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Which Laptop? I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been asked by family, friends and colleagues the question: “Which is the best laptop to buy?” People often assume that someone like me who works in IT can easily provide an answer to this question; after all, surely we should be on the ball and know exactly which laptop is the latest and greatest and best value for money? In reality, this is such an open-ended question that cannot be answered with a mere suggestion for this or that model laptop. Buying a laptop is more like buying a mobile phone than a desktop computer. The reason I say this is because a laptop is a personal item, just like a phone. The majority of desktop computers are alike; keyboards and mice and monitors are pretty standard, but laptops are not so standard. Important questions What will I use this laptop for? Are you a casual user or a gamer? Will you mainly use the Internet and manage your photos, documents etc? Or will you want to play the latest video games? Where am I going to use the laptop? Will it be used mainly at home or will you be carrying it around a lot and using it on the go? How much am I prepared to spend on it? If your answer to question 1 is you are not a gamer, then you don’t need a high spec laptop. However, if you are a gamer, then you will need a laptop with sufficient memory, disk space and graphics card to play your games. If your answer to question 2 is that you’ll mainly use the laptop at home, you might as well go for a widescreen 17-inch laptop and not worry about weight. But if you are a commuter, you’d do better with a 15-inch laptop with the lightest weight and highest battery longevity. If your answer to question 3 is as cheap as possible, then you’ve a wide choice of budget laptops available. Laptops with the cheaper AMD processor chip (like Acer for example) will save you money over those with Intel processor chips. However, if you’re prepared to spend more than the average price, you can get more “bang for your buck.” Tech specs – standard user On a technical note, if you’re a standard user, the only specs you |
In a world where technology moves at an astounding pace, DaC Network Administrator Jonathen Winterburn takes an occasional look at the latest gadgets... Jon Asks What’s New? |
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Tech specs – advanced user/gamer If you’re in this second category, then most likely you don’t need my advice anyway! But in case you are you interested, here’s my two cents. Get a decent spec laptop. Dual-core 3Ghz will suffice, but if you have the extra cash, go for Quad-core or better. 64-bit Windows 7 is a must. 4Gb RAM at least, 8Gb if you can afford it (not necessary though). Get 500Gb of disk space – you will need it for game installations. An absolute MUST is decent accelerated graphics. I recommend nVidia GT 240M or above if you’re an nVidia fan (like myself), or one of the Radeon 5000 series if you prefer ATI. Windows, Linux or Apple? If you’re used to Windows, you’re |
better off staying with it unless you’re prepared for a learning curve. Having said that, Mac OSX is very easy to pick up and the switchover will be relatively painless and the hardware is beautifully crafted - lightweight, brushed aluminium and whisper quiet. But it will definitely cost you much more for a Macbook than a Windows based laptop. If you’re looking for more of a challenge and want to save money on licensing and tech specs, then you could always buy a basic laptop with Linux installed (like Ubuntu). Final tips Research, research, research! Look around online and find a laptop that’s within your budget and desired tech specs. Then read reviews on different shopping and review websites. Once you’ve found a few likely contenders, go to your local computer stores (like PC World) and have a look and feel of models that are physically similar to those you’re interested in. This is very important; because you need to be sure you’ll feel comfortable using it every day. Are the fans noisy? Are they underneath or on the side? Underneath fans will make your legs hot if you sit the laptop on your lap! Do you like the glossy screen or would you prefer matte? How does the track pad (mouse) and keyboard feel to you? Are the buttons too subtle or too clunky? Is the laptop too heavy? Once you’re happy with the physical attributes, walk out of the store! Don’t get ripped off! Instead, browse around online and get the best deal, but please remember to only buy from reputable firms like Dell, Amazon and the like and if possible use a credit card rather than debit card to protect your purchase. Always make sure you buy from a website that displays a valid Secure Socket Layer (SSL certificate) – you can tell this by clicking on the little padlock in your browser. I hope this has been of some help to you. Jonathen Winterburn |
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