Five Things to Consider When Buying A Laptop-2
SIZE
Perhaps the most important factor when shopping for a laptop is what size you should get. Most often, laptops are divided up into four general size categories: ultra-portable, thin-and-light, mainstream, and desktop replacement, each with its own particular pros and cons.
Ultra-portables are for those who want to carry their laptops everywhere everyday. They weigh less than 4-pounds and have long-lasting batteries (four hours or more on a single charge), but also have tiny screens (12-inches or less) and slightly sluggish processors. Ultra-portables sometimes also lack bulky extras such as DVD drives and extra inputs, which make them ideal for business users who need to have a computer with them at all times for work, but do not care about entertainment, gaming or editing their videos or pictures.
If performance and screen real estate are important, but you still plan to carry your laptop around much of the time, then make the jump to a thin-and-light notebook. Models in this category generally weigh in at about 5-pounds and pack in beefier processors, as well as 13- or 14-inch wide screens. This size category is popular with business users or students who need to carry their computers with them always, but want more power for fun tasks like watching movies or downloading and listening to music. Thin-and-light notebooks also have more regular-sized keyboards, which will be a relief to anyone who has to write TPS reports and/or term papers
So-called mainstream laptops are, more often than not, cheaper and less svelte versions of their thin-and-light cousins. 15-inch wide screens are the norm, as are weights of about 6-pounds. These specs make them portable, but they're a bit big to stick in many backpacks and can be tiring to carry around with you every day. Still, you won't get more bang for your buck in another category, which makes mainstream laptops an ideal choice for those on a budget.
At the top of the heap are desktop replacements. These over-sized monstrosities are good if you want top performance, but are tight on space or want to be able to compute from various locations in your home (since they can be easily moved from room to room). 17-inch screens are the standard, but 19-inchers are available as well. The models in this category contain top-of-the-line components that are far better at handling video editing and gaming than the other types of laptops. They also weigh anywhere from 7 pounds to 10 pounds. But with such big screens and powerful innards, desktop replacements only have an average battery life of about two hours, so don't expect them to last for too long away from an outlet.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
JOHN HENRY said 6:19PM on 2-05-2008
DONT GO TO CIRCUIT CITY AND MOST DEFINITELY DONT GET VISTA.
ANYTHING BUT VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHILE I WAIT FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD TO ACCOMODATE VISTA I AM BEING LEFT BEHIND.
COMPAQ HAS NO SOLUTIONS.
I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A LARGER MEMORY,FASTER,ETC,BUT ALL THAT WAS SALES CRAP!!!!!!!!!!
A LOT OF SPACE IS PARTITIONED FOR BACKUP AND ERGO LESS FOR YOUR MATERIAL.
PAVILION CANT EVEN HANDLE HI-SPEED INTERNET.
$1100.00 FOR GARBAGE
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erol said 6:50PM on 2-05-2008
i agree with you 100% on that CIRCUIT CITY i bought computer and digital cam from them while back they sold me extended waranty but they never help me to fix my cam on top of that i sent my cam to them to get fix they broke the zoom and sent me back i will never ever buy anythink from CIRCUIT CITY there store mng's dont even return phone call
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omar flores said 6:56PM on 2-05-2008
do you want to know a better tip in buying a laptop?...
buy a thin and light one:
1.Upgrade the RAM to its maximum potential!!! (do not pay for memory installation, its the easiest thing to do, just plug it in)
2.Uninstall all the junk that comes with it (especially AOL...it slows your comp down)
3.Vista is horrible, i agree with henry...
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david said 7:10PM on 2-05-2008
ibuy all of my computors from thrift stores cheep and they allways work realy great never had a bad one yet long as they have plenty of ram 512realy cheep50 55 dollars
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Thelma Packman said 7:51PM on 2-05-2008
Dell was recommended by all, it is the worst out of three Brands I've had, no service, bought a 17 inch, got a 15 inch, no Video, can't play games,have to keep hard drive cleared, have to wait and wait to warm up.
I will never again buy a Dell.
