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Buying a laptop is really about what fits your needs. All new laptops
will perform the basics tasks like browsing the internet, checking
mail, work reports, etc., but take a minute to think about what you use
a computer for now and also what you would like to use it for. Do you
need a built-in webcam? Do you have a newer TV that you would like
connect the laptop to? Do you need a tablet PC or touch screen?
The first step is to decide on a size. The size of the laptop may
sound a little pointless, but it really helps to narrow your choices
down and find something that will fit just right. If you plan to carry
your new laptop with you everywhere you go, light-weight models are
available. These can typically fit in a large purse, briefcase or
backpack. If you do not mind the weight and would prefer the
experience of a desktop, wide-screen laptops are the way to go. They
are feature rich and typically more powerful than the light-weight
counterpart. There are also models available right in the middle of
these two, as well as mini-laptops.
Mini-laptops or Netbooks are small and cute, but are pretty limited in
performance. HD video may be choppy, web pages and software will load
a little slower and gaming is out of the question. The do not come
with a Hard Drive (storage is limited to memory cards) or CD/DVD drive,
but you can plug an external drive into them when needed. Stick with a
trusted brand like Lenovo (IBM), Dell or Gateway, but never Asus, HP,
Compaq, Toshiba, Sony, Acer. At least in the computer world. An
exception is HP printers and scanners.
Once you have decided on the perfect size, you can start shopping. The
next important question to answer is "What kind of warranty and service
plan do I need?" If you are comfortable swapping motherboards and
reinstalling windows, then you should shop for the best hardware you
can find for your budget. Everyone else should find a vendor that
offers the best service and support you can find for your budget. A
four figure purchase is not something you want making every time life
happens, and knowing that you have a little backup plan is nice.
Most companies that are in this business understand that customer
service is key, but there are also many that do not. Avoid Hewlett
Packard like the plague. I promise you that having to deal with them
will make you want to break the laptop up into little pieces and mail
it to them with a nasty letter. Dell has two levels of service,
regular and XPS. If you buy a Dell, do spend a little extra and go for
the XPS systems. The support group is in America and has fairly short
wait times, repairs happen on-site within(typcially) 72 hours, and they
are super friendly and helpful. I've heard Apple's support group works
like this, but I have never had to call them. Think of Apple like the
Maytag of computers.
I suppose it is time to address the operating system or 'OS'. In some
cases this will determine what company you decide to buy from, so if
you are wanting to stick with Microsoft Windows, go ahead and mark any
Apple products off of your wish list. However, if you want a clean
interface and very little problems, mark everything but the Apple
products off. MAC OSx is the operating system on all of Apple's
computers and for personal use, Windows cannot touch it. You will not
experience the spyware and viruses that you are prone to with Windows,
nor will you have major software conflicts. It just works.
I am not pushing you away from Windows at all, just making a few
points. I have personally run Windows Vista for the past 3 years and
could not ask for a better operating system. Every day I throw a lot at
this OS including high quality multi-track recording, HD video editing,
500MB+ graphic files, animation rendering, gaming, etc. Not once have
I run into a problem installing hardware or software that wasn't
resolved with a quick Google search. Windows is familiar, stable, very
fast and compatible with 90% of everything sold in stores.
The main hardware components of computers and laptops are becoming the
least important part of selecting the right machine, but there are
still a few things you need to have. The processor is the main
component that affects speed and performance of any computer. I will
not go into extreme detail about the differences between each, but you
want to avoid AMD and the lower end Intel processors. For performance
that you expect, stick with Intel DuoCore or better. There is also a
quadcore available, but it is a little overkill for average daily tasks.
System memory or RAM should be the next 'Spec' you should look at. A
quick rule of thumb could be 1GB for economy, 2GB for typcial, 4GB+
great performance. You can think of RAM as a moving truck. The larger
the truck, the faster your work goes.
A different storage device is the hard drive. If RAM is temporary
storage, your hard drive is permanent storage. The virtual capacities
of today's hard drives are incredible, but anything over 100 Gigabytes
should be more than sufficient. If you need extra storage, external
drives have capacities over 2 Terabytes now. For a reference MP3s are
typically 1 Megabyte per minute of music. There are 1,000 Megabytes
(MB) in a Gigabyte (GB) and 1,000 Gigabytes in a Terabyte (TB). So you
could theoretically have a million minutes of music stored on a 1
Terabyte drive.
Other options to consider are wireless network, Bluetooth, built-in
webcam, HDMI output (for connection to newer TVs), display meterial
(flat or glossy), CD/DVD/BluRay burner, pointing device (touchpad,
trackball, eraser pointer, etc.) and many other features.
Now that you have a few things to think about, here are my
recommendations for January 2010, and I suggest ordering directly from
the manufacturer. These are good all-around laptops @ great starting
prices.
Netbook- Dell Earth Mini @ $399
Small- Lenovo IdeaPad U150 @ $640
Medium- Dell Studio 15 @ $749
Large- Gateway P-7915u @ $1,099
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