Laptop Buying Guide
Page 2 of 3

4. Don’t just buy on processor speed
With modern processors speed isn’t everything. Processors come in various types now both from Intel and AMD that have multiple cores. If your operating system can handle them they will give you a better performance than just fast processor. It is also worth checking that the processor in the laptop you are looking at was designed for laptops. If not you may over-heating issues.

5. Do get the disk space you need for your laptop
Hopefully you will get at least 3 years out of your laptop so it’s worth getting the maximum disk you can afford. Disk space is hard to upgrade so if you are going to be storing a lot of music MP3s or video files make sure you have plenty disk space to spare after the operating system and any programs are installed.

6. Do make sure you can upgrade the laptop memory
Over time you will feel you need to get better performance out of your laptop. The only way you can usually do this is upgrading the memory. Both Microsoft and Apple bring out upgrades to their operating systems regularly (currently Vista and OSX) and each time these need more memory to operate. So buy as much memory as you can to begin with (it can be cheaper that way) but make sure there is room for expansion.

7. Do get a backup hard drive

You do need to regularly backup your laptop. Laptop hard drives take a lot of abuse as you move them so it’s always worth buying an external hard drive to store vital files (Rules for Buying guide for external hard drives coming soon). The external drives are also useful for offloading pictures and music when your disk gets full.

more...

Click here for Laptops Guide Page 3