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John said 8:11PM on 2-05-2008
Purchased a Dell Vistro for Christmas
ordered with windows xp 1 gig ram 180 gig hard drive, no problems at all fast wireless chip inside, would buy another one.
John B.
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PDALUVER said 8:15PM on 2-05-2008
I think that you are all wrong, I say PDA's are the best way to go, fast, large mem., and super portable!
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Miguel Bonilla said 8:39PM on 2-05-2008
I got a xps dell 12.1" screen, it died before the 18 month payment plan was due. $1500.00 down the drain. I will never buy anything from dell in my life. DOWN WITH DELL...
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nunya said 9:30PM on 2-05-2008
I agree with some others. I won't buy from Dell again. Everything on my lap top is falling apart right now--hard drive, ethernet jack in the back, fan, battery pack...spent around $1800 on this, too. And what really kills me is when I bought it their computers and lap tops weren't even coming with all the necessary discs, such as the Operating System/Recovery Console--you had to BUY it separately!!!
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Edward said 10:26PM on 2-05-2008
Don't ever call GeekSquad of BestBuy. First they do not show up on time. Next they leave certain things inside the CPU unplugged for you to call them again to fix it and pay thier fee again. When I protested for days with their HD.Qtrs. in Minn, for this odacity, they sent me a $100 gift card. Big deal.
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Sidney said 9:55AM on 2-06-2008
I've got a Sony Vaio with Vista, one of those enormous desktop replacement jobs. I've never been happier with a computer. Its fast, reliable, and can be taken with me easily, despite what this article says. Also, some Windows XP software still works with it, so I haven't lost anything in the games/programs department.
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Maine said 2:47PM on 2-06-2008
Just bought 2 Gateway laptops for the wife and I and we're not having any trouble at all. GeekSquad installed everything and we love it. Not bad for $1550,2 laptops,installation of software on both, and 3 yr warranties on both. Thanks Best Buy, I didn't have to spend $1800 ON ONE LAPTOP!!!!
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Melanie said 3:22PM on 2-06-2008
I recently bought a Sony Vaio with Vista from Best Buy and I LOVE it. I use it to create publications (InDesign and Photoshop) and it is perfect for my needs. I think a Sony is definitely a brand to consider when buying a laptop.
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joelletwee52 said 4:11PM on 2-06-2008
i bought a vaio from sony all-in one desktop and i could not be happier. It is fast, beautiful, etc.....
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SAcampora said 5:00PM on 2-06-2008
I have always been a Toshiba fan and have not had any problems with them. I agree, DELL is garbage and their support is even worse. Best Buy does have good deals and a pretty fair selection, compared to Circuit City. It has taken me a while to acclimate to Vista. There were no options for me when I bought my laptop - everything had switched from XP, which I really liked. I have used Geek Squad in a pinch and they are overpriced for what they do. I'm not sure what's worse, lugging the laptop in to a Best Buy or dealing with India Tech Support for hours....
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tony said 7:50PM on 2-06-2008
stay away from dell and windows vista, have a 17" laptop and you can have it for 1/2 price has about 10hr's on it,never,never buy a dell.
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Harvey said 10:18AM on 2-07-2008
As much as you may find VISTA a problem, you can add Windows XP sp2 as a second OS very easily. However, do not try to load VISTA to an existing XP as a second OS. This latter approach is a diaster, but if you load Vista first everything works great. You can then switch to XP for those applications that don't do well in VISTA.
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pleasure bassett said 10:44AM on 2-07-2008
I bought a Sony Vaio w/Vista and I don't think MS office is even on this thing! Do I have to buy that too? It came with
AOL which is soooo sloooowww! Is it possible to remove Vista and replace it w/XP?
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CB said 9:13PM on 4-10-2008
I hear MS is dropping xp this summer.
brendaplano said 1:04PM on 2-09-2008
I think all of you are crazy,for spending so much money on a notebook,something that wii be outdated in no time.I buy on ebay.I have bought two,one a dell works great does everything I need it to do,all for 300 bucks,thats including shipping.I save enough money to by more memory,a second battery,all kinds of exstras. and still come out for under 425.oo
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