Our world is becoming ubiquitous with technology. Almost everyone seems to have some sort of way to connect with everyone else, and it doesn't help that most of our productivity finds itself on a computer of some sort. We're consuming information at a rapid rate, and more than likely, you are reading this on a laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
But I'm going to focus on laptops for today, only because in my opinion, they are still king for portability and productivity. (How many of us can do EVERYTHING on just a smartphone or a tablet?)
Most of us go on the market for a new laptop, whether it's because we're going out with the old and in with the new, or we need something portable. And with that need, it seems like most people go to Walmart or Best Buy, see something shiny with lots of cool-sounding hardware specifications, and buy it.
This isn't exactly the wrong way to go... but we can do so much better than that. As with everything else, would you blindly throw hundreds if not thousands of dollars on another high-cost purchase, like a car?
If you want to do it the smart way, I decided to make up a little guide to help you buy something that will fit your needs and wants, future-proof yourself, and that will last you indefinitely, barring any hardware failures, until your next upgrade.1.) What will you be doing with your new laptop?
This will help narrow down thousands of choices to just hundreds or even dozens. Do you travel a lot? Consider a light and small or mid-sized laptop. (Ten pounds might not seem like a lot until you haul that in a backpack all day along with the rest of your gear.) Do you need power to create high-definition movies? Look at CPU and RAM, and depending on the applications that you use, look into a good GPU as well. Are you a casual user that just goes online to surf the web, do e-mail, and word processing? You're not going to need a powerhouse.
(If CPU, RAM, and GPU are acronyms that confuse you already, you might want to take a look at learning the very basics of how your computer works.)
There are a lot of buzzwords that we've come up with to categorize laptops, and here are a few that you may find while doing your shopping:
Ultrabooks - These are aptly named as they tend to be lighter, thinner, but still more powerful than the rest of the competition. They are also more expensive than the rest of the competition. This might be overkill for most for casual use, but they are nice to have when you're not patient or need a laptop for multimedia work (e.g. audio and video editing). They also typically do not come with an optical drive. This sleek design and portable power will cost you though... most ultrabooks will run upwards of $900.After bashing what Apple has to offer, this is what I can say in a more positive light:
- Their laptops have a full-metal chassis. This helps durability and heat dissipation, not to mention that it is a stark contrast to the cheaper feel of a primarily-plastic laptop. Other laptop manufacturers offer metal builds as well, but Apple is known for it.
- Their laptops feature MagSafe, which is a fantastic feature of the power plug. Held in by a magnet, it can easily be disconnected and connected. This reduces wear and tear on the "port" itself (which is a common breaking point on any other laptop), especially when you have animals and children running about or if you yourself trip over your own power cord, possible sending your laptop on your desk to come crashing down.
- Their displays are great and are the epitome of high-definition with super-high resolutions [but other laptop manufacturers are catching up]. This is why they are toted to be better at working with photography and videography, although if you are working with lesser-quality sources, this won't matter at all.
- Apple has a fantastic marketing team. They feel like a premium brand and have placed themselves as a cultural icon. Just look at the success of most if not all of their product lines: the iPod, iPhone, and MacBook.
More is not always better, especially if you are trying to save money.As of this writing, you will not need more than 8GB of RAM for anything. (4GB will suffice for most users and I would recommend 8GB for power users.) An Intel i3 core processor will suffice for casual users, but the Intel i5 may be the best bang for the buck for raw processing power. (Sorry guys, an i7 is overkill for Facebook.)
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