subject: Laptop Computer - Tips To Help You Choose The One That Is Right For You [print this page] Laptop Computer - Tips To Help You Choose The One That Is Right For You
Many people see price as the biggest factor when buying a PC. A bargain-basement price may seem tempting now, but will it give you the laptop you want?
When deciding how much to spend, consider the entire experience. Think about what you need and want to do before deciding on a budget.
Avoid features you won't use, such as an expensive graphics system, but spend a little more for stuff you might love, like a larger screen.
With a large, vivid screen and a high-powered graphics card, gaming PCs are going to cost more. You may also want a high-performance gaming mouse, headset, and surround-sound speakers.
Watching videos and streaming high-definition video requires more speed (GHz and RAM), and you may want to splurge on an integrated Blu-ray player/recorder.
Do you haul your laptop all over the place, or is it mostly your home computer? Do you want a high-resolution wide screen or is it more important to have a highly mobile PC? Consider what you want to do with your laptop and how often it's on your back or off your shoulder before you buy.
If you only use the laptop for e-mail and basic web surfing you need a PC that can handle Web browsers and e-mail programs reliably. It should have at least an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor and at least 1 GB of RAM. Pretty much any PC will do this.
Choose carefully right from the start. Most laptops are still equipped with old-fashioned hard drives. If you plan to use the laptop to store a lot of videos, photos and music, look for as large a hard drive as possible (measured in GBs). However, this is one component that you actuallycan upgrade, so it's not a disaster if it gets full you can always upgrade or use an externaldrive. If you'll only use it for work and to store documents and spreadsheets, you won't needlots of storage so you could consider an SSD in this case.
Whether you are a casual user or pro, always invest to protect your system. If your hard drive disk dies or your PC is damaged by a fall, flood, or fire, you could lose everything. At the very least, back up your important documents and media files to CD, DVD, or Blu-ray discs. Also consider backing up your PC files to an external drive. Either way, keep your back-ups in a safe placeaway from your computer.
