what is the best laptop
By: sil | Posted: 01st December 2008
Asking what is the best laptop Its a bit like asking which car manufacturer makes the best cars, so its all relative to the person looking for a laptop in regards to their needs and requirements - so really there is no best laptop.
Finding one that's right for your needs.
Firstly we need to begin with a common specification that is a good standard for most laptops - Wireless and wired network cards should be built in - 2gb or ram as a minimum and the hard drive needs be at least 80gb or more, just about every new operating system, latest applications or games are usually always larger than older versions requiring much more hard drive storage space, and now even a 60gb hard drive is usually not large enough.
What else should we consider ?
Size and weight / how portable - CPU or Processor type - Windows Vista or XP - Dedicated or shared memory graphics card - How many USB Ports do you need - CD/DVD - Screen Size and type - How cool does the laptop look - what is its role or purpose - How to save money on top of the range machines.
Size and Portability - The most common screen sizes on laptops are between 13-15 inches, this also means the lowest prices when comparing to smaller or larger laptops with around the same specification, which a point worth noting if your out to save some money, if you travel around frequently, regardless of whether its overseas or on public transport then lugging around a weighty laptop computer could cost you more in physiotherapy fees than the actual price of the laptop, so lots of travelling makes a smaller type of laptop a smart choice. We have to also think that even if the laptop itself is not particularly heavy, add the weight of a few items such as a mains adapter - padded carry bag and an extra battery and it can soon all add up making it pretty heavy even if only carried for short distances.
If your in the market for one of the larger screen 17" laptops thats ok, but if you need to travel with this why not invest in a smaller laptop and then purchase an external screen which can be bigger than a 17" which can also be used at the same time as the laptops built in screen, giving extra viewing space.
Processor or CPU - Processors have changed a lot over the past few years and now it seems many companies appear to be bolting on more and more processor cores. So at present a laptop needs to have a dual core processor or above. Dual core is the present standard with Intel's Core 2 Duo and AMD's Turion 64 x2, both are very good processors, but my personal opinion is AMD has the edge due to its cheaper price. If you don't mind waiting and have the money, checkout some of the Quad core laptops coming onto the market.
Operating system - If you want a laptop with XP and you can only purchase with Vista (which is becoming more common now) do not just presume that you can simply wipe Vista and install XP, a lot of new hardware is now not having XP drivers developed for it and this can create problems when trying to change over to XP.
Graphics - it is usually impossible to upgrade the graphics on a laptop, usually whatever it has is what you stuck with, so if you are into gaming or high end graphics make sure the laptop has a graphics card with dedicated memory, otherwise graphic ability will suffer if used for gaming or high end graphics.
USB ports - you can never have enough of them, the average amount of USB ports on a laptop is around 4 this may sound like a lot, but after you've plugged in a keyboard - mouse - printer - pen drive there is none left, you can always purchase a hub, but why not purchase a machine with more than you need in the first place. On another note, just about every laptop now has USB 2 ports, but it is not hard to double check this as USB 1 is around 10 times slower.
CD/DVD drive - much of the information given in regard to CD/DVD drives can be confusing when we hear the terms Dual layer or CD/RW DVD/Rom, most laptops today should simply have a Dual layer DVD writer this will enable you to read and write to CD's and DVD's and play them both too.
Screen size - this really covers the portability of the laptop again, the bigger the screen the heavier its going to be, there are also some nice screen technologies around such as tru brite which give the screen a glossy brighter look.
Aesthetics - what would you prefer a slow laptop that looks superb or a faster machine that looks like a brick? When looking for a laptop there is a wide choice available so you should not have to compromise on either, but as a general rule if you have to, compromise on the looks a little but not on the spec.
Laptop role - what will the laptop be used for, general Internet browsing - word documents, pretty much any laptop could do this standing on its head, so the world of laptops is your Oyster. Business applications - large spreadsheets etc, then mid power will be fine, do not need to worry too much about the graphic abilities and a shared memory type should be fine. Gaming or high end graphics require the most powerful processors and graphics cards, be prepared to dig deep if you want to play the latest games with all the extra effects switched on.
Save Money - If you would like a good laptop for a cheaper price (who would not) you have a few other choices, the first of these is a second hand laptop, you can save a fair amount of cash this way, but you really need to know what you are looking at or you could end up with a machine with problems or one that is not all that it seems to be, plus unless it still has warranty left you could be taking a big risk.
Refurbished laptops offer a safer way to save money, you should also get a warranty too. Bargain basements offers - many retail stores very often have special offers which can be good value, check around on stores website for laptop models that have been superseded by newer models, again there are very good machines to be had this way, but be quick as there are always people on the look out for these. Checkout more articles at computer-adviser.com
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Tags: storage space, car manufacturer, older versions, usb ports, distances, 2gb, laptop computer, laptops, smart choice, graphics card, how to save money, public transport, network cards, drive storage, mains, physiotherapy, best laptop, best cars