The laptop comes with a variety of sizes, features/hardware and prices. When it comes to the buying option, you often ask questions to others which laptop should I buy?. What configuration must-have in the machine.
To help you choose the right one for use. We prepared a list of guidelines that you should consider before purchasing a laptop. If you are looking for the best Laptops for students or office use, then we highly recommend you to read our article about the best Laptops under Rs.40,000.
1. Define the use
First thing first, you need to specify the use of the laptop or what you will do with a new laptop. That defines what hardware must have on the device.
For instance, If you’re a gaming lover and want a laptop for gaming purposes, then you require the machine with higher configurations.
In the case of casual use, there is no need to have a higher configuration, instead, go with a lower configuration machine.
In the case of the Animation and Video Editing, you will require a higher configuration with a large display to work in Detailed.
2. Display
After figuring out the use, you will need to pick right the display according to the use and preferences.
The display has four main factors
- Display Size
- Display Type
- Screen resolution
- Touch screen
Display size:
The display size matters lots for the gamer and designer because they required a bigger screen for capturing a better experience.
A large screen with large resolution gives more workspace than a small screen, but it depends on the display type and quality.
In terms of demand, most of the laptop comes with 15-inch screens, 15.6 inches, 14-inch and 16-inch.
Ideally for casual use, you need Full HD 1920×1080 or higher, But for gaming and Editing, you must prefer the bigger screen with a decent quality of the screen.
Display Type
Coming to the Display Type, The four most used displays on laptops are IPS, TN, VA and OLED. Like mobile phones, laptops come with different types of panels, but with fewer choices. There are currently four types of displays available on laptops, the OLED which has recently run the market.
Screen resolution
Display resolution means the number of pixels in dimension that make up an image on the screen. As you can think, the more pixels there are, the more excellent the quality of the picture. So, the more numerous pixels you have, the more content you can display on your screen.
Display resolutions are measured horizontally and vertically according to their pixel count. The most common are HD or 720p, FHD or 1080p and UHD 4k.
Touch screen
Nowadays most laptop vendors are making devices with touchscreen panels which is more convenient and most suitable for users in direct navigation and also its offers the higher brightness and colour accuracy in the laptop, The touchscreen provides easy and quick navigation to the users.
3. Pick the right Operating System.
Picking the right Operating System for the use is difficult when you have the three most commonly used operating systems in the market, there are three most generally used operating systems in the market are Windows, ChromeOS and macOS.
Let’s summarize the quick overview of these Operating Systems.
Windows Operating System
Windows is the most used operating system in the world as compared to macOS and ChromeOS. Windows is the more flexible operating system that you will see in the budget laptops as well.
Microsoft has developed the Windows Operating system, and right now the Windows 10 is the latest operating system, which comes with the best features such as a Cortana digital assistant, fingerprint scanner, touch screen, Windows defender and dual graphics processor.
This OS is the best choice for the student, business users, the researchers and the Gamers.
Chrome Operating System
ChromeOS is developed by Google, and this Operating system is a remarkably simple but secure OS. The UI (User Interface) of the ChromeOS looks similar to the Windows with an Application menu and window dragging capabilities.
Chrome OS relies heavily on the cloud. Therefore, web apps on Chrome OS do not work particularly well offline.
ChromeOS is extremely popular and best for the students and those who use the device for web browsing, social networks use and sending Email.
Apple macOS Catalina
All MacBooks and Apple desktops come with macOS Catalina. This operating system is only available in Apple products. The functionality of macOS is similar to windows, but the user interface is different from windows.
Just like Cortana digital assistant, the macOS has a Siri, which can perform the task such as making phone calls and receiving text messages, unlocking laptops on your Apple Watch, and trading with Apple Pay.
4. Performance and Hardware
Performance and Hardware is another factor that plays a vital role in the laptop when you are performing any serious work.
