Laptop advice and help - choosing a laptop
Introduction to choosing a laptop
Choosing a laptop is not a simple decision, and probably will involve you delving
through tons of technical documents and jargon, just to be at the end of it
completely none the wiser.
First off, ignore all the jargon like cpu speed, and look at the way you would
use the machine, think about things like it's likely environment, what are it's
primary uses likely to be, how is it likely to be handled? For instance do you
require it to be just used at home permanently nestled in the corner, or are
you likely to use it as a gps navigation device whilst mountain climbing in
sub zero temperatures?
OK so the sub zero temprature part we'll leave alone for this article, but you
get my point? Link these two factors up with what your budget is, and you are
armed with a good deal of the knowledge you will need to make the correct choices.
Factors in choosing a laptop
1. The laptop's environment, this; in the life of a laptop can be anything from
- bouncing around in the boot of a car to sitting unmoved on a desktop apart
from the odd dusting. For most users of laptops it's usually a mixture of both,
plus a few train journeys, a little sunbathing over the park or in the garden,
a few slips from the lap onto the floor and the odd, "It's my turn now - Mum!"
scream from the kids.
Why should the environment affect my decision? I hear you ask. Well imagine
this scenario; Your in the shop, with your pockets full of money, and you spot
a shiny laptop you just have to have. You think, great I can do some work at
home, reply to emails whilst sitting in that long boring train journey home,
and best of all it looks great. What you should be thinking is - How is the
weight of the laptop going to affect my shoulder whilst I carry it from office
to train station to bus stop to home each working day and will the battery last
long enough.
2. The laptop's use, mostly this can be classed into two types, business and
home usage. For the typical business user, battery life may be a more important
factor than say a DVD re-writer, where as for the home user, who may well run
the laptop from the AC adapter most of the time, battery life would be way down
the list of decisive factors.
But this is really where you need to start making a wishlist of what you will
and would like to use the laptop for, just try and think of a list of ten things
and then priorities them.
3. Laptop budget. This is the part where, if your wishlist above overstretches
your budget, you will need to loose one or two of the lower prioritiesed items.
I guess for most people, this is the one factor they find the hardest to be
flexible on, but think about finance, most of the major manufacturers offer
finance direct from their websites.
I would advise everybody buying a laptop to take out an extended warranty plus
additional accidental damage cover, if it's not covered on your home contents
insurance. The warranty speaks for itself, laptops are designed to be mobile
and things that move around go wrong more than stationary objects. So remember
to factor these extra costs into your budget.
