How to Choose Laptop
- tips of laptop selecting
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CPU, operating system, RAM, size, display, storage, graphics card, ports, battery, connectivity and review should be considered by a personal user. Market research, feedback from customer and price are important for laptop traders.
Brief Introduction
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Compared with desktop computer, a laptop has many advantages, such as small enough to be portable, powerful enough to complete any work you need, saving space on your desk, etc.
There are so many brands and types of laptop in the market. Many customers got confusing in the computer market or on the website.
It is necessary to read some tips or choosing skill of selecting a right laptop. This article show you the main factor to be considered in choosing a laptop. Lets wipe off the confusing mist, whatever you are a laptop trader, or a direct user.
Photo
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Main factor of laptop selecting are included in the photo.
Profile
- Section : tips
- Key Word : How to choose laptop
- Author : Jasper
- Industry : Laptop
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Popular Configuration
Here is the laptop favoried by most customers:
Operating System : Windows, Mac and Linux can be chose based on your needs.
CPU : Core i5 or above is suggested.
SSD : SSD (SSD storage is much faster than a Spinning drive. )
RAM : 8G is the bottom line, the higher the better.
Display : 11.6 to 13.3 inches offers the best ability of portable; 14-15.6 inches screen offers full sized view, which is better to be used in office.
Battery life : It is better to have a battery life more than 8 hours.
Ports: as many types as possible. such as SD, MicroSD, USB-A, USB-A, ...
Webcams : suggested.
How Traders Choose Laptop
Market Research
Market research is necessary when traders wholesale laptop from manufactures, especially the trader just step into laptop industry. Getting to know what customers need is the first thing to do for a traders. The research details should cover the main factory considered by direct user as below.
Feedback
If you are in the field for sometime, then you must have customers. Talk with them and you will get very useful information on what kind of laptop you should prepare. Fore sure you may know which kind of laptop to avoid. This kind of feedback even better than the market research.
Customer Type
The laptop should also be choose according to the customer type.
If your customer is a company, then you should buy business laptop for them, Simple style, good performance, reasonable price, decent color and multi-ports.
When you buy computer for school, laptop with the best price and bright colorful option should be welcomed.
Laptop with dedicated Graphics card, top level CPU and enough RAM are suggested when you customer is gamers.
How Director Choose Laptop
Operating System
Being the interface and structure of a laptop, Operating System (OS) is the soul of the laptop. It should be first considered when you choose a laptop.
The main OS in the market covers Windows, MAC, Lunux and ChromeOS. All of them are very good, and has their own advantage.
- Windows : Most laptops use this OS. Compatible with the most software.
- MAC : MAC OS is designed for MAC laptop. Friendly for beginners, but not the one used to Windows. Many programmers use this OS.
- Linux : free operating system + open source software. Only a few laptops use Linux OS.
- ChromeOS : Chrome based operating system of Google, simple fast and secure. Good choice if all you job can be completed via browser; Less expensive, limited capability.
Many programs are only available in one of the OS.
Before choosing the first laptop, we suggest to try these three OS in advance, to see which one is favored by you. And pay attention to the software in these OS, which one you prefer or work best for you.
CPU
Being the brain of a laptop, CPU is the processor, also called cip or CPU. It is the hardware to complete all the work in a computer.
There are two main companies focused on CPU: Intel and AMD.
There are many kinds of CPU in the market, from old to new. It is not a good idea to buy less expensive Laptop with old CPU , such as Celeron, Atom, Pentium and E-Series.
Multi-core CPU was created to handle much more work than before. The multi-core CPU is a good option, but the newest generation is very expensive, why not try the second newest ? Core i5 or i7 is a good choice.
AMD processor did a better job in graphics-intensive task. It is a good option if you often use it on video editing, and a dedicated graphic card is suggested.
Budget
Price is not the main factory in choosing a laptop, but you must have a budget in you mind. It is helpful to narrow down the selection.
It is a suggested to spend a little much to get a better configuration laptop, within your budget.
Model
Net-book, hybrid laptop, full-sized laptop and standard laptop are main models you can found in the market.
Being the smallest laptop, Netbook is the best choice for travelers. For sure the capability is limited.