Before you buy the laptop, you necessitate knowing about the hardware and performance. If you don’t know about it, then you might be lost in the wrong configuration laptop, which will not work for you.
As I said above, before you buy the laptop, you need to define the usage of the Notebook. I have listed some of the configurations commonly used in the laptops.
Basic use: If you are using the laptop for Document editing, watching movies, Email, and the office work, then you will need the laptop with lower configurations such as core I3 with a 1 TB/256GB SSD drive and 4 GB RAM.
Medium Use: If you need a laptop for multitasking apart from its essential use, and if you want to handle required software such as photo editing or business software, or if you want to play light games, then you will need the following combinations of laptops.
- Core I3 with 256GB SSD drive and 4 GB or 8GB DDR4 of RAM.
- Core I5 with 512 GB or above SSD drive with 8 GB RAM.
- Ryzen 5 with 256 GB or 512 GB SSD with a 4 GB or 8GB RAM.
Heavy use: To run the Heavy business software, Games and Graphics designing software, the laptop must have higher configuration hardware.
The higher configuration laptop comes with a powerful processor such as a Core I7, Ryzen 9 and Core I9 with 16 GB DDR4 RAM including the dedicated graphics card, and storage up to 1TB with the latest SSD drive.
It is not enough to run heavy games, and software, also the laptop must require supportive hardware like cooling system, keyboards, Display, etc.
The performance of the machine depends on the hardware factor. Some hardware is important that you should consider before buying.
CPU or processor
The CPU or Processor is the most important component in the machine. The processor has an enormous impact on the performance and speed of the laptop. The processor comes with multiple cores; the core is a separate processing section within the CPU that can process instructions.
So the more extra cores you have, the further tasks your laptop can efficiently manage simultaneously. The faster the CPU, the faster each core can work on a work call.
Depending on the use, you will need a processor to handle demanding software.
In the market, two major companies are manufacturing the processor.
- Intel
- AMD
Intel
Intel is one of the biggest semiconductors manufacturers in the world. Intel manufactures the best microprocessor for the laptop, and most of the companies manufacture used this processor for making the laptops.
Intel’s powerful processor comes with a range of models such as Intel Core I3, Core I5, Core I7 and the latest Core I9 processor with different generations such as 7th Gen, 8 Gen,9th Gen and latest 10th Gen.
Core I9: is the high-end powerful processor available on the premium laptops. This is the latest processor from the company and it can provide the fastest performance than any of intel.
Core i9 is the most suitable for the 4k Gaming and to run the heavy software(4k Editing and VFX Editing) in the machine. It is an expensive processor, but performing the processor is great.
Core I7: The Core i7 is the best processor for gaming, entertainment and to run the demanding software, Core I7 offers the best computing experiences in the machine.
This processor is available in different variants in the market and comes with four cores, this is the best processor for those who want a decent amount of processing power in the machine.
Core I5: If you are looking for a laptop with the best combination of price and performance, go for the Intel Core i5 CPU. Most of the mid-range laptop comes with an Intel Core i5 processor.
Laptops with Core i5 processing units are an excellent choice. The most common versions you can find include U series models like the Core i5- 7200U CPU.
This is the best processor for the business and personal use(heavy Browsing, multitasking and Basic Editing), it can handle the all necessary task with no issue and it is the better processor than the Intel Core i3 chipset.
Core I3
Core I3 is economical and best for everyday computing practices. You find this processor in the budget desktop computer in the market.
This processor provides smooth execution of everyday tasks such as content work and media consumption, the i3 chipsets is the strongest choice for you if you have a tight budget and want the machine for everyday work and school use.
AMD
AMD is the decent powered processor which you can find in the budget laptops, to compete with the more popular Intel chipset AMD manufactures most suitable Processors in the budget segment.
AMD has recently launched the Ryzen series processors, which is the best premium processor that is used for gaming and heavy software use.
