I mentioned that I was looking for a new laptop but the shipping arrival date was not in my favour. My current laptop is old, not for public display and could be faster. When I bought it, I had no idea about computer specs and what makes a good laptop. After 3 years of slowly building my computer know-how, I now can go and buy with confident and be intimidated by the sales person’s complicated tech-talk. If you’re thinking of buying a laptop, read on. I’ll be giving tips on the best laptop for you and avoid wasting your hard earned cash on something useless to you.
Note: the following is for PC people only. I have no idea about Mac.
The most basic and yet very vital in laptop-shopping is the specifications (specs). At the moment, there are a few road shows in
Example:
Super Awesome Laptop
Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor T5550 (1.80GHz)
Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
120GB SATA Harddisk
1GB DDR2
Wireless WiFi link
Bluetooth
This is just a basic example. There are actually a lot to know in term of specs but these are the ones to look for and be explained briefly in this tutorial. What do they all mean?
Processor: Intel's Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors have helped notebooks gain ground in the power department. The CPU determines how quickly a notebook runs applications and performs on-screen tasks. Notebooks using these dual-core processors performed considerably faster than notebooks using single-core processors, particularly when multitasking. On my browsing trips, I’ve noticed that most of laptops today have Duo processors. So, if you see one without the ‘Duo’ in it, avoid it even though it’s dirt cheap and it comes in your favourite colour. The processor speed (1.80GHz in the example) is easy. The bigger the number, the faster it is.
Installed memory (1GB DDR2). The more installed memory your notebook has, the more applications you can run at once, and the better your notebook will perform. Ease of access aside, upgrading memory in a notebook is a bit trickier than with a desktop, so buy as much memory preinstalled as you can afford. Notebooks with 512MB or 1GB of RAM are optimal. So please, please, PLEASE avoid 256MB or, God forbid, 125MB like the plague! It will give you nothing but problems in the very near future after purchase.
If you have the money, spend it on picking the best installed memory. (there’s up to 4GB of RAM currently)
Graphics card (Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100): this is important depending on the main purpose of your laptop. If you’re just getting a laptop for internet/work/dvd watching, then most graphics card (especially with the current technology) would be enough to accommodate your needs. But if you’re a gamer or might use it for your gaming pleasure once in a while, then more attention should be given to this spec. there are a lot of graphics card out there and too many for me to mention. It’s best to ask the salesperson about how good the graphic cards are. Or researching it online is best. But all I know is, anything with a GeForce in the spec would be a very good gaming laptop.
Hard drive (120GB SATA Harddisk): this is basically each person’s preferences. How much stuff do you want to put in your laptop? If you’re like me and have a huge music and digital photos collection, the bigger the better. I think it’s such a hassle transferring all those stuff to an external harddisk. Especially annoying when you have to plug in an external just to play a song you want. In the market, laptops with a harddisk of 320GB are in store. If you’re not a pack rat, then please save your money on other things. External harddisks are getting bigger and cheaper. So, lack of space won’t be a huge problem for you.
Other stuff (WiFi & Bluetooth): these are usually a given. A laptop without a WiFi is ancient (*cough* like mine.) but Bluetooth and other stuff are bonuses really. Some need them and some can do with an external one. So, these are your personal choices. Of course, the more the better right?
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