Here is a total guide for various users who want to own laptops and will ideally offer valuable tips in purchasing a laptop computer according to the need and the budget plan.
One concern our clients consistently need to know is what type of laptop computer they need to buy.
What a packed question!
Initially, we need to respond to a couple of very important concerns:
1. Is this a home laptop computer or a business laptop computer?
• Home laptops are presently focused on more entertainment oriented users. They are mostly developed with shiny screens, have larger (but slower) hard disk drives, and have functions like Blu-Ray players. Performance is only actually a consideration on higher end devices targeted at video players. And since most home laptop computers nearly never leave your house, the truth that it is a laptop is hardly an issue. Battery life is typically not as great, and the cases tend to be made of low-cost plastic that can't handle the rigors of travel.
• Business laptops are designed with more ruggedized styles. They are created to be used 8 or more hours daily basically nonstop. They are likewise made with higher quality parts that are developed to last longer between failures. They likewise have longer service warranties with much better service. Think of it - if these laptop computers are targeted at Fortune 1000 companies, those business are not going to tolerate disk drives that fail after a year. These factors tend to make it so business laptop computers cost 10-15% more than house laptop computers.
2. How long do you need the laptop computer to last before you replace it?
• Why do I ask you that? It's easy - the current patterns show that most home users replace their laptop computers and desktops every 2 1/2 to 3 years. It's usually speaking easy for house users to move their images and music to the new computer system, and possibly re-install a number of simple applications.
• For services, there are a number of additional elements that need to be thought about. Initially, moving software application and data from the old to the new systems is substantially more difficult and for that reason more pricey. While the information is being transferred, a lot of times the staff member can not work, which costs the business more money. The second is that company needs to follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) which tells them that computers must be depreciated off the books over 4 years. So that laptop had better dang-well last for 4 years!
3. Are you going to take a trip a lot with the laptop?
• Trust me on this - if you are going to take a trip a lot you do NOT want the 17" monstrosity. It weighs 11 lbs., and after that you include cords, the laptop computer case, and the mouse and the ... You see where I'm opting for this?
• If you speak with any of your company good friends that need to travel a lot for work, they tend to have smaller sized laptop computers with long-life batteries. 14" inch is a pretty standard size for complete featured laptop computers, and you can even get them with 12 or 13" screens, but the price-tag jumps up a lot for those.
• Here is an intriguing reality to consider - on American Airlines, the way the seats are developed, the tray will just accommodate a 14" or smaller sized screen quickly. With a 15 inch, the lid will not have space to open all the method and you can't see your screen unless the laptop is virtually resting on your stomach.
4. What type of spending plan do you have?
Because we're planning on keeping this thing around for 3-5 years. After 9 years of updates, repairs, and spots, it needs 512 megabytes to run, and 1 gigabyte to run well. Our software application needs are going to keep growing, and it's a lot more affordable now to prepare for down the road.
• If you buy a laptop computer for $500 now that hardly gets the job done, life is truly going to be bad in 3 years when whatever is running at a crawl. To me, the price-point to purchase is $750 (not consisting of software application like Microsoft Office) for a good strong service laptop computer with a 1 year, next company day onsite service warranty.
5. What sort of warranty does it include?
• Always ask/ research what kind of service warranty the laptop comes with. A lot of low end laptops have 1 year mail-in service warranties.
• What if you are an organization user? Can you live without your Best Laptop Under 500 laptop for even 5 days? Can you have workers without for 5 days? Just purchase laptops that have 1 year, next-business-day onsite service warranties, and always see if you can upgrade it to 3 or 4 years. After all, if you need to keep it on the books for 4 years, it's most likely worth $150 to have it under service warranty the whole time.
6. Do you require "constantly on" connection?
• For years pretty much every laptop computer has actually had cordless as a basic function. Recently, we've seen a lot of increase in users, particularly service experts, who NEED to be connected all the time. Or now you can acquire the Wi-Fi connection built right into the laptop so it's easier to user.
7. Does it have the ideal os for you?
• There can be no doubt that I am a substantial fan of Windows 7. Just make certain that if you are buying a laptop for organization, you get either Windows 7 Professional or Windows XP Professional so that it can connect to your server.
8. Do you actually require a full-featured laptop computer? If no, consider a Netbook.
In the last couple of years, there has actually been a rise of an entire new class of laptops called Netbooks. Netbooks are smaller than laptops (8 or 10" screens), have very low power consumption (so the batteries last longer) and significantly lighter (some weigh 1 pound.). Netbooks perform substantially slower than laptops - in fact, netbooks are more detailed to on par with laptops from 8-10 years earlier.
9. The extras !! Nice to have, however generally not required.
• Want to view movies on it? Make certain it has a Blu-Ray player and a HD screen. For real HD, you require the resolution to be 1920 × 1080 or better. Anything less and the computer system needs to dumb-down the image to fit your screen?
• Want to link your phone or a cordless headset? Get Bluetooth constructed into the system. Likewise good to user with a travel mouse or even a keyboard.
• Use it in low light a lot? Search for back-lit secrets.
• Need to do presentations with it? Make sure it as least has VGA out. Much better systems have VGA and HDMI out.
• Want much better graphics? Look for video chipsets from ATI or NVidia on the features list. Both of these companies specialize in higher-end video subsystems and will truly make Windows 7, movies, and games amazing.