Choosing a New Laptop: How to Find Just What You Need
Choosing a New Laptop: How to Find Just What You Need
The laptop was originally designed as a portable device for businessmen on the go. For years, the joke was that they were more unwieldy than desktop models. After all, the first laptops weighed over twenty pounds, had no batteries, and tiny screens. They also cost more than the average car.As you might imagine, laptops were little more than a niche item for the first decade of their existence.
But as with any new technology increased competition and improved production techniques lead to lower prices and better devices. Laptops got faster, lighter, and smarter throughout the 90s and sales grew. What had started out as a niche, almost novelty product was rapidly taking over the market. For the first time in 2008, laptops outsold desktops. The trend is expected to continue as most computer manufacturers are redirecting their research and development dollars to laptops.
How to Choose a Laptop
As close as we are to them and as much as we rely on them, most people don't know very much about computers. And for the most part, that' okay! The computers of today are so easy to operate that they don't require an advanced degree or even a tutorial. You simply plug them in and get to work. The most an owner will have to do is download an antivirus protection program or install Microsoft Office.Of course, you have to buy the laptop first. This is the step most shoppers are woefully under-prepared for. More often than not, they visit a retail computer store because of a sale and rely on the advice of the salesman. Not surprisingly, the salesman is often more interested in his commission than making sure you get what you need.
Why do you need it?
Sure, it's a simple question. But it speaks to why you choose a laptop in the first place. Most people buy a laptop over a desktop because of portability and convenience. But just how important is portability to you? If it is a key concern, you will likely want a smaller, lighter laptop that has excellent battery life. On the other hand, if you often work in the same place, you may want a computer that has a faster CPU, more memory, and ram. As a general rule, the larger the laptop, the more powerful it will be. Let us take a moment to review the most important laptop features.
Screen Size
Laptop screen sizes range from the tiny 8.9 inch to the gigantic 20 inch. As you might expect, the size of the screen has an effect on the dimensions and the weight of the laptop. If you enjoy actually working with the computer on your lap or on your stomach as you lay in bed, we strongly recommend a small to medium-size laptop. Laptops with 13 and 14-inch screens are the most popular.
Resolution
Resolution refers to the number of pixels that are visible. Just like with television sets, the larger the screen, the more pixels and the better the overall picture. Viewable megapixels plunge quite a bit when the screen is smaller than 12 inches. So, if you watch a lot of videos on your computer, we recommend an average or even a large laptop screen.
Memory
Random Access Memory (RAM) is arguably the single most important consideration when shopping for any new computer. The reason for this is simple: RAM has an effect on every single program that runs on your computer, from the word processor to the operating system to the web browser. For general computing needs, a laptop with 1-2 gigabytes of RAM, which is the average, is more than enough. But if you download large programs like videos off the internet, mass storage will be required or operations will slow considerably. Laptops with 4 gigabytes of RAM should allow active user to download whatever they like without encountering a slowdown.
Hard Drive
The larger the hard drive, the more space your computer will have to store programs and applications. Like RAM, the size of the hard drive has an effect on most on the programs that run on the computer and the general speed of operations. Since smaller laptops tend to have smaller hard drives, they are typically slower than larger ones. If downloads and memory are important to you, it is probably a good idea to purchase a laptop with a hard drive of at least 250 Gigabytes.
CPU
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is arguably the most important computer component. Without it, your laptop could not carry out the instructions to run programs and applications. But how important is the speed of the processor? CPU speed is measure in GHz and most have around 2 GHz. But for users who enjoy playing video games on their computers (gamers), a faster processor of over 3 GHz is typically recommended.
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