When
you need to buy a laptop, how do you select the right one? For most
people, we believe, it starts with the processor. How many cores it has?
Whether it is the Core i3 or Core i5? Then, people want to know what is
the speed of the processor and how much RAM is installed in the laptop.
Then comes the amount of internal storage (hard disk) available inside
the laptop. Finally, it is down to the weight and looks.
If a
consumer likes the processor, amount of RAM, available internal storage
and finds looks of laptop appealing he buys it. Of course, if the price
is right.
But this is a wrong way to buy a laptop.
Over the
years, companies -- and their sales people -- have misled consumers a
lot by talking about components like processor and RAM and asking them
to buy laptops on the basis of whether it has a Core i3 or a Core i5.
But it is time you stop listening to the sales people and get a bit more
proactive in how you choose your laptops. We tell you what you need to
look for in your next laptop.
What is not important
Processor:
Unless you are looking for a specialised laptop like a gaming laptop or
a machine on which you want to 3D modeling, processor is no longer all
that important. In the last few years processors have become very
powerful. Nowadays, most of the general-purpose programs like a web
browser don't even use 20 per cent processing power of a lowly Core i3
processor. Machine like MacBook Air that are utterly fast use just
dual-core processor running at 1.4GHz. While buying a laptop, don't
worry about processor. Yes, Core i7 is usually better than Core i5. And
Core i5 is better than Core i3. But even if you are getting Core i3, it
is more than enough for a general-purpose machine.
Amount of RAM:
Nowadays, all laptops have 4GB RAM. And that is all you need. If you
can get more, go for it. But don't buy a laptop just because it has 8GB
RAM. There are more important things that you should factor in instead
of going after RAM.
Graphics card: Are you going to play
demanding games like Battlefield 3 on your laptop? No. Ok, then don't
worry about graphics card. There was a time when integrated graphics
chip used to be really weak. A graphics card made sense at that time.
Nowadays, if you are looking for a laptop on which you can browse web
and watch videos, don't worry about graphics card.
Screen size:
Don't buy a laptop just because it has a large screen. A large screen
with poor quality display or low resolution is going to affect your
computing experience negatively. Instead, go for a better screen even if
the size is small.
How fast it starts: Almost all new
laptops start in less than 30 seconds. The worst ones will take around
30 seconds, the best ones (with SSD) will take around 15 seconds. But
that is only when they are new. Gradually, they will start taking longer
because as you install more and more programs, the start-up process
begins to clog up. But that is not the point. The point is that often
the difference between the best and worst laptops when it comes to the
boot process is around 5 to 10 seconds. Is it this such a big deal that
it should influence your buying decision? Laptop companies will say yes.
We say no.
Ultra-fast DVD drive: Laptop makers love to
hype up DVD drives in their machines. They use phrases like "super multi
double layer". The reality is that it doesn't mean much. Whether super
or not, almost all DVD drives in laptops nowadays write and read stuff
at similar speed. Despite the grand words that describe them, these
drives are dirt cheap and probably come out of same factories in China
irrespective of their brand name.
Security features: Don't
bother about fingerprint scanners etc in your laptop. Once you have
bought your machine, just put a decent password on it and your data is
all safe. That is if you are a mainstream user. If you deal with the
nuclear launch codes, then it doesn't apply to you. In this case, trust
your IT guys to give you the right machine.
What is important
Quality of screen:
What is the most important component in a laptop? If you say processor,
you are wrong. The most important component in a laptop is its screen.
Reason: Screen is something that is going to define your computing
experience. It is your window into computers and the work they do. A bad
screen means bad experience.
Unfortunately, it is rather
difficult to find laptops with good screens. Blame laptop manufacturers
for this. They often hype processors but ignore screens.
If you are spending a lot of money on your laptop -- something like above
Rs.75,000
-- try to get a laptop that has IPS screen. Most laptops have TN panel
screens. What is the difference? Here is an easy way to understand: Have
you noticed that your photos look better on a Galaxy tablet or on
iPhone compared to how they look on most laptops? That is because most
tablets and phones use IPS screens.
