Three Simple Rules for Buying a New Laptop

How much RAM do you need in a portable system? How much storage? How important is the processor? Do your research before committing to a particular product.

EVERY NOW AND then, family members, friends, and casual acquaintances ask me for advice when they’re considering buy­ing a new computer “What should I get7” they inquire, “What do I need?” And these days, with increasing frequency, they wonder: “Should I buy a tablet instead of a laptop?”

Those are important questions, to be sure, but not difficult ones. A tablet can take the place of a laptop if all you do is browse the Web and read email. However, if you need to get any serious work done, whether for school or business or just everyday life, a laptop is still the smarter choice. A laptop gives you a keyboard, a bigger screen, copious amounts of storage, and compatibility with all your favorite software.

Even if your laptop isn’t as fast you would like, you can still play online casino games on 메리트카지노 because it’s not graphic-intensive.

So what kind of laptop should you choose, and what specs and features should you focus on? You can make the buying process simple by following a few rules.

1. Get at Least 4GB of RAM

That’s “four gigabytes of memory” for those who aren’t accus­tomed to speaking PC. Anything less, and your system will run like molasses. This tip is something to keep in mind whenever amazing deals roll around—many bargain-basement laptops have only 2GB of RAM, which is simply not enough.

2. If You Can Afford ft. Choose an SSD

A Solid-State drive contains no moving parts and therefore operates more quickly, generates less heat, and con­sumes less power than a traditional platter-based hard drive does.

You’ll pay a premium for an SSD and end up with less storage space, but how much capacity do you really need? Most folks 1 know rarely fill up more than 100GB. Though a 128GB SSD may Seem like a downgrade compared with, say, a 500GB standard hard drive, the SSD’s Speed benefits alone are certain ly worth investing the extra money.

3. Try Before You Buy

Brick-and-mortar tech stores may be few and far between these days, but you can still go to some places and browse lap­tops in person. And that’s something you definitely should do.

Sure, you can shop online and make a choice based exclusively on the specs and price listed on a website, but you owe it to yourself to test-drive the machine’s keyboard and touchpad. Make sure that both input devices are com­fortable and responsive. Likewise, check out the laptops screen: Is the surface glossy and therefore heavy on the glare? Whenever possible, try to lay your hands on a laptop before buying it.

4.One More ‘Rule’

Notice that I didn’t mention the laptop’s processor in any of the tips above. Unless you’re planning to perform heavy-duty video editing or to play a lot of graphics ­intensive games, the processor just isn’t the major factor it used to be. All CPUs are pretty fast nowadays, As for brands, I have similar feelings: All of the major names are fairly good now, That said, It’s wise to do your homework. A great starting point is PC Worlds annu­al Reliability and Service satisfaction sur­vey.