Smaller than normal laptop, hybrid laptop mainly designed for the touch interface based on Win8. After removing the keyboard or folded into a tablet, it is very convenient to put into you bag.
Full-sized laptop is the largest and powerful laptop to replace desktop in you office. They have powerful CPU and big screen, such as the 15.6 inches professional laptop with Core i7.
Standard Laptop is the best choice to keep a good balance in performance and portability. Most people prefer to have a standard laptop.
Note that if you are choosing a Mac, your choices will likely not match much of this section.
Size
The size of computer should be decided base don your needs and using place. A lighter and thinner laptop is the best choice if you often use it while traveling. If you put it in office and do not move it often, then a full-sized laptop, such as 15 to 18 inches, is a good choice.
10 to 13 inches laptop offers the best portable ability. 13.3 to 14 inches provides the best balance of portability and capability. 15 inches laptop mainly used in office, sometimes take it our for travelers; Laptop above 16 inches are suggested to be used on ly in office.
Display
If you are using the laptop for photo or video editing, a higher resolution is suggested, such as 2560 x 1600, or 3200x1800. It makes the screen clear and sharper. But this leads to the fast run out of your battery. A normal resolution of 1920 x 1080 is enough if you only use it for business or coding.
Graphics Card
Graphics card is also called GPU, which is the functional component to display the image on screen. There are two kinds of graphics card, integrated and discrete.
If you do a lot of video or photo editing on laptop, discrete graphics should be used. You may also call it a dedicated graphics card. It is more powerful to complete the work of video, photo and gaming. But it needs more power support of your battery.
Most laptop use integrated graphics, which means it is included in the mother-board. It is enough to watch movie, play game and complete daily office job. It provides the best balance between displaying and battery life.
RAM
RAM refers to the ramdom-access memory of a computer. The more RAM, the better performance your laptop works.
How much RAM in the laptop should be decided by your budget. Use the biggest RAM within your budget is the best choice. It makes the laptop works fast and easy while taking heavy task.
It is not a good idea to have RAM integrated in the mother board, which wipe off the possibility of RAM upgrade.
Storage
Storage is the hardware to store your data in the laptop. There are two kind of storage in the market: SSD (Solid State Drive) and Spinning drive.
Compared with SSD, the spinning drive is the old generation of storage component.
SSD is highly suggested, because it makes your laptop fly fast and smooth. Use Nvme connection if your budget permit, which make the SSD works faster.
The bottom line of the SSD storage is 256G; i have to find an external disk to move my data to after choose a laptop of 128G.
Ports
Ports are the gates of your laptop to accept external device. This is another important factor affect your choosing if you use external device.
Normal ports includes USB (A,B and C type), mini-USB, microphone, charger, HDMI, VGA SD card reader.
Think about your external device using possibility and choose the appropriate ports.
Battery
Battery support the portability of your laptop. You can complete your work outside of office, which is very useful for people of heavy traveling.
The battery may save your data when there is power off. So i aways put battery in laptop even work in office.
The using time of battery claimed by manufacture needs to be reconfirmed by yourself, it is better to see some feedback online.
By the way, always use the charger provided by the manufacture. It is helpful to extend the life of your battery.
Keyboard and Touchpad
It you do a lot of words work, it is important to have a comfortable keyboard and touch-pad. But this is not very important factor, because you can use an external keyboard and mouse via wifi.
Webcams
Your should choose a laptop with webcam, although perhaps you never use it. It is a embarrassment when you need it and found there is no webcam in your laptop.
Touch Screen
Tour screen is kind of experience, only a kind of experience. It reduce the life of screen and battery. If you don't get much help on screen touching, a traditional laptop is suggested.
Connectivity
It is important to have a laptop with Wifi, 4G (or 5G) and bluetooth connection.
Reviews
After reading above ideas, i think you have one or several laptop in your mind. The next step is read the review of these laptops before your final decision.
You may find the using experience and tips of the laptop, such as the hinge, keyboard touching, heat dissipation, service after sale, etc.
Used Laptop
It is not a good idea to by a used laptop, although they are cheap. Most used laptop is old or experience performance problem or decrease. The warranty is not available for the send-hand laptop.
There is one exception, if you are very good at hardware of laptop and will spend time and money to refurbish it when there is problem on the used laptop.