Choosing the Right Laptop for Your Needs
First thing to do when buying any laptop is to check it's specifications. These should be listed with the item being bought, but if they aren't, search the name of the laptop and model number in a search engine such as Google or Yahoo! and find the manufacturers website or a information page. Depending on what you want to do with your laptop, you will need to find the right features to suit you. Below is an overview of what to look for.
The processor
The most important part of any computer is the processor, and can be the biggest factor involved when it comes to cost. Depending on what you need your laptop for will depend on which processor to choose. Any processor above 1GHz will be enough to do the basics on a computer. This amount of power will allow you to view media like pictures and videos, create documents or browse the internet. Even the most basic of laptops, as well as netbooks, nowadays have a processor over 1GHz; so if you are looking for no more than the basics then any modern laptop will do. Processors such as the Intel Atom and Intel Celeron are some of the cheapest around, so look for these when buying a basic laptop. These processors will handle most applications, but performance will vary.
For more power-consuming tasks, such as image manipulation, viewing high-definition content and play basic games, a mid-range processor above 2Ghz is preferable. A processor such as the AMD Athlon II or Intel Core 2 Duo will be sufficient for workloads such as these. One thing to note is that a lot of processors such as these is that they feature multiple cores. These processors, for instance, have 2 cores each; so if you see a dual-core processor rated at 1.6Ghz for example, this will be the speed of one core.
For the most demanding, power-intensive applications, a high-end processor such as the Intel i7 or the AMD Phenom II x4 will be able to fly through pretty much all applications. These are amongst the most expensive chips on the market, so only get a laptop with one of these if you intended to use only the most demanding applications, such as 3D high-definition gaming, video editing and CAD design. Like the mid-range processors, these have multiple cores but usually come with four instead of two. This ensures seamless multitasking as well, so if you use a lot of applications at once the processor can delegate it's power evenly.
RAM or Random Access Memory
Put simply, the more memory your laptop has, the greater the number of applications it can handle. This also affects the laptops overall speed as the processor is only capable of processing what is in the memory at any given time. If you have a few windows open, such as an internet browser and a media player, any memory over 1GB will suffice. If you intend to use lots of applcations at once, consider a 2GB module. If you want to multitask the more demanding applications available, consider buying a laptop with 4GB of memory.
The graphics card
The type of graphics card you need depends on whether or not you will be carrying out graphically-intense tasks or for basic use. Most laptops come with integrated graphics chips onboard, such as the Intel GMA 4500, meaning the graphics chip is built onto the motherboard and uses the laptops RAM memory to function. This also means that memory is diverted from other applications, however this isn't noticeable when doing simple tasks. If you wish to use your laptop for gaming or high-def content look for a laptop with dedicated (discrete) graphics. A dedicated graphics card, such as the ATI Radeon or nVidia GeForce, has it's own memory so will not eat into your RAM. Like with RAM, the more memory a graphics card has the more calculations it is able to accomplish.
Extras
Be sure to check for any extra features you may need to use, as all laptops have their own configuration. As standard, modern laptops come with built-in wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) so you can use it anywhere in your home our out in hotspots. Still, be sure to check. Also, if you want to burn DVDs or Blu-Ray discs, make sure these are in the specifications. Most laptop hard drives are easy to replace and can be done at some, so if you wish to upgrade in the future this is possible.
Don't forget
Discount ProBook 6455b XA691AW Notebook Phenom Get the best price for ASUS A53U XT2 Brown Laptop Computer Buying HP g6 1a50us Notebook PC Silver Discounted Asus K53E BBR3 Refurbished Notebook PC Price comparisons for Acer Aspire AS5250 BZ853 15 6 Notebook Best APPLE MacBook Pro Notebook SuperDrive Where to buy R840 S8450 2 70GHz Writer Graphite Metallic Buy Compaq Presario CQ62 418NR Notebook PC Where can you buy IBM ThinkPad T43 Notebook Off Lease Acer AS5552 5898 15 6 Inch Laptop Black Compare prices Cheap Presario CQ57 214NR Notebook Dual Core Processor online Who sells HP Pavilion g7 1019wm Webcam 2 26GHz the cheapest Cheap Apple iBook PowerPC 1 2GHz 256MB Where can you buy Dell Latitude E4310 Laptop I5 560M The cheapest HP TouchSmart tx2z Customizable Notebook online Compare prices for Compaq Presario Wide Screen LAPTOP Silver Pc Price comparisons for Dell Inspiron i14R 1708MRB 14 Inch Laptop Who sells Notebook 2670QM 2 20GHz 7200rpm GeForce cheap 2133 WXGA 120GB Notebook KS174UT Sale Who sells Toshiba Portege R705 P42 widescreen Magnesium the cheapest Toshiba Satellite A355 S6935 16 0 Inch Laptop For sale Cheapest Samsung R430 14 Inch Laptop Black Price compare Hannspree HANSbook SN12E2288D212 Ultra Mobile America Dell Studio 1555 15 6 Inch Chainlink Best price Buying Toshiba Satellite L505D ES5025 TruBrite 15 6 Inch Who sells Gigabyte P2532N CF1 15 6 Inch Multimedia Notebook the cheapest Affordable HP Pavilion dv7 4171us Notebook BLU RAY Low cost HP Pavilion dv7t i7 2670QM Professional Buy Toshiba Satellite L635 S3030 13 3 Inch Texture online How do I get Gateway P 6860FX Laptop Processor Screen Buy HP dv7t processor BrightView Widescreen Cheapest CyberpowerPC Xplorer GX9400 17 3 Inch Gaming online Price comparisons of Dell XPS 15 i7 2630QM Professional Buy Dell XPS 17 i7 2720QM Elemental The cheapest HP ENVY 15 15 6 Inch Widescreen online Who sells the cheapest IBM LENOVO IdeaPad Y470 Laptop online Buy HP Hp Pavilion Dv7 1245dx Notebook online Cheapest Apple MacBook MC026LL 15 4 Inch Laptop HP Compaq Mobile Workstation Notebook Compare prices Buy 2540P I7 640LM 12 1 250 4GB Buy Lenovo 50382KU Edge E220S 12 5 Bargain Toshiba Portege R830 13 3 Notebook Where can you buy Compaq CQ56 201NR Presario Laptop Notebook Online 17 3 Intel Core 750GB 8GB Get the best price for Lenovo 433336U S10E 160G Home Who sells Dell XPS 15 6 Laptop Computer Sony VGN P530H Lifestyle Processor G Sensor Sale Who sells HP G42 415DX microphone Multiformat double layer HP Pavilion dm3 3010us 13 3 Inch Laptop For sale How do I get Acer AS5736Z 4460 15 6 Inch Notebook Mesh Black
The internet is home to thousands of online laptop sellers. Use search engines to check for the cheapest prices for the particular laptop you are after. Make sure you buy somewhere secure, preferably using an online merchant such as PayPal that offers buyer protection. eBay can be a treasure trove of bargains, so it may be worth checking on there too to see if your particular laptop is for sale.