Laptop Buying Guide : Reading Laptop Specification

Reading laptop specification when buying laptop is far more than just having a look at the Brand and the price tag. selecting a good laptop involves careful consideration of various aspects that decide the device performance. When going to buy a laptop you must be tormented by a lot of question, this post here answers to all your questions related queries.

Questions to ask to yourself before buying a Laptop

Here is a list of questions that you must ask to yourself before you begin the hunt for that perfect device for yourself.

• What is the purpose of this Laptop ?
• How much battery life would I need?
• What is more important: Portability or Power
• What is my Budget?

People buy laptops for different reasons and usage. I have already written covered Laptop buying under various categories :

Laptop for Gamers

If you want to have a gaming laptop that could replace your old desktop so that you can play all the latest games while on a move then this category is for you. read this post to know what all you must consider before you decide which laptop to get. Laptop Buying Guide :Laptops For Gamers

Laptop for Business

If you need a laptop for Business purpose where you would be mostly doing your office work online and offline then you must read this post : Laptop Buying Guide : Business Laptops

Laptop for College or School Students

Just in case you are a school or college student and want a laptop to assist you in your academics this the perfect post for you to get an insight so as to what to consider before buying laptop : Laptop Buying Guide : Laptops For College Students

What are other things to consider

The major things that you must consider before selecting a good laptop are :

• Processor – CPU
• Memory – RAM
• Storage – Hard Drive
• Screen Size
• Services and Maintenance

These are the five most important thing to consider before buying a laptop, let’s see each of these.

Processor – CPU

This is perhaps the heart and brain of your computer so you should pay a lot of attention in selecting this. It determines how smoothly things are going to operate. I would suggest that you go for an Intel chip. Better be on a safer side by buying a core i5 for a medium range laptop with good balance between power and cost. For hing end systems a core i7 is recommended cause 4 physical and 4 virtual cores together do make a very powerful system. Core i3 is recommended if you are looking for a laptop for just surfing the net and watching movies and you don’t intend to use it for hard-core gaming or image processing CPU extensive process.

Memory – RAM

When deciding on RAM make sure that you get around 4GB of RAM at-least. But then also make it a point that 32 bit OS can only use 3.25 GB of RAM effectively so if you are planning  of adding any more memory the better consider going for a 64 bit OS.

Better stick with around 4 GB of RAM as you it would be just enough to handle all your multitasking.

Storage – Hard Drive

When it comes to storage it is never enough. But I would suggest that you must go for at-least 50GB to 750 GB of disk space these days considering the size of documents and HD content being so very common you will need this.

If you are considering buying a SSD device then remember SSD is still new and thus is still Costly than a Hard Disk. As far as performance is concerned  the SSD will  make the whole system appear fast. However, if you play a lot of games, and a lot of different games, go with one fast, large 7200 RPM HDD. SSD’s are fast, but they are really expensive and the storage you get it’s going to be tough for gamers mostly because the majority of new games are at least 10 GB.

Screen Size

Screen Size affects  the portability of your device and also the multimedia experience that you are going to experience.

If you are a hard-core HD and Blu-ray fan then make sure that your device is equipped with a screen resolution of  1920*1080, but these days most of the companies offer 1368*768 .

A 15″ laptop is a good balance between good multimedia experience and Portability. If your demand is greater portability then go for smaller screen sizes. If you demand the ultimate HD and Gaming experience and portability is not an issue for you then better opt for  a 17″ laptop. A 17 ” laptop would be very bulky

3D laptops : buy or not

Provided with the fact that 3D laptops are certainly costlier than the regular ones i would suggest better stay away from them, until unless you want a 3D device compulsory. Moreover for gamers very little number of titles are available ion 3D and so is the number of Movies in 3D.

Services and Maintenance

Make sure that you go for a reputed brand so that they can offer you all the Services and Maintenance that you demand.

For warranty go for an extended warranty in case you are an accident prone person or  student it really helps in long run. Make sure that the service center of the brand you select is nearby so that you don’t have to run a mile to reach it.

How important is Brand ?

Well these days brand name is not that very important, as long as you select any of the major Brands. Go for major PC manufacturers like HP, Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba or Sony. They provide good service and quality.