It offers AMD processor the A, E, and the FX series chipsets that are mostly available in budget laptops, we mostly see the APUs processors in mid-range laptops, which has a decent performance, and it suits for everyday use such as web browsing, media Viewing and productivity use.
The AMD processor comes with four models such as Entry level processor, Mainstream, performance and High-end processor.
Graphics cards
The Graphic Processor is essential for those who are looking into the laptop for Gaming, graphic designing and 3D Animation. If you are not playing the games and not doing the 3D Animations, then you don’t need the graphic card.
Like the CPU, it has both high-end and low-end graphics chips. Today, most low-end gaming systems have Nvidia MX250 or GTX 1650 GPUs, but mid-range variants have RTX 2050 or RTX 2060, and high-end variants have RTX 2070 or 2080 GPUs. Nvidia maintains a list of graphic chips, from low-end to high-end.
Storage
The storage comprises the two major components one is the RAM, and another is ROM. This supportive hardware is working for the most important role in the performance.
When you are buying the machine, you need to consider this hardware in the laptop for the smoother experience performance. The larger the hardware, get better performance in the computing.
RAM
A random-access memory device data can be read or written by approximately the same amount regardless of the physical location of the data inside the memory.
There are three generations of RAM on the market: DDR5, DDR4 and DDR3. Different generations of RAM offer different speeds and are only compatible with certain systems. Consider this hardware when you buying the laptop. and try to get the latest generation of RAM.
ROM
Besides the processor and RAM, the storage drive on the laptop is also an important component for performance. It is recommended that you buy a laptop with a solid-state drive (SSD), not a hard drive. This is because overall, you can get a laptop is at least 3x faster speed than the HHD drive.
The laptop should have at least 128 GB SSD, as it will improve your boot drive load time and OS performance. A hard disk drive from 512 GB to 1-2 TB is sufficient for storage and general use.
5.Battery
The battery is one of the crucial factors that you will need to look at when you buy a new laptop. Consider the notebook must have at least 6 hours or above battery life. Don’t consider the manufacturer’s words about battery life, instead look at the third-party reviews, which calculated actual battery life. With a long battery, you can work even when you’re out of power, such as when travelling or skipping a charger at home.
6.Ports and connectivity
When choosing a laptop, the lack of a port rarely solves the problem, you don’t have to carry a lot of dongles, it’s convenient to make the connections on your notebook. Most of the laptops feature USB 3.0 ports, HDMI or Display Ports, card reader, Type-C and thunderbolt.
The benefits of the Ports and connectivity features
USB Type-A: This port’s used to connect regular USB such as pen drive, mobile phones, printer, wireless mouse, keyboard and other peripherals.
HDMI Port: HDMI port is used to connect the laptop to projectors.
USB Type-C: USB Type-C offers the fastest data transition compared to the USB type A, and it is also used for charging the notebooks.
Thunderbolt: This is the latest and fastest connector available on the laptop. Thunderbolt enables fast connectivity of peripherals such as hard drives, RAID arrays, video capture solutions, and network interfaces, and can send high-definition video using the DisplayPort protocol.
Bluetooth: Bluetooth is most commonly used to connect wireless peripherals to your smartphone, tablet or laptop. With Bluetooth, you can connect devices over short distances, and you can also transfer data to others via Bluetooth.
7.Keyboard and Touchpad
Choose the keyboard that provides a smooth and responsive typing experience, Laptops provide a range of layouts for the keyboard, but what you need to check is solid tactile feedback, excellent movement, and enough spacing.
Consider buying a laptop with the backlit keyboard which allows you to work in a dimly lit place and also check the dedicated number pad on the laptop if you use the numbers frequently.
The laptop should have a large touchpad and it should respond consistently to multi-touch gestures such as swiping and pinching to zoom.
8.After-sale support
There are so many brands that sell laptops with amazing specifications and satisfactory prices. However, for after-sales support, they do not provide services such as laptop warranty claims or facility repairs. you should consider this thing while you buy a new laptop.
