5 Factors to Consider When Buying a Laptop? If you want to get a new laptop or you are looking to change your old laptop, then ensure you read this post to the end because it’s going to help.In our previous post, we shared the top 10 Mistakes to avoid when buying a Laptop, which the majority of us fall victim to. In this post, we will be looking at 5 factors to consider when buying a laptop.
Laptops offers pretty much all the features that can be done with a desktop and offers a walkable device, which can be used to work on the go. But if you are a prefer a desktop, then go through this post to find out the top 5 Mistakes to avoid when buying a desktop.
Buying a laptop can be confusing because there are ton of options from which you can choose from, and making this decision on which device to buy can be a pain in the ass. There is quite a lot of features to consider but in this post, we will focus on the top 5 factors that are most important for people looking to buy a laptop.
5 factors to consider when buying a laptop.
- Processor
- Random Access Memory, RAM
- Hard Disk Drive (HDD or SSD)
- Design
- Battery
Processor (CPU)
The Processor of is considered one of the main part of a laptop or computer system that defines the overall performance and speed of processing any given task in a PC. If you are one to surf the web, like to game, video editing or any processor intense task then you need is a powerful processor. Using a fast processor will let you do all task on your laptop without slowing down. Bulk of the latest laptops comes with CPU of two major brands, Intel and AMD. They both offer decent performance but Intel is considered by most people to be more advanced than AMD.
RAM (Random Access Memory)
Random Access Memory (RAM) is the physical memory of any computer system which helps in speeding up the processing of the application. In order to have a smooth operation while working on multiple tasks, it’s recommended to have a laptop with at least 4GB RAM, the higher the better. If you intend on performing heavy processing tasks like video editing, gaming or graphics designing your laptop needs more than 4GB RAM, at least 8GB of RAM is okay.
It is also important to note that you shouldn’t only consider the size of the RAM but RAM type as it plays an important role in defining speed. It is best to look for a laptop with DDR3 RAM as its latest. DDR3 runs at a faster frequency than older DDR2.
Hard Disk Drive
The size of Hard Disk Drive installed on a laptop provides memory for all of your data including docs, software, videos, images, and other system files on your laptop. The minimum required hard drive space for laptop buyers is another big question. Most low budget laptops comes with a hard drive of 320GB. Although this is not really a problem because you can increase its capacity by replacing with an alternate hard drive of higher storage capacity. You can increase to 500GB or 1TB depending on your budget and price.
But if you want a laptop with boosted speed that perform task in a milli seconds then buying a laptop with SSD (Solid-State Drive) is your best option. Although SSDs laptops are quite expensive than the normal HDD but they are way faster than HDD. Majority of high-end laptop now comes with SSD storage. An SSD storage of about 250GB is okay for basic use and gaming also.
Design
The Design of a laptop is also considered one of the important factors to look out for in buying a laptop. Nowadays, laptop buyers tend to give a lot of preference to design of a laptop before buying it. We all want a laptop that comes with a slim design and high portability. It is important to point out that the design of a laptop also has an effect on the price of the laptop.
Recent laptop now comes with a detachable screen technology and can be used as tablet. Although laptops with this type of design are quite expensive.
Battery
The Battery capacity of a laptop is another deciding factor when buying a laptop. It is only natural that as the laptop is a portable device it should also have decent battery life to take you through some couple of hours working. A laptop having poor battery capacity will always interrupt your daily work and reduce your overall productivity. Majority of the low budget laptops comes with 6-cell batteries. Although battery life depends on the usage of laptop and how well you maintain it.
A laptop with at least 6-cell battery should give a minimum of 4 hours of backup power. Recent processors allows most battery to get to its maximum backup as they use less power.
Conclusion
There are some other important factors not covered in our list which should also be put into consideration such as the Operating System, screen size and type, keyboard and touchpad architecture, graphics processor among others. If you want to buy a laptop you need to know that you some specs specified buy the manufacturer might not be the same in reality. Especially in the case of battery. It’s important to always test out the laptop at the store if you are buying from a local store. But if you’re buying from an online store like Amazon, eBay or the likes, then ensure you read a lot of reviews about the product before opting to buy any laptop.