Buying guide: How to choose the best laptop for you?

February 4, 2023  13:03

Together with the improvement of technology, computer equipment develops too, and when buying a new device it is difficult to decide what you need and with what parameters. Laptops are the most convenient computer equipment for home use, for study, and for work. Of course, the choice of device depends largely on its cost, but knowing a few details will allow you to choose the best value for money within your budget, suitable for your activity. Using the guide below, we will try to help you choose them.

First, let's understand the components of a laptop.

Processor: the brain of the computer

The backbone of any computer is a small chip that performs all the necessary calculations inside. The performance of this chip is measured by cores, threads, and clock speed.

Processor cores are practically individual processors, and the more there are, the more operations the computer will be able to perform simultaneously. Modern computers consist of 2 to 64 cores.

How many functions each core can perform simultaneously depends on the threads.

Clock Speed shows the speed of a processor, which is measured in GHz (gigahertz). For example, a 3.0 GHz processor performs 3 billion cycles per second.

Thus, clock speed shows the speed of the processor, and cores and threads show the performance.

The major processor brands are Intel and AMD. In the table below, you can see the recommended processor models depending on the purpose of their use.

Purpose Types of processors
For everyday use, browsers Intel Celeron, Intel Pentium, Intel Core i3, AMD A4, AMD A6
For watching videos Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 3, AMD Ryzen 5
For office work Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 3, AMD Ryzen 5
For programming Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, AMD Ryzen 5, AMD Ryzen 7
For games Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, AMD Ryzen 5, AMD Ryzen 7
For design work Intel Core i7, Intel Core i9, AMD Ryzen 7

 In the notebook component section, the processor information is listed as follows: Intel® Core™ i5-1240P (up to 4.4GHz, 12MB Layer 3 cache, 12 cores, 16 threads).

RAM

RAM is a type of computer memory in which information is stored while the computer is running (is switched on). The RAM of modern laptops starts from 4 GB, this is enough for everyday activities, and office work, but in terms of price-performance, it is preferable to choose a laptop with 8 GB of RAM. 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and more memory is used for the most demanding tasks.

Hard disk drive (HDD) or storage device (SSD)

These are your computer's main storage devices and their performance can have a greater impact on your computer's performance than even your processor. In this respect, SSDs are several times faster than HDDs, although the latter is more affordable. In addition, HDDs are more durable and fail later. So the choice depends on what you want to save to your computer. The capacity of the drives also depends on this. Given today's requirements, it is recommended to choose drives with at least 128 GB of storage capacity.

Size and weight

Laptops differ not only in technical parameters but also in appearance. Depending on how often you move your computer and how important the screen size is to accommodate different windows, your choice will also vary.

Laptop screens range in width from 11 to 17 inches. For example, laptops up to 14 inches are suitable for carrying around in a bag. Larger screens are used for detailed work such as design, games, etc. In addition to screen size, screen quality, and sharpness are important.

If you are constantly going to meetings and trips, it is more convenient to choose lightweight laptops weighing 1-2 kg. However, it is important to keep in mind that, as a rule, lightweight laptops are not designed for complex tasks and are relatively weak. Larger laptops usually weigh up to 3 kg.

The choice of keyboard is equally important. You should pay attention to the distance between the keys, the size of the touchpad, as well as, depending on the nature of the work, the presence of a separate part of the numbers and backlighting of the keyboard.

Brands

The most famous laptop manufacturers are Apple, HP, Asus, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, Samsung, MSI, Microsoft Surface, and Razer. They run on different operating systems: Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS.

The choice of brand depends on personal preference and price constraints.

Important details

In general, when buying equipment, you should pay attention to warranty service and terms.

For some features, you can consider two-in-one laptops, which allow you to fully fold the screen and use it as a tablet.


 
 
 
 
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