How to Choose the Right Laptop: 5 Essential Tips
Buying a new laptop for most users can be confusing and risky, especially if your experience is limited to using the laptop to help you do your tasks, work or study.
However, knowing some tips can help you narrow your scope of search down, making it easier to choose the right laptop for you.
Define Your Purpose and Usage:
The first step to choose a laptop is knowing what you will be doing with it and how it may help you.
This can be segregated into several categories:
1- basic Usage ( Email, Microsoft Office, Browsing , etc .. ): for this Usage, a basic laptop Core i3/Ryzen 3 with 8 GB RAM and SSD Storage will do the job.
2- Productive Work ( IT, Programming , Accounting ) : you can go for a laptop with Core i5/i7 or Ryzen 5/7 with 16 GB RAM and SSD Storage.
3- Gaming and Graphic Design ( Video Editing, 3D Work) : for this heavy usage, you need to have a good GPU like (NVIDIA RTX / AMD Radeon), 16-32GB RAM, and a high-refresh-rate display.
4- Portability and Business ( Travel, Business Meetings ) : for this usage, the lightweight and portable design are important. Also, you need a battery life of at least 8 hours.
Choose the Specs:
1- Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5/i7/i9 or AMD Ryzen 5/7/9 for performance. Avoid outdated generations.
2- Memory (RAM): 8GB for basic tasks, 16GB for smooth multitasking, 32GB+ for heavy workloads.
3- Storage: SSD (Solid State Drive) for speed (256GB+ for casual use, 512GB-1TB for professionals).
4- Graphics Card (GPU): Integrated (Intel Iris/AMD Vega) for office work, dedicated (NVIDIA RTX/AMD Radeon) for gaming and editing.
5- Display: 13-14” for portability, 15-17” for productivity and gaming. Higher resolution (1080p, 2K, or 4K) improves quality.
6- Battery Life: At least 6-8 hours for work laptops; gaming laptops usually have lower battery life.
Quality & Features:
There are some build features that may be required for your work, these can be categorised as follows:
1- Keyboard and Touchpad: some types of small laptops don’t come with a number pad, you need to make sure the keyboard and the touchpad are comfortable for your type of work.
2- Ports: check how many USB Ports you need and if the laptop comes with HDMI, no one likes to buy more adapters and extensions.
3- Ability to upgrade: there are some laptops that allow upgrading RAM and Storage.
Set up a Budget:
1) 250$ – 600$: you can get a laptop for basic usage and lightweight work.
2) 600$ – 1000$ : Productive work , light gaming.
3) 1000$ – 2000$ : heavy usage, video editing , gaming.
4) 2000$+: professional workstations, luxurious laptops.
Review, ask for Advice:
Always check youtube videos from known youtubers, check their reviews
Check also for user feedback from online stores like Amazon.
Conclusion:
Getting to know what you want from a laptop is important because it minimizes the regret of buying one. Also, it will narrow down your choices.
However, if you’re not in a rush, always wait for discounts and black fridays, amazon prime day
, or your local electric shops discounts.