A Beginner's Guide to Buying a Laptop - Processor, RAM and Hard Disk Choices Explained

Buying a laptop computer to make your work lifethan just browsing the internet and checking emails
more productive can be great decision but having tosuch as playing 3D games, using image editing
decide on buying a reasonable laptop can be asoftwares or want to be able to run multiple
nightmare to many, specially now a days when theapplications at once for example you could be
laptop computing technology is advancing at a muchwatching a movie while you are downloading music in
faster pace than ever before. In this short guide wethe background and also have half a dozen browser
seek to highlight a few points to remember whichwindows active on your desktop. All such activities
have proven to be very helpful and handy to evaluatedemand a fair chunk of system resources, so you
a laptop deal that best fits your needs.would definitely require a computer which has a faster
Knowing What You Needprocessor and a good RAM to support these
In order to decide what you need, you first need to listfunctions.
down the activities or tasks that you may want toFor Standard Laptops and Premium light weight
accomplish using your computer, such as working onnotebooks
MS Office, checking emails, browsing the internet,- AMD Turion
networking with friends using social sites like Facebook- Intel Celeron Dual Core
or Twitter, online shopping, playing games, chatting with- Intel Core 2 Duo
friends using messenger, working on advanced- Intel Core Duo
softwares like CAD, Photoshop or any other- Intel Core i3
applications that might require a lot of system- Intel Core i5
resources etc.How much RAM is needed: Anything from 3GB or
Basic Usersupwards is good enough. How much screen size is
We think basic computing can be defined as the setneeded: Screen size is totally optional depending on
of activities that you can perform from a standardyour needs. How big should be the hard disk: Anything
windows installation with Microsoft Office installed on itfrom 250GB or plus is good enough but if you are in to
and your usual messenger etc. Since these activitiesdownloading games or movies often then you should
does not require your computer to be highly advancedseek a laptop with 320GB hard drive or alternatively
so you may rely on basic processor types such asget an external USB hard disk.
For Basic Laptops (13 - 15.6 inch screens usually)Advanced/Pro Users
- Intel CeleronIf you happen to be like one of us, a 'geek' then first
- Intel Celeron Mobilewe would like to say 'hey! its absolutely fine, you are
- AMD Sempronnot alone' and we should pride ourselves by thinking
- AMD Athlonwe are far ahead of the many who are not PROs.
- Intel Core 2 Duo and Solo ULV & CULV seriesAnyhow another bad news is 'well the laptop that will
For Netbookssuit your needs is not going to be a cheap one'.
- Intel AtomFor Advanced Laptops and Premium light weight
- AMD NEOnotebooks
- Intel Core 2 Duo and Solo ULV & CULV series- AMD Turion X2
How much RAM is needed: Anything from 1GB or- Intel Celeron Dual Core
upwards is good enough.- Intel L Series Processors with 3MB+ L2 Cache
How much screen size is needed: Depending on your- Intel P Series Processors with 3MB+ L2 Cache
choice and the price you want to pay, if you are a- Intel E Series Processors with 3MB+ L2 Cache
frequent traveler than a netbook with a small screen- Intel Q Series Processors with 3MB+ L2 Cache
of 10-13 inches is a good choice, whereas if you enjoy- Intel T Series Processors with 3MB+ L2 Cache
watching movies and think you can't compromise on- Intel Quad Processors
the screen size get a laptop with 14 inch or plus- Intel Core 2 Duo
screen size.- Intel Pentium Dual Core
How big should be the hard disk: Anything from 160GBHow much RAM is needed: Anything from 4GB or
or plus is good enough but again if you think you needupwards is good enough.
a lot of space than you may want to get a laptop withHow much screen size is needed: Screen size is
more space or even getting an external hard disk cantotally optional depending on your needs.
be an alternative to avoid paying for the bigger built inHow big should be the hard disk: Anything from 320GB
hard disk.or plus is good enough but if you like to cut down on
Mid Range Usersthe cost consider getting an external USB hard disk as
If you seek to use your laptop for doing a little more500GB plus capacity laptops are quite expensive.