subject: Laptop Buying Made Easy For The Home Or Office [print this page] There are so many features and options available when buying a laptop that it can be a little overwhelming at first, but there are really only a few specifications that are important for most consumers. In this article, I will focus on the needs of the average home or business laptop buyer. Gamers and those using graphics intensive software may have requirements above those mentioned here, and will probably need higher end graphics cards and CPUs.
If you follow my recommendations, you should be able to buy a laptop that meets all your needs for well under $1,000.
The important considerations when buying a laptop are the CPU or processor, memory, hard drive capacity, and monitor. Secondary considerations are the network card, optical drive, and graphics card. If you travel a great deal with your laptop, weight and battery life are things to consider as well.
CPU
Most laptops come with a single or dual core processor. Some of the cheaper laptops come with a single core processor, but I recommend the dual core processor such as the Intel Core 2 Duo or the AMD Turion 64. Although a little more expensive than a single core, a dual core processor will ensure that you will have a laptop that should meet your needs for the next few years.
You will see processor rated by speed in GHz, such as 1.3GHz, 2.13 GHz, etc. Don't focus too much on speed, as speed in GHz is not the best indicator of a processor's performance, especially when comparing processors from different manufacturers. As long as you choose a dual core processor, the speed should be more than sufficient for most purposes.
Memory
Memory in this instance refers to RAM, or Random Access Memory. RAM is rated by storage capacity in bytes, and has evolved rapidly in recent years, with most modern computers having RAM that is measured in Gigabytes (GB). Operating systems and many software packages are memory intensive, making memory requirements just as important as the CPU, perhaps even more so.
You will see memory most often described as DDR2 or DDR3, with DDR3 the most efficient. Personally, I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in performance between the two. Just make sure you get enough memory when you buy a laptop. Look for at least 2GB of memory at a minimum.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is the storage medium of your laptop, and is measured these days in Gigabytes as well. Look for 160GB at a minimum. Hard drive storage is one of the cheaper features to upgrade, so if you can get more do so, up to 500GB, which is more storage than you will likely need. Bear in mind if you get a laptop with lower hard drive capacity, you can always upgrade later, or get an external hard drive. Hard drives are also rated by rpm, with 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm being the most common. 5400 rpm is fine for most uses.
Monitor
Laptop screens are LCDs or Liquid Crystal Display monitors. Computer monitors are measured by display size diagonally, with a size of around 14 to15 inches the most common, which is a good trade off of size versus display quality and is suitable for most users. Smaller monitors are available as well, but be aware there is usually a tradeoff between size and screen quality. You can also get a larger monitor, and displays of 17 inches and greater are available, but at a higher cost.
A larger size monitor will of course also give you a bigger laptop, which will decrease portability. The picture quality is measured in pixels horizontally and vertically, for example 800 x 600, 1024 x 768 and so forth, with the higher the number the better. Look for a resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
Network Card
If you plan on connecting to the internet wirelessly, you will need a NIC or network interface card. Until recently, many NICs were externally attached, but most laptops these days come with an internal NIC. When looking at the laptop specifications, just double-check that the NIC meets 802.11g standards. It shouldn't be an issue with any recently manufactured laptop.
Optical Drive
Optical drives used to be standard on all laptops, and they still are on most, although some of the smaller models omit the optical drive to save size, the idea being you can play music or videos directly from the internet, or from a flash drive. Still, if you want to play or burn CDs or DVDs, or load run software from a CD, you will need an optical drive.
There are a number of different standards and specifications for optical drives, for example, you might see something like this: 8X R/RW with Double Layer Support. 8X refers to the speed of the drive, which will vary depending on whether the DVD is read only or read and write. The higher the number the better, so look for 8X or higher. R/RW means the drive can read and write to DVDs. If you plan to burn DVDs, you will need to have a drive with an RW specification. Double Layer Support means the drive can read double-sided DVDs.
All of the features I just mentioned should be standard on any new model brand name laptop you buy that includes an optical drive, so don't worry too much about it.
Look for basic features here, don't opt for the Blu-ray technology unless you have a really high-end LCD monitor. For your basic middle of the road LCD monitor, you probably won't notice a significant improvement.
Graphics Card
The graphics card included with most brand name laptops, that meet the other standards I mentioned above, should suffice for most everyday uses. Frankly, you probably won't have a lot of choices in the matter anyway, this is one area where laptops still lag behind desktops. If you run graphics intensive programs such as games or 3D modeling software, you will need a higher end graphics card with dedicated memory, such as the NVIDIA GeForce 8000 series or the ATI Radeon 1000 series.
A high quality graphics card can add considerably to the price of your laptop, so if you plan to use your computer primarily for gaming and portability isn't a big issue, you might want to consider getting a desktop instead. Desktops tend to be cheaper overall than laptops, and you will be able to devote more of your budget to the graphics card.
Batteries
Choosing batteries is among the easier choices in buying a laptop, since batteries are rated by hour of battery life. Not as important for those who plan to use their laptops as a desktop replacement, this becomes a big issue with those us on the go, such as business travelers.
Battery life varies widely, so if you take your laptop with you everywhere you go, take a close look at your options. Be aware that the battery life listed by the manufacturer is under ideal conditions, you actual results may vary. A longer life battery will likely be bigger, which will mean added weight.
Conclusion
And there you have my laptop buying guide. I hope it helps. One final bit of advice, get the best CPU and RAM you can afford. Skimp on the other features if you have to. CPU and RAM are the two biggest factors that determine what your laptop is capable of. Standards change rapidly in the computer industry, and you want to get the best you can afford at the time of your purchase, so that your laptop doesn't become outdated too soon.
