How to choose a Laptop that is Right for you

With thousands of differing specs and prices, looking for a new laptop can be confusing. Do you need something with a big hard drive for increased storage or do you need a laptop that is more basic but incredibly portable? And what’s all this about processors and RAM?

Knowing which laptop is best for your is all about accessing what you actually need it for. Generally speaking, the more expensive a device is, the more powerful and feature-packed it will be. However, if you never use those features, spending a small fortune would be a waste of money.

On the other hand, if you do work that places a significant strain on a laptop’s processor and graphics card, a box standard model simply will not cut it and you’ll find yourself spending more money on an upgrade very quickly.

Mid-market laptops

For those needing a little more power, there are many laptops available that pack a punch without costing the earth. These are the sorts that have processors such as Intel’s CORE i5 and may have upwards of 8GB of RAM.

They are competent all-rounders and coupled with fibre optic broadband, they provide an enjoyable online experience. Many will be more than able to handle applications such as Photoshop and, with a decent graphics card, they should be to handle all online gaming throws its way.

Cheap everyday laptops

It seems that everywhere on the high street is selling laptops these days, including supermarkets, but what are they really offering?

In most cases, non-specialist retailers sell basic everyday laptops. These are models that have basic processors such as Intel Celeron or standard Pentium models, standard graphics cards and limited RAM – a temporary memory that allows applications to work faster.

They do a great a job for people who only do standard computer tasks such as surfing the net, word processing and sending emails. They can be seen as entry level laptops and are very popular with students.

Performance laptops

Serious gamers and people who work in video editing need a laptop with a fast processor and a high quality dedicated graphics card. In an ideal world, they should only consider models with at least an i7 processor and RAM of around 16GB as it enables them to multitask without any hiccups. If they are using programs such as Premiere Pro, Final Cut or Sony Vegas regularly, then a graphics chip from the likes of Nvidia or AMD will accelerate render times and provide a much smoother HD playback than cheaper, shared, versions.

Also read: Laptops below Rs. 30,000

Other things to consider

Choosing a laptop isn’t just about performance capabilities. There are many other things you’ll need to consider before making a choice. For example, do you need a laptop capable of playing and even burning Blu-ray discs or will a DVD drive suffice? What kind of battery life do you require? Do you need a large screen with a high pixel resolution or is something more portable needed? Do you want something that doubles up as a tablet computer such as the Lenovo Yogo Pro 3 or similar type of best convertibles? Finding the right one is all about research.