If you are not spending this
kind of money, at least pay attention to the screen. Visit a laptop show
and check out the specific laptop model you have in mind. Carry a pen
drive full of some colourful photos with you. Plug this into the laptop
and see how the colours look. Do the colours in your photographs look
faded or do they look vibrant? Vibrant colours are good. Also, tilt the
screen, move the laptop, change the angle of your view, and see how fast
colours fade or darken. If the colours don't change much, the laptop
has a good screen.
Equally important is the brightness of the
screen, particularly if you are going to use the laptop outdoors.
Ideally, 60 per cent brightness level should make the laptop screen look
good. If you have to bump up the brightness to 80 or 90 percent, the
screen is not bright enough.
Finally, watch out for the resolution
of the screen. Higher resolution screens make images and text look
sharper. Ideally, go for a laptop that has 1080P aka FullHD or 1600 X
900 pixels resolution.
Keyboard and touchpad: Two very
important parts in a laptop but often overlooked by consumers. Good
laptops have typing keys that are firm, don't rattle and give a kind of
clicky or pushy feedback when they are pressed. Also, the keyboard
should not flex and the size of keys should be big enough to make typing
comfortable. Ideally, type 100 to 200 words on a laptop that you want
to buy to get a feel of the keyboard. Buy it only if the keys feel right
to you.
Touchpad in a laptop has to be responsive. It should make
the cursor on the screen move smoothly when you use it. It should feel
smooth and responsive to your fingers. If you are spending lot of money
on your laptop, go for a machine that has glass touchpad (hint: MacBooks
have glass touchpad).
Good quality of keyboard and touchpad is
often a sign of overall quality of the laptop. There is a chance that if
a laptop has a good keyboard and smooth touchpad, it is likely to have
good overall build quality.
Build quality: Don't go by
looks. Pick up a laptop and see how it feels in hands. Is the plastic
used in it good? Is it sturdy? Do the screen hinges feel durable? Does
the screen flex (it shouldn't)? See the finishing of the laptop. The
build quality of a laptop is very important because that will determine
how long it is going to last.
Ideally, go for laptops that have
bodies made of metal like aluminum or magnesium alloy. Carbon fibre
bodies are also fine. But these are expensive. If you are looking for
plastic body laptops, go for those that feel sturdy and have impeccable
finishing.
Speakers: Before you a buy a laptop, go to a
store with a pen drive full of your favourite songs. Play these songs on
the machine you want to buy. If your laptop has a good set of speakers,
it will help you enjoy the YouTube videos. Don't you want that?
Weight: This
is particularly important if you want to carry around your laptop. Go
for lighter laptops -- under 2kg -- if you are going to carry it around
in your bag.
Battery life: Very important. Go for laptops
that offer to claim better battery life. Unfortunately, except Apple no
one really advertises true battery figures for their laptops. But still
if someone claims to give 10 hours battery life in a laptop, it is
likely that the machine will last for at least 7 hours, which is better
than the laptops claiming to give 6 or 7 hours of battery life.
SSD or embedded flash storage:
If you don't need tons of storage (hint: you don't if you are not going
to store movies) go for laptops that have SSDs. A SSD really makes a
difference to how well a laptop responds. A laptop with Core i3
processor and a SSD will feel faster compared to a laptop with Core i7
and a 1TB hard disk. If SSD-equipped laptop is out of question, go for a
machine that has embedded flash storage (around 20GB or more). The
embedded storage helps laptop feel faster. This type of laptop won't be
as fast as one with SSD, but it will be quite close.
One last thing: When
it comes to buying a laptop, don't go by the specification sheet that a
salesman will give to you when you walk into a store. Go by what you
see. The components like screen, keyboard, touchpad and the laptop body
that you can see are more important. The internal hardware is more or
less same in every laptop in a particular price bracket.
