Choosing a Laptop – What to Look For
Choosing a laptop can be a nightmare,
there are so many on the market, each one of them seems to offer
more for the money than the last, or does it?
When looking
for a new laptop ignore phrases such as, super fast processor,
large hard drive, massive 1gb of RAM, CD/DVD, can be ignored
none of these actually mean anything as they offer no specific
laptop computer ratings or information, they only give us very
little in terms of the laptop actual specification.
A
good base spec to look for when choosing a laptop includes
Processor
This should be a Dual core type of processor, there are two main
makes here, the first is Intel with its Core 2 Duo and the
second is AMD with their Turion 64 x2 for
more on laptop processors
RAM
1gb of RAM is simply not enough to run Windows with other
applications at a satisfactory speed, 2gb of RAM is the real
minimum to look for.
Hard disk
The hard drive should offer a minimum of 80gb and it should be
SATA (Serial) as opposed the older slower IDE types
CD/DVD
Make sure the laptop has a DVD Writer – many have CD/Writers and
DVD Readers which means you can only read DVD’s and not write to
them
Operating system
A choice of Vista or XP can still be found, but Vista is
becoming more and more predominant in the industry so it’s just
a matter of time before it does become the most popular
operating system. It received a lot of bad press when it was
launched, but today most of the faults have been ironed out and
as long as your computer has a high enough spec it runs very
well.
It’s not to every ones taste, but I remember
Windows XP receiving the welcome when it was first launched.
USB Ports
Every new or newish laptop today should have USB type 2 ports,
if you find one with USB 1 ports, no matter how great the price,
I would walk away, there are just too many USB devices around
that will not work properly with USB 1 ports
Networking
All new laptops should come with 2 network cards, this means a
Wireless card which support for 54g network and an Ethernet port
so a physical cable can be plugged in.
Warranties
Usually a laptop will come with a back to base warranty of
around a year, this means if you have a problem you return it to
the manufacturer who resolves the problem, as for the period you
are without a computer its down to the manufacturers fine print.
Other warranties, many manufacturers offer
other types of laptop warranty this could simply mean extending
it by a number of years, or by having on site support, this
means someone will come to your house or place of business and
repair the laptop in front of you, this type of warranty will
cost more, but most offer onsite repair the next business day
and if you cant be without your laptop or need it repaired
quickly, this could be the warranty for you.
Makes and Models
Everyone has a favourite and least favourite make of laptop, if
a laptop brand were truly so bad they would not be in business,
every laptop manufacturer has a number of units that will become
faulty due to unknown reasons, just like buying a new car, so
try not to think about the name too much when choosing a laptop
, find one you like the look of, one that’s the right size too
as there’s nothing worse than getting one that’s too big for
your needs if you travel a lot as it will be heavy. Smaller
laptops are a lot more forgiving as you can plug in external
screens, keyboards & mice, to increase it’s usability, using it
as a desktop computer when required, but with the added option
of it being portable when needed.
Other Points to Check
Check to make sure your chosen laptop does not run hot, there
seems have been one or two laptops on the market which run very
hot, although this does not cause an issue to the laptop, it’s
not very pleasant if you have the laptop on your lap or the palm
rest gets very hot.
Does the laptop come with free software
Many laptops come with free software such as Antivirus or word
processing that only last for 90 days before you have to pay to
extend the license – it’s not compulsory to continue using the
software, but this is not advertised though.
As a final
point to think about when choosing a laptop, think of
expandability, in the sense that apart from the RAM and hard
drive there is none, in 99% of laptops your stuck with the
processor and
video card it comes with
For more on choosing a laptop
for
more on choosing a laptop
checkout our many other laptop articles where cover much more in
detail to help find the laptop that's right for your needs
computer adviser
choosing a laptop article |
