Overpaying for what you will not use is simply pointless. If you on a laptop will occasionally fiddle with some Google docks and mostly watch videos and sit on social networks, then buying a powerful game monster is superfluous. So choose a laptop based on your usage scenarios. First, let’s talk about the types of laptops.
- Budget laptops. They are needed exactly for what I just talked about – watching videos, sitting on social networks, using mail and all kinds of office software. Such a laptop can be taken relatively inexpensively – and this is its main plus.
- Game laptops. A good gaming laptop is not cheap. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it is cumbersome, heavy, but, having acquired such a laptop, you can ignore the system requirements for games over the next few years. I downloaded, installed, launched, unscrewed all the settings to the maximum and rushed off. Still, such laptops are used for video editing, 3D modeling and other things that require high performance.
- Ultrabooks. The idea of an ultrabook is a higher performance than state employees, a longer battery life, but at the same time ultrabooks are lighter, thinner, and the manufacturer bothers more with the design.
- Exotic. To this category, I would attribute everything atypical – transformers, protected laptops, laptops with a touch keyboard, and so on and so forth. It all depends on your lifestyle, on your profession or your hobbies.
What does the price tag of a laptop consist of?
First of all, this is the processor. It is he who is responsible for the speed of the entire system. More cores, more frequency? It works faster. But the overall performance of the system depends not only on it.
There is also a video card. It happens in two types – integrated and discrete. The integrated one cannot be replaced and repaired, plus it does not have its own memory, but it uses operational memory, which we will talk about a little later. A discrete graphics card is significantly more expensive, but it is significantly more effective when it comes to games. However, it requires a more serious cooling system, therefore – the laptop will be noisier, fatter and in general.
RAM. Now even a trivial Internet browser eats so much memory that it’s just crazy to go. The more it is, the better. For basic, very basic tasks, two gigabytes will be enough if you do not run chrome and a calculator at the same time. Where games begin, it is better to start with 16 gigabytes. Since memory is relatively inexpensive, it is better not to save on it
Display. In modern laptops, it can be from 10 to 21 inches, it’s up to you to decide what is more convenient for you. And the displays differ in matrices – there are TN and IPS. TN-technology is already outdated, and despite the lower response time, it loses in terms of brightness margin, and viewing angles, and in contrast, and in color. So the choice is clear. More displays vary in resolution – on average, from HD – 1366×768 to 4K, or as it is also called – UltraHD – 3840×2160. For basic use, HD is enough for you, although the FullHD display will be optimal – 1920×1080 pixels. 4K is necessary for those who work with video, with graphics and the like. Overpay for this does not make sense.
Another important aspect is the battery. It is he who is responsible for how long the laptop can work away from the outlet. Remember that battery life is affected by the processor, the video card, and the display – the higher all of the above, the more settings that are twisted to the maximum, the greater the load, the greater the capacity.
HDD. Recently, less and less manufacturers use conventional HDDs in their laptops. They were replaced by SSDs. They are many times faster, they are noiseless, they heat less and in general. They come in form factor 2.5 or m.2. The second ones are even more miniature, therefore more expensive. The usual SSD is more than enough. In the drive, its volume is also important. We no longer store music, photos, films on the laptop – all this is on the network, in our personal repositories or services with content. For such usage scenarios, 256 gigabyte links are enough for you, and you don’t need any more. If you are going to play heavy games or store a lot of work on your laptop, then it is better to take a system in which there is an SSD for OSes and software, and a regular HDD for storing everything, although this is very rare, so you have to choose between cheaper and faster.
Sound. For some, this is an important aspect. It is worth noting that for the most part the volume is important, because miracles in terms of frequencies are practically not worth expecting from any laptop, although there are exceptions. It is best to choose a laptop in which the speakers are directed upwards, so that in cases where the laptop is on your knees or on the couch, the sound does not overlap. And even better – headphones or external speakers.
Design and materials. If the choice is between a plastic and a metal case, you should always choose a metal. Reliable, durable, tough, practical. Design is a very subjective thing, so here we will not give you recommendations, include your own sense of beauty. The main thing is to choose a laptop not because “it is red”, but based on why you need it in principle.
