Categories: Laptop Tips

Your Laptop Computer Checklist: Questions and 5 Important Factors

By Charles L Harmon

Do you have a laptop and ever wonder how you can keep up with the latest trends in laptop computers. Don’t waste your time, for it seems like there will never be an end to the new features and capabilities of today’s laptops. Unless you’re a certified geek, forget about trying to even keep track of all the newest features.

Everyday, a newer, sleeker, thinner, and more sophisticated laptop is born. The baby is definitely a higher-speed laptop computer than previous models. The new baby, even before it makes its public debut, is the envy of other computer manufacturers. By the time it shows up on the market it’s a good bet another company has something similar or even more powerful.

Laptops now come in white, grey, silver, black and other colors. They vary in price considerably. When you combine price, color and features you can get a major headache, trying to decide, which model has the best features or is the best value for the money.

The details are really important if you want your laptop to fulfill a specific need. After you decide what you mainly want to use the laptop for you can then concentrate on which one and with what features are best for you.

Are you always on the go? In the office, is that where it is going to be used? Is it for use for airplane travel during your many vacations? Will you try to look cool at the beach pecking on your laptop? Are you the sedentary type or a couch potato who would likely be using it at home? Maybe are you a student who needs one for your classes? Maybe it’s a gift and you want it to be a laptop that shows you didn’t just buy any old laptop, but one the person might actually buy for themselves if they could afford it.

Then again you are interested in making money from an online business and you need a reliable, but portable laptop to be able to write articles on the go, monitor your websites, and check on the latest products you can promote. In a case like this or any other use where the computer will be invaluable you probably do not want to cut corners with a bottom of the line laptop.

Answer those questions or otherwise decide the reason you need the laptop computer. If you are like my sister who says “my wants are my needs” then that alone is reason enough to buy exactly the laptop computer your heart desires. Once you know this, create a laptop checklist. Then check the following five things to help choose which laptop computer will find itself in your hot little hands (or big hands, as the case may be).

Laptop Size / Weight

A laptop’s size is usually directly correlated to the display size and portability. If you use it mostly on business or you’re on the go a lot your laptop probably should be small and light or even large, but light-weight. If that’s the case there is no need to worry about shoulder strain and heavy weight.

Ultra light laptops also mean a smaller screen size, but there are exceptions. There are some expensive laptops that are thin and fairly light-weight. If you prefer a smaller screen size make sure it is comfortable on your eyes. Don’t get one if you need to use it for long hours at a time. It might be too much of a strain on your eyes. In a case like that it is better to opt for a larger screen size, even if it means more weight or even more money.

Although a laptop with a larger screen may weigh more than an ultra light model and may not fit in a standard laptop carrying case, they provide a larger display which is better for watching movies or making PowerPoint or multi-media presentations. They also may cost a little less than the smaller lightest weight laptop computer models.

Memory

Again, the key here is the purpose you intend to use the laptop for. If you intend to use your laptop for simple applications like email, spreadsheets, and simple word processing, you can settle for lesser memory. But if you’re thinking of editing a movie, making a recording or installing an action video game, go for 2 GB or more if the price difference is not too great. Digital editing and other multimedia applications generally use a lot more memory than most other applications. Usually, the lighter the laptop, the more powerful the processor and the more expensive it is. Maybe it’s a marketing gimmick to jam in the most stuff to justify the higher end processor.

Hard Drive

If your laptop is your primary computer, it would be a smart move to buy a laptop with a large capacity hard drive. Depending on when you read this that could be 200 GB or more or possibly a Terabyte or more, even if you are reading this in 2009. Lots of disk drive space is good for storing large files, like MP3 music files, video files, albums with your 10,000 10 megapixel images, or a long multi-media presentation. Even if you don’t plan on having large files I say don’t skimp on hard disk size. It is often not much more money to even get double the size or more in disk space.

Network Connection

A strong reason to buy a laptop is accessibility and mobility. That translates to connectivity. Buy a laptop that allows you to connect to the Internet to do online dating, to a wireless network, to a home network, or to an online service. You also want to be able to take your laptop computer and use it at airports and hotels where they have wireless internet services if you ever think you may need it in those places. You don’t want to later be forced to buy a new computer or search to find an old adapter solution if that can be avoided. Look for a high internal wireless connectivity of at least 802.11G. Standard laptops are normally equipped with an internal V.92 modem (RJ-11 jack) and a 100BaseT or a Gigabit wired Ethernet port (RJ-45) jack. Firewire ports are also common on many laptops these days, even those that are not Macs.

Price

What’s your budget for your laptop? Exactly how much are you willing to spend on that fancy little box of a computer you really want badly? In most cases laptops with faster main processors or chips and more memory cost more money, as expected. Then there are the brand names that usually cost more regardless of their features when compared to non-brand name laptops.

Check online sites to find good deals. Computer manufacturers have discount coupons and many larger stores have them too. Mail-in rebates may also be available for some models and brands. Explore the Internet or make a trip to the nearest computer outlet store in your area. You will find a great selection of laptop computers with one or usually more, that seem to fill the bill for your particular needs.

There are other things to consider like video processing memory or board, DVD burner or reader, XP or Vista operating system if a PC, etc., but these five characteristics mentioned above are usually the most important for most users. Mark these five things on your checklist. It should make your laptop computer shopping a bit easier and less confusing. For you buffs on style some laptops have some neat cover colors or provide for you to change skins. You can now make your laptop something that fits you and keeps you in style all at the same time.

Copyright © Charles Harmon

Charles owns several websites and writes articles. He has just started his own personal blog and Dementia-Alzheimer’s Diary of Mr.Q. A new interest of Charles is home gardening - visit http://mygardendelight.com. Some of his articles and announcements are posted on http://15hwy.com.