what do you need the laptop for?Do you need a lightweight portable laptop for business
trips or meetings? Do you need a student notebook for
classes? Or do just want a desktop replacement computer
that you can easily move around in your home?
Your answer will greatly determine which type of laptop
you should buy.
In my case, I needed a desktop replacement that I could
easily move around my home and take on very infrequent
trips or vacations. Long battery life was not a major
consideration because I would mainly be using it plugged
into an electrical outlet. Besides, the laptop I wanted
would be 7 or 8 pounds and I had no intentions of lugging
that baby around over any great distance.
I work full time at home and do a lot of web design so
I needed a solid machine with a lot of RAM. I also enjoy
downloading and enjoying the occasional movie so a DVD
Multi Drive and a wide screen display were important.
High quality graphics and sound was also important for
what I needed.
* RAMRAM is to computer what location is to real estate. RAM
or Random Access Memory is perhaps the most important
factor to consider when buying your laptop or any computer.
RAM will greatly determine the speed of your laptop or computer.
How fast it will process your tasks and graphics. You must make
sure you have enough for your needs. You can now find many laptops
pre-loaded with 1 Gig of RAM and capable of upgrading to 4 Gigs
or more.
Compared to yesterday's computers that's a lot of RAM. If you're
not into gaming, handling large video files/editing, all that
RAM is not needed but it will make your laptop run faster. Also,
remember if you're into gaming, Video RAM will be important
-- you need a top of the line (read expensive) Graphics Card
and it will increase the cost of your laptop.
Also it may be wise to buy a laptop with upgradable memory -
since new applications, multi windowed browsers, streaming video...
of the very near future may place high demand on your laptop's
RAM.
* Dual Core ProcessorsCPU or Computer Processing Unit is the heart of your laptop
and in this case you have Two Hearts -- Intel Centrino Duo
is the front runner in this area right now. However, AMD
is giving Intel some stiff competition in the dual core
battle with its Athlon(TM) 64 X2 dual core processor. Either
one would be a wise choice.
* Hard DriveThe amount of space or size of laptop hard drives are
steadily increasing, a 100 Gig laptop is now common.
If you don't want a lot of storage, buying a smaller
size hard drive will save you money.
Many laptop experts choose the SATA hard drive with
a high 5400 or 7200 RPM.
* Weight or SizePerhaps the major reason you're considering buying a laptop
is its size or weight -- otherwise you're better of saving
your money and buying a desktop computer instead. A laptop is
portable, you can carry it anywhere... tuck it under your
arm and cart it to class or your next business meeting.
It is ideal for taking your information and work to wherever
you want to go. This portability is the main selling feature
of a laptop.
Obviously you must pick the best sized laptop to suit your
needs. Laptops are divided into different categories, here's
a quick rundown:
Tablet PC (smallest) Size of a paper tablet or notepad, less than 3
pounds.Ultra Portable (small) 13" x >11" More than 1.5 inches,
more than
7 pounds and up
Pick the size that suits your purpose and use.
* PriceLaptop prices are steadily falling, it is now possible to get
a quality laptop for well under a $1000. Many are selling at the
$500 - $600 range. High quality gaming laptops offered by such
specialty laptop makers as Alienware, Rock, will still set you
back 3 to 4 grand. Ouch!
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