Today’s technology is constantly advancing. Computers are becoming faster and stronger. This is very true in the world of laptops as well. As the need for mobility becomes more important, laptops are making their way into many homes. This means it is up to you, the consumer, to make the right choice when buying. Read on to get some sage advice to help with your decisions.
Ask friends and family for recommendations. They can be a good source of information, and you can also use their laptop before you shell out money for your own. Family and friends will be quick to share whether they like their laptop, and they will be very honest about it as well.
Don’t purchase a laptop with the software pre-installed. Preloaded software can be more expensive, whereas buying it separately and installing it yourself is usually much cheaper. Try buying it at a discount online. You may just find that you can save as much as thirty percent or more on your purchase.
Make sure that any new laptop you buy comes with a way to return it if it doesn’t work right. Sometimes if you buy a new laptop they will give you a certain amount of time to return it if you have a receipt. Be very careful about this so that you don’t end up with an expensive broken computer.
If you’re buying a laptop online, know how to ask questions about it. Find out what the brand name is, and tell the person to give you the specs. If they can’t tell you then it’s probably a good idea to avoid buying from them. Unless you can look over it in person, it’s not worth the risk since you don’t know what you’ll be getting.
Understand what the specs mean. Pentium and AMD CPUs are today’s lowest price processors, with faster dual, quad and multiple core processors more expensive. RAM affects the speed in which tasks are performed almost as much as the processor. SSD drives are the latest, faster versions of hard drives. For displays, generally speaking the higher the pixels the better the display.
Do you need a DVD drive? If you plan to watch movies, install software or burn back-ups to disk, a DVD drive is a must. If not, you might be better off buying a smaller, lighter laptop at a lower price which doesn’t include a DVD drive. Only pay for what you need!
Make sure you purchase a custom keyboard cover for your new laptop, to protect it from liquids. These plastic wraps allow you to type away to your heart’s content, but prevent things like crumbs and coffee from falling in between the keys. This of course will help your machine last much longer and perform as it is intended to.
Make sure to always keep liquids away from your laptop. If any liquid gets on the keyboard of your laptop you could have more than just a mess on your hands. The liquid can fry your laptop’s components. You can protect your laptop from any spills with a plastic, custom-built laptop cover.
How large of a screen do you need? If you want to work on your laptop, you may need a larger screen with greater resolution, especially if your work involves graphic design. If all you want to do is word processing, a smaller resolution will probably do just fine.
How are you going to connect your computer to the internet? If you want to use wifi, you’ll have to consider where you’ll be working on the computer or what sort of internet connection you can purchase from a mobile company, such as an internet stick from a cellular firm.
A standard sound card will likely cut it for your needs. Unless you work in the music industry, the quality of the sound which is produced by a standard card will be up to snuff. If you just want to watch movies, TV shows, or listen to music, don’t pay for anything extra.
Computer technology is changing constantly so find out what can be upgraded before you choose a laptop. You need to know if you can upgrade the CPU, hard drive and RAM. Some laptop computers have ports that allow you to save data on external storage devices. Find out if you can do these upgrades yourself or if you will need to go to a service center to have a technician do the installation.
Think about security in your computer, particularly if you think it could be used without your knowledge. Consider using fingerprint or facial recognition software if you have extremely confidential information on your laptop.
If you ever need to ship your laptop somewhere using UPS or FedEx, see if you can buy the laptop box they use first. You can often save twenty or so dollars by buying the box and packing it yourself. They can still answer any questions about packing it up without charging you labor for doing so.
If you are looking at Windows laptops, don’t let the bad-mouthing you hear about Windows 8 be a deal-breaker. There are updates available for Windows 8 that allow for returning to a more traditional Windows interface. There are also tips that other users are using to work around the OS, and many post this online.
It is easy to see that there is a lot more to buying a laptop than just grabbing the first one off the shelf. Understanding what to look for when purchasing is more important than ever, as the needs of each consumer is different. Take what you have learned here, learn more and get a laptop that will make you happy.
