alone and unprotected ever since the battle started, also proceeded along with him.

At this critical moment Imam Ali rallied the disorganized forces around him inspiring them to fight with fresh valor. At the same time the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asked his uncle Abbas, who held his mule, who had a very loud voice, to call back the Muslims in this manner: "O Ansar, who helped the Prophet! O you who took the oath of allegiance to the Prophet under the tree of Paradise! Where are you going? The Prophet is here!" The words of Abbas reached the ears of the Muslims and stimulated their religious zeal and fervor. All of them responded immediately by saying, Labayk! Labayk! (Here am I! Here am I!) And returned bravely towards the Prophet Muhammad.

The repeated call by Abbas, which gave the good tidings of the Prophet's safety, made the fleeing men return to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) with a peculiar regret and remorse and made them reorganize their rows. About a hundred men, all Ansars (Abul Fida; Ibn Hisham), gaining the narrow Pass, checked the advance of the enemy. The standard bearer of the enemy, a man of extraordinarily tall stature and stout built, came forward and challenged the Muslims to single combat, As usual, Imam Ali stepped forward and engaged him and within a short time put an end to him. In compliance with the orders of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and also to obliterate the shameful stain of desertion, the Muslims launched a general attack and compelled the enemies, in a very short time, to retreat or flee. The Prophet Muhammad, who was watching the struggle from an eminence, taking a handful of gravel, cast it towards the enemy saying, "May these faces be disgraced!" The enemy became panicky within a short time and finally took to flight, chased by the Muslims, and many of them were killed. In order to encourage the Muslims the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was saying: "I am the Prophet of Allah and never tell a lie and Allah has promised me victory". This war tactics made the warriors of Hawazin and Saqif run away to the region of Autas and Nakhlah and to the forts of Ta'if leaving behind their women and retinue and a number of those killed in the battle. The battle was won by Muslims.

War Booty

In this battle the casualties of the Muslims were large, but the biographers have not mentioned the number of those killed. The enemy lost seventy of their bravest, of whom forty fell under the sword of Imam Ali.

As a result of this victory, enormous booty fell into the hands of the Muslims. The Muslims, however, stood to gain and the enemies fled leaving behind six thousand captives, twenty four thousand camels, forty thousand sheep and four thousand Waqih (It is equal to 213 grams approximately) of silver. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordered that all the men and the entire property should be taken to Ji'ranah. He also appointed some men to keep a watch. The captives were kept in a particular house and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordered that the entire booty should remain there as it was, till he returned from Ta'if.

The battle of Hunayn, is one of the most famous events in the history of Islam. It was notable for the strategy of Imam Ali regrouping the Muslim army, turning defeat into victory. It also showed the clemency with which the prisoners were treated. Six hundred of the enemies were freed without having to pay ransom

Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop Review and Specification

The Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop gives a high-performance graphics with the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics processor. This laptop is up to 80% faster than the previous Apple MacBook Pro generation. Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A is also more saving the energy for everyday tasks. The Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop carved from a single block of aluminum. The new energy-efficient architecture in the MacBook Pro, gives you longer battery life, dramatically. The battery in the MacBook Pro lasts up to 10 hours, an a single charge.

Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop Review and Specification:

1. Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo dual-core processor with 3 MB shared L2 cache for excellent multitasking
2. Graphic: NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory.
3. HDD: 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 RPM)
4. Memory Module: 4 GB installed RAM (1066 MHz DDR3; supports up to 8 GB)
5. Display: 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with edge-to-edge, uninterrupted glass (1280 x 800-pixel resolution).
6. Optical Drive: 8x slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer DVD support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

HP G60-244DX Notebook PC

HP g60-244dx notebook pc comes for under $700 and it provides some great components and multimedia features and not to mention its gorgeous design, with a high-glossy black casing with matching silver keyboard and touch pad.

Those who are looking for an entertainment system at an affordable price can look closer and think about this mode, or any other from HP Pavilion line. The good thing is that they offer great productivity and just by being a HP product you will have no regrets after purchasing it. And now for some technical specs, so you can figure out what is the read deal with this system. To begin with, it comes powered by a 2.00 GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor.




Being dual-core it provides dual productivity when managing different tasks, in this way you can play a game and in the background download some music and you will not notice an important impact on the overall performance. The amount of memory installed is 3GB of RAM and the maximum is 4GB. With this amount you will run multitasking at a high speed. Video graphics installed are represented by NVIDIA GeForce 8200M, good enough to run some intensive applications and some games on the go. This also influences the video quality, so movies will look just great at the 16” High Definition display.

