Five Things to Consider When Buying a Laptop

by Terrence O'Brien — Feb 18th 2008 at 6:18PM

Buying a new laptop can be a daunting task. First off, there are many more factors to take into account when buying a laptop than when buying a desktop PC -- size and battery, for example. Budget laptops can be alluring, but will they have the horsepower you need for daily computing tasks? What difference does having an AMD or Intel processor make? And how do you make sense of the alphabet soup that is Wi-Fi (802.11a, b, g, n)? Well, dear reader, and potential buyer, Switched is here to help you wade through the spec lists you see on those Sunday circulars and help you make the best of your laptop money. Take a look at our crib sheet of five things to consider when picking out your new portable, which starts on the next page, so click below....

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Tags: amd, features, intel, laptop, Laptop Buying Guides, LaptopBuyingGuides, wi-fi, wifi

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

brettze said 2:13PM on 2-05-2008

I will never buy another laptop until it is using flash memory instead of hard drive. I can add as many flash cards as I wish. Hard drives eat up battery time. Also, I am waiting for a new advanced type of LCD screen called OLED that is self illuminating instead of using thin spaghetti like flourscent tubes as back lighting for LCD screen. I had taken apart an old LCD monitor and was horrified to see flourescent tubes behind the screen