What to look for when buying a New Laptop ???

The Six (6) Keys of Laptop Buying:

Newly bought: Samsung NP300E5C-A06US WINDOWS 8,Core i3 Laptop

If you think laptops are dead then think again, let’s face it while tablets are fun and we all love them, I can’t live without my laptop. There just comes a time when you need to use a fully functional –good old Windows Laptop and not a tablet. But with tech becoming obsolete at the drop of a hat, what should you the confused end user get? Well definitely not a surface tablet as those are not selling at all,according to the last report from Microsoft this week. I am not surprised as most smart users who do opt for a tablet either go Google Android or Apple IOS and definitely not a Microsoft Surface and at the end of the day they still keep or get a laptop. So fret not, the laptop will never die, well not any time soon. So without further delay here are the key features to lookout for when shopping for a laptop:

#1 Processing Power:

Be Sure that the laptop you buy has at least a dual core processor or better, the more cores the better. Also the clock speed of those cores is just as important, I recommend at least a 2 GHZ processing speed per core or higher. In case you are aiming for affordability 1.5 GHZ and no less is foundation I would recommend, as these speeds laptops often come in at better prices. I would Also recommend laptops that sport a Intel core i3;i5 or i7 processor and for affordability go the AMD processor route.

#2 Memory/RAM:

In this day and age RAM as become cheap and the current crop of RAM that laptops are sporting is DDR3, Settle for no less than Four (4) gigs, you may go up but not down.

#3.Operating System:

Opt for windows 8, yes I know you do not love it, but its best to adopt now than to be forced to adopt later. Windows 8 is not that bad most people knock it even before they try it, Be Sure if you miss the windows 8 look Install the windows 7 gadgets and start menu with some simple tweaks that will have you saying windows 7 who? In no time. If you are still insistent windows 7 is OK, but I would not go any lower in terms of operating systems. If you are a Linux person most new laptops come with the option of going either Linux or windows.

#4. Hard drive capacity/Storage:

The hard drive indicates how much of your favorite multimedia you can store and that includes Pictures, videos and your beloved Music collection. So aim for larger amounts of storage the sweet spot is 500 Gigabytes, but do not go lower than 300 Gigabytes in this day and age. Also cloud storage services will compensate for users who have small or limited storage but the user will need to be online to use these features.

#5. Today’s essentials:

There are a few essentials that are a must have when snagging that wild laptop. Do not make a purchase until the following is present:

a.      A Webcam- for capturing those cute moments, keeping a video journal, if you do that and face it, for Skype and other Instant Messaging this is a must haves for keeping in touch with friend and love ones.

b.      A built in mike- No one’s going to hear you unless you have a great mike built into your laptop.

c.      DVD/Blu-ray drive-We still use removable media and until they die or something better comes along you will do well with a built in DVD/Blu-ray drive. So don’t Jump too quickly to models without one.

d.      Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 and HDMI output capability which will allow you to connect your laptop to the TV set and communicate with other devices.

e. A new Nvidia ,Intel or AMD based video card to drive or accelerate video playback and gaming. For those more into mobile gaming or the hard core enthusiasts having a dedicated Nvidia dedicated graphics processing unit or GPU is a must when buying a spanking new laptop, bear in mind however that the more expensive model laptops are marked for gaming.

#6. Cool and Handy Optional Features:

Some of the coolest features to appear in laptops now include:

a.      High Definition Capacitive touch screen- which allows the user to interact with the laptop by touch, similar to a smart phone or a tablet. This is a cool feature but not necessarily a must.

b.      Ultra slim form factor or ultrabooks-Ultra books are becoming fast the new must have design feature in Laptops, which essentially makes a windows laptop as thin as a Mac Book Air and sleek in design. While these look great the price point of this feature escalates the price so if you have the extra cash they look good so get an Ultra book, but otherwise this is not a must have feature.

c. SSD drives- are the new standard for storage as unlike mechanical drives SSD's have no moving parts and produce less heat and noise. The best thing about SSD's is there speed as this will allow applications, games and just about everything to run very fast,so why is this an optional feature you may ask? well right now these drives have a high cost per gigabyte and the prices are gradually coming down for higher capacities so unless you have the extra cash or need the speed you may want to go for a SSD drive for storage.

Recommendations:

Based on the above criteria I have selected three (3) laptops that would fit the above guide for your review:

Bang for your buck:

Mid Range Laptop:

High End with all the Bells and whistles:

The Best Apple Laptop

Apple MacBook Air MD760LL/A

The Best Dedicated Gaming Laptops:

The following laptops are the best in the industry and are for serious gamers and enthusiasts. Each device is fitted with a dedicated GPU that's build for gaming, for more details or purchasing simply click on the image.

ASUS Republic of Gamers G75VW-AH71

MSI G Series GT70 2OD-039US

Alienware M18x R2 

Toshiba Qosmio X875-Q7390

Hope this Guide to getting a laptop saves you the Hassle of Just shooting in the dark, I make recommendations on laptops for my friends all the while and now when they ask I can point them to this guide. Remember check all the points in the order above before you buy, I have never gown wrong using the above criteria in choosing a laptop.