I want to buy a laptop but don't understand how to choose?

Question

I get confused with the different processors; whether Pentium or Core or whatever and with what is important when considering which is the best system for what I need. How can I get easy to understand information on what I should bear in mind and not get caught up with jargon I don't understand? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

TigerDirect has a tool that can help you decide what you need in a laptop. Go here:
http://w3.guidester.com/notebook.aspx?s=40615957

Answer 2

The best place to start is by asking yourself, "How will I use my new laptop?"
For example:
Q. Will you be using the unit primarily on the road?
A. If so, then the unit's weight and battery life should be primary considerations in your purchasing decision. If the unit will be used as a replacement for a "traditional desktop," then battery life and weight are of less concern.

Q. Will you be playing games, watching and recording movies, connecting to other devices like a TV or projector?
A. If so, LCD size and connection options become important.

Rule of thumb, get the most powerful processor, best video card (avoid shared memory video configurations), most memory (minimum 1gigabyte) and largest screen you can afford. If you can live without a $400 office suite, do so and apply the savings to a hardware upgrade such as maximizing the system memory.

Remember, Microsoft's new operating system (Vista) will soon grace the shelves of every computer store and users are going to need real hardware to fully experience it's nifty features.

Given the choice of a 32bit or 64bit processor based platform... go with 64bit.

64bit and multi-core is the future...period.

Answer 3

First of all consider what you are planning to use it for. What future things would you also like to do on it. Don't buy the top of the line, because with technology changing it wont be top of the line months down the road. If you buy it from Best Buy or Circuit City don't opt for their extended warranty. You will pay more than what the manufacturer will offer you when the one year warranty is about to expire that already comes with it. If you don't want to wait you can register at the manufacturers website after you purchase it and get one direct through them.

I would recommend just looking at a few laptops from the manufacturers website. That way you can see the differences and determine which would best suit your needs.

This question can be answered in many ways and be given many different suggestions. All of which can be good or bad. Good Luck shopping.

Answer 4

It all begins with deciding how much money you want to spend. after that, figure out your main use for the computer, homework, mail and internet, music, games, or video maybe. If you have the money I suggest a Dual core Pentium processor, if not go with Pentium 4, its pretty good. make sure you get at least 1GB of ram. 80G hard drive is more than enough but now a days 120G are pretty cheap. if you are not into gaming or video editing dont worry about the sound card or video card, just go with the standard ones. you still have to decide if you want a plain cd recorder or a cd/dvd recorder. go to dell, they have a pretty cool conguration site, and it gives you an estimate.
good luck

Answer 5

It mostly depends on what you plan to do with it. Most computers these days have more performance than the average user needs, but you want to make sure you have enough power to do what you want it to do.

If I buy another laptop anytime soon, I am going to get a Dell Inspiron 1501 with an AMD processor (go to dell.com, choose 'notebooks for home or home office' when the screen comes up go to 'notebooks' at the top and choose 'as advertised' then choose 'as advertised in catalog' - scroll down the list and you will find the bare bones 1501 for $579. pick it, and customize). For $50 you can upgrade to the Turion processor, and for an additional $50 you can upgrade to the Dual Core Turion. I am probably going to stick to the regular Turion. They have a free upgrade to Windows Vista when it comes out, which requires you to upgrade to Windows Media Center ($10), add 'true-life' to your monitor for an additional $10, double the memory for $65 (two 512 meg sticks for a total of 1 Gig), up your hard drive space to 80 gig for $35 or go up to 120 Gig for only $55 more (I'm sticking witih 80). Add a DVD burner for $40, Upgrade the wireless card for $10 bucks, and to top it off, add a wireless router for $46 bucks (to allow you to connect wireless to the internet and to a desktop machine if you have one).

It sounds like a lot, but it's the cheapest deal on Dells site--you can't get it that cheap if you try any of their other deals. If you price one exactly like I did mine it still comes out to only $795. Shipping is free, and you will have to pay sales tax, but you just built a powerhouse--beyond what most people need, but for a lot less than most people pay.

Answer 6

To get the most computer for your buck, figure out what you want to do with the laptop (Internet, e-mail, gaming, video editing, etc.), define or select (at http://www.comprec.com) the specifications (processor, hard drive, memory, etc.) you need and compare prices at different manufacturers/sellers.