You have finally decided to treat yourself with a new laptop, but has the plethora of devices in the market confused you? Don’t worry, our handy guide here will help you in choosing the perfect laptop to suit your needs.
Display
The first thing to consider while buying a new laptop is the display. A display is an essential part of any device so deciding what kind of display you require is the most important decision.
The most popular size of the screen is 15.6-inches, but other smaller screen sizes are now gaining popularity. Some other screen sizes are 11.6-inches, 13.3-inches and 17-inches.
What size display you buy depends completely on your use case. If you want something very portable you can go for an 11.6-inch display as it will be very handy and portable but if you want a big display along with portability the 13.3-inch screen size would be perfect for you. The 15.6-inch display is ideal for most people because it is the perfect display size for portability as well as viewing things on a big display. The 17-inch size is majorly for gamers and people who use their laptops as their desk machine.
The 15.6-inch display is ideal for most people because it is the perfect display size for portability as well as viewing things on a big display. The 17-inch size is majorly for gamers and people who use their laptops as their desk machine.
Processors
A processor is a component which powers your device and a weak processor would cripple the device. So selecting a good CPU is one of the most important decisions of buying a new laptop.
There are a lot of processors from Intel and AMD but Intel has a lead in popularity as well as customer preference. Some of the popular processors from Intel are the Pentium series as well as the ‘I’ series like the Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7, there is also a low-powered line of processors called the Celeron lineup but they are quite low powered chips which not a lot of devices use. From AMD processors like A4, A6 and A8 are popular.
For home use either the Intel Pentium Quad core or the i3 would be enough but for more intensive tasks like graphic designing and video editing, i5 and i7 are better.
Memory
A good processor without enough memory is like a sports car with a low powered engine. They just don’t go well together. The next important parameter is the RAM and the hard disk storage.
The most common configuration is 4 GB RAM with 500 GB of hard disk storage. But since the intensity of the tasks we do on laptops has grown, the memory requirements have too. 8 GB RAM with 1 TB of hard disk space has become essential now.
For home use, 4 GB RAM is enough but for anything else, 8 GB RAM is recommended. Similarly 500 GB hard disk is enough for home use but for video editing and graphics a 1 TB hard disk helps.
Graphics
Graphics is a factor which determines how smooth the game you are playing will run or how fast the video you just edited will render. Having a good graphic card is important.
Most laptops come with integrated Intel or AMD graphics which is good enough for watching videos and ultra light gaming. But for anything serious, a dedicated graphic card is extremely essential. Cards from Nvidia or AMD are good enough.
Battery
This parameter is almost always overlooked but is one of the most important features that a person should keep in mind. A laptop is used mostly on the go and it can’t be plugged in 24×7 so one should never ignore the battery life.
A lot of devices offer good battery life due to software optimizations or just because they use a larger battery. Some devices with good battery life are the Macbooks, they have excellent battery life.
Here was our guide to essential components to look out for in a laptop; we recently brought to you a list of best budget laptops which you can consider if you want to get most out of your buck. If you want something more powerful, you can wait for our upcoming list of best gaming laptops.