Moreover, the screen has a native resolution of 1366x768 and BrightView technology, which means an improvement to the image quality. With the 250GB hard drive, you will be provided with enough space to store your important files, applications, documents, pictures and any other software.

If you want to write everything down on discs, HP g60-244dx notebook pc comes with a SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support. Setting up a connection and staying online is easy due to the multiple options you have: a high speed 56K modem, integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN and wireless 802.11b/g WLAN.



Altec Lansing speakers are your sound providers and in most cases they do a pretty good job. But if you want to privately listen to the latest album release you can plug in your headphones. Besides the headphone port, there are others including a 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader, three USB ports, one microphone port, HDMI and VGA especially if you want to connect your system to an external HDTV.

This HP notebook measures 14.88" (L) x 9.9" (D) x 1.38" (min H)/1.61" (max H) and weights 6.52lbs. It still remains reasonable portable even if it has a large 16” display. In case you want to take this one along your trips you should know it has a 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery and you will be able to run it unplugged for about two hours, depending more on the type of usage.



The operating system is Windows Vista Home Basic, but it is not all, Norton Internet Security 2009 with 60 days of update is also included and other software pre-installed as well. The standard warranty is for one year for all the parts and labor and don’t forget about the online tech support, which offers drivers and manuals for download and even the possibility to talk online to a real representative

Laptop Vs. Notebook

There is something special regarding these portable systems and because there are so many options these days it is hard to make a decision and call a winner. And in some cases laptops and notebooks are confused one with another and when you are looking for a laptop you might face only notebooks, which are in fact laptops if they have some of the characteristics.

There are many ways to differentiate laptops from notebooks, you just need to know the basics and you will find the mystery solved. When you want to buy a new portable system, you have three options: laptops, notebooks and netbooks (which are mini laptops). it depends more on what you are looking for. So let’s take it by turn.




First of all, you shouldn’t see these two as rivals, laptop vs. notebook, because in essence they are the same. The size is the main characteristic that sets the apart. When notebooks first showed up, it lacked many features such as an optical drive, low-profile processor; they had short battery life, small graphics and low memory installed. But these days it is no longer the case. Both laptops and notebooks have what it takes: great displays, optical drives, even Blu-ray drives in some models (such as Alienware), powerful processors (dual-core or Intel Core i5 and i7), and a long battery life.

One clear example is Apple MacBook Pro, which has both laptops and notebooks with powerful processors and a battery life up to 10 hours. One thing you should take into account is as mentioned above, the display. A notebook’ display measures the most 15.6”, what is beyond that is called a laptop, but itdoesn’t have to get less than 13.3”, as we are facing then netbooks. It seems complicated, but you will see that actually it isn’t.



So why do people get them mixed out? Because it is hard to set them apart as they have the same components, so the size and weight remain the main characteristics. A 17” or 20” laptop is hard to carry around and let’s face it; there is no room for it in a car, train, airplane or bus, so the best place to keep it is at home. A notebook is more portable and you can easily get it transported. Some have such great displays and a high resolution that you mistake them as having bigger screens, when they actually have a low one.

HP Pavilion is a great choice of entertainment notebooks you can consider if you want high-screen quality. Dell is of course very popular among computer world and definitely a brand to take into account. If you think about it and look through the systems offered on the market today, most of the big names have both laptops and notebooks. Sony Vaio has a lot of series to choose from and it all depends on the components, as they are customizable and you have the freedom to decide on what to spend your money.



So if you want to decide between laptop vs. notebook, you can easily set them apart by their size and weight, because on the rest they are almost the same.

HP Pavilion G60-235DX Notebook

HP Pavilion has some great entertainment systems in its catalogs and among these is the HP Pavilion g60-235dx notebook.  It has an overall good performance and the best thing is related to the 16:9 aspect ratio. You can get this HP notebook for under $600 and you will not regret it. For its price range, you get decent features and a simple yet elegant design.  It will not attract any curious eyes, but it will look great wherever you go.

Being an entertainment notebook, it must have some of the specs to fit in this category and this does have them. Being powered by the 2.00 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T4200, you get double speed and double performance. So if you are planning on watching movies or running multiple tasks you will be glad to hear this Intel processor is up to do the job. The 3GB of RAM also helps the situations, as it boosts speed in multitasking. You know how annoying it gets when you try to open multiple tabs or try to download music and watch a movie in the same time and you hear the hard drive go mad and everything working in slow motion.




Well those moments are left behind, because with such great specs working together you will not have to worry about anything no more.  Video graphics included are represented by Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M, doing a great job when playing games or watching DVD movies.  The hard drive has 320GB, so you will have enough space to store your media files and other applications. What is more you can always write everything down on discs using the LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support. And if you want to get some special discs you can laser-etch text and images on your discs.



One of the main characteristic is the 16” High Definition HP display with BrightView technology, enabling clearer images and sharp text. With the 1366x760 native resolution you will have everything at a normal size. Connectivity can be established through various ways: using the high speed 56K modem, integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN or the wireless 802.11b/g WLAN. The Altec Lansing speakers are the main sound providers. As networking is provided so is the range of external ports. With the 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader you can transfer music and photos from your gadgets or use the three USB ports to connect them directly. The headphone and microphone ports allow you to plug in your headphones and privately enjoy your music.

The HDMI and VGA ports help connecting this HP Pavilion g60-235dx notebook to an external HDTV in case you want to show everybody your photo slideshows or invite them over a movie night. Measuring 14.88" (L) x 9.9" (D) x 13.8" (min H) -1.72" (max H) and weighting 6.57lbs, this system turns out to be less portable, but if you get the right notebook bag or case you can easily get it around.



Having a 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery, you will be able to enjoy about two hours of unplugged experience, but it depends more on the type of usage. The operating system is of course Windows Vista Home Premium and also Norton Internet Security 2009 is installed to protect you from any malware.

Desktop vs Laptop

Notebooks are the most obvious way to save energy in home computing and client-side office computers. Energy consumption is a critical factor in notebook design. It determines how long the batteries will last, which should at least be a couple of hours even with the most power-hungry processor. As a consequence laptops use the most energy efficient displays (LCD), adapters, hard disks and CPUs that are available. All CPU manufacturers have special mobile versions of their CPUs sporting PowerNow! (AMD), SpeedStep (Intel) and LongRun (Transmeta) power-management features.
Comparing the 30W for a powerful notebook (including LCD screen, see example) with the 120W desktop PC plus the 80 W CRT screen, savings could really be up to 80%. And even in the notebooks intended as 'desktop replacement', with a larger screen (up to 16-17") and less aggressive power management settings, the savings are still well over 50%.
In areas with blackouts and power-surges the notebook (batteries included) could save even more. In these area's desktop PCs would typically require the backup of a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to keep you from losing data. And a UPS is not only a significant extra cost, it is also a significant energy-eater.
All in all, even when only looking at the energy cost advantages, buying a notebook might well be worth the extra money. With the ENERGY STAR database, it is simply a matter of doing the maths, taking into account intensity of use and expected product-life (typically 5 years).
Having said that, there will be plenty of areas where the expandability of the desktop PC is a must. Game enthusiasts and CAD engineers will often want to replace the graphics card. When using the PC for small server or home server applications, the desktop allows easy expansion of hard disk capacity or a few extra ports. And of course, if your budget takes priority over total cost-of-ownership, most desktop PCs are cheaper than notebooks.

Example

Notebook Energy Use
A 2002-model laptop with a Mobile Athlon XP 1500+ processor uses around 20.5 W in 'desktop' mode. Of this some 3W are for the CPU and some 7W for the very bright (160 cd/m2) LCD screen. Chipset, graphics, memory and power supply(adapter) take up a little more than 10 W. At 'full load', the laptop uses 47 W, mainly due to CPU use: 36 W. Average energy use is estimated at 20W, which means 2 hours with a 44-Wh Li-Ion battery. [source c't 2002, no.10]
In PowerNow!-mode, with 500 MHz and 1,05 V, the energy use of 36W could be tuned down to 20W at full load. Intel's ULV(Ultra Low Voltage) Pentium III-M tops that with 7.5 W at 800 MHz and a mere 3.4 W in SpeedStep-mode. Similar values are reached by low-power champion Transmeta with its Crusoe chip. Typical standby modes of these laptops are lower than a few Watts.
Through all this attention for the CPU, it may seem that this is the key factor in the energy consumption. However, Intel measurements of a Pentium 4 notebook using the ZD BatteryMark benchmarks, which simulates normal office use including all the micro-pauses, shows that it is the platform (chipset, graphics, power supply) that counts the most and that is where the potential lies.

Basis: SpeedStep enabled Mobile Pentium III, dissipating around 12 W on average using the BatteryMark 4.01 benchmark test, which simulates real-life office behaviour of the user (presentation at Intel Developers Forum 2002). Note: Recent data with the Pentium 4 shows that CPU goes from 7 to 10% and the chipset from 13 to 15%. [source www.extremete

Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen ?? Know What is wrong !!

Here I’m going to post some laptop screen photos showing bad video output. I’ll explain what was wrong with the screen and how I fixed it. I plan to ad more examples as soon as I get new pictures. If you have your own example (and know how to fix it) please let me know and I’ll post it too.

Example 1.

Here’s a picture of Satellite M55 LCD screen I made this morning. I got this video output as soon as I started the laptop. There were a lot of vertical lines, and they were changing color without any pattern. To me it looked like Northern Lights (never seen in real life) . The external monitor worked fine.






As soon as I applied some tension to the screen it changed the pattern. Some horizontal lines appeared in the middle of the LCD.

Here’s the difference. When I torque the screen, the image appears but it’s distorted with some horizontal lines running across the screen.
Reseating the video cable didn’t make any change and the problem was fixed after I replaced the LCD screen.
Example 2.
I took this picture from Toshiba Satellite M65. I think that this example is very typical. One day you wake up, turn on the laptop and see one or a few hair-like vertical lines in different colors.

When you move the LCD screen some lines might disappear or more lines appear on the screen. A video output on an external screen would be perfect, without any lines. Unfortunately, these lines indicate a screen problem. I’ve never seen this kind of video output caused by a bad video cable or bad FL inverter board. My laptop was fixed after I replaced the LCD screen.
Example 3.
The photo below comes from Toshiba Satellite 5205. The laptop displays identical vertical lines all over the LCD screen as soon as I turn it on. Sometimes these lines are red, sometimes they are blue, sometimes they become wider and change color to white.

The same pattern appears on the external monitor. It displays same vertical lines. When the same video defect appears on both monitors – internal LCD screen and external screen, then most likely it happens because of a bad video card. On some laptops the video card is integrated into the system board, on other models it’s a separate module.

In this example, the vertical lines were caused by a failed video memory on the system board. I’ve tested the video memory with Microscope utility and it failed the test. In Toshiba Satellite 5205 the video memory is integrated into the system board. To fix the problem, I’ll have to replace the board. (We do not have equipment to replace the memory module itself).
Example 4.
Here’s another example of a bad LCD screen. My bad! It wasn’t the LCD screen problem.

As soon as I turned on the laptop, I was getting these reddish marks on the LCD screen but not on the external monitor. Reseating and replacing the video cable didn’t help. The problem disappeared when I installed my test LCD screen. Yes, for some reason I wasn’t able to reproduce the problem on my test LCD screen. But the reddish video appeared again as soon as I replaced the screen. I guess it happened because the system board had some kind of intermittent problem with onboard video or video connector. Long story short, I had to replace the system board and it fixed the problem. Yep, I misdiagnosed this laptop.
Example 5.
Here’s one more example of a faulty LCD screen. The left half of the screen works just fine but the right side is completely white.

Example 6.
Here’s another laptop with a bad LCD screen. This time it’s a tablet PC.

Example 7.
This screen looks like the screen on the example 1. I hooked up an external monitor and the external video works perfectly fine.

Here’s the difference. When I torque the screen, the image appears but it’s distorted with some horizontal lines running across the screen.

After a few seconds the image washes away.

I had to replace the LCD screen.
Example 8.
This laptop displays inverted colors right from the startup. As you see, the Toshiba logo is light green instead of red. The background is light gray instead of black. The Intel logo should be blue on a white background but it is red on a black background.

When your laptop displays inverted colors as on the picture above, this is an indication of a bad screen. You’ll have to replace the screen.
Example 9.
Here are two more screens. In both cases this problem is related to the LCD screen, witch means the screen has to be replaced.
On the image below you see a white band running from the top of the screen to the bottom. This band appears right from the laptop startup and runs through the logo too.

On the following image only the left side of the screen is working properly. This problem is caused by faulty LCD screen.



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