Consider Before Buying A Laptop

By Author: Gürsel Batmaz
Total Articles: 570
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Size and Weight, Portability:

First, sizes change from 11 inches to 18.4 inches diagonal measure. Ultraportable laptops has light weight and smaller. 18.4 inches laptops can be replaced desktop system. When you are shopping for a laptop, consider that what for you will use; travel frequently, and weight of accessories such as AC adapter when carrying around the laptop.

The lighter laptop, the easier to carry. With the weight of a laptop, price is inverse relationship. But, larger laptops have powerful graphic card and wider screen. Look out for that.

If you don't need mobility or portability then you can buy a 18.4 inches laptops.

Price - Expense:

Generally, a laptop is more expensive than a desktop which is equal configurations. Because, the technology is smaller so price is higher. If you need a laptop, first of all you want to able to carry your computer wherever you like and you can do it with a laptop. Besides lots of advantages about laptops, price is the con.

Networking - Connectivity:

With fast Ethernet connection, all of laptops can connect to a network and internet. ...
... Today, with the improvement of wireless networking, whole laptops able to connect wireless. 802.11 b/g is the initial standard, but you should look for upper standards such as 802.11 a/b/g/ Draft-N and WiFi support. Also you can search WiMAX connection support, 3G wireless cell networking.

Displays and Video -Screen and Graphic Processor:

Most of us want to watch films with our laptops. Only films, not. Game and picture editing some of us can do. So, larger screen and higher resolution is the better for us. But, if you do just networking, web surf etc. large display is not necessary for you.

Today, HD video and Blu-Ray HD video become a standard. My advisement, if you want to watch film and play game more image quality, notice Full HD display. Maybe they are expensive but, never buy less than 1280x800 resolutions.

Your graphic card is for you, not laptops. If you don't edit professional photograph or play advanced 3D game, you won't a cutting-edge graphic card. On board, internal graphic processor will be enough for you. So your laptop will be cheaper.

Power Consumption - Battery Life:

If you travel al lot, the battery life is important issue for you. Standard power, on an average consumption, ordinary laptops can give you 2.5 hours of battery life time. But, today, especially 14 inches laptops and smaller laptops can use about 6 hours (average).
Commonly battery has 6 cells. 9 cells battery discharge have longer lime than 6 cells.

And some laptops have some accessories, suc as backup battery. So with your backup battery you can use longer than usual.

Processing Power - CPU Speed:

CPU (Central Processing Unit), if you plan to use office work only, you have to buy entry- level processor. That's enough for you. But if you are gamer or editor (Photo-Video) then you should buy a laptop with cutting-edge processor. Like, Core2 Duo, Quad, AMD X2 64.

Memory (RAM):

Today, all of operating systems are using almost 1 GB RAM. So we must buy a laptop which has 2 GB RAM at least. But there are some tips consider about it. New generation, cutting-edge DDR3 Ram is faster than DDR2, but DDR2 is cheaper. If your laptops have more than 3 GB RAM capacity, then you must use 64 bits an operating system, cause after 3 GB cannot use with 32 bits. I think, 4 GB RAM capacity most ideal level but be aware of your operating system.

Drivers:

HDD drives, DVD or Blu-Ray drives etc. Is not enough your HDD storage? Do you want to play Blu-Ray films? You have to ask the question. If HDD storage is not enough, you can buy a external HDD. They are cheap and portability also. But now, external Blu-Ray drives have not produced yet. Be careful.

And, maybe, you can use LightScribe featuring, so ask your seller man the optical drives of laptop has LightScribe feature. LightScribe feature lets do a picture on your DVD without a printer, with laser.

Warranty - Brand Matters:

International warranties can be useful for you, If you travel out your country frequently.
And about brands, make sure that, you read enough articles and reviews. Be sure about the quality of manufacturer before you buying.

Upgradeability:

Laptop computers are unlike desktop systems. They are mostly non-upgradeable devices or expensive too much to replace CPU or RAM.
But this issue can be passed over using USB 2.0 and Firewire Ports or ExpressCard slot. You can add external hard drives, web cam, DVD drives, sound cards or graphic cards.
So you can add whatever you like your laptop. You can replace your desktop with a laptop trustfully.

This article's writer Gursel Batmaz is a worker in a company that sells many different brands of laptop in Turkey. You can buy Toshiba laptops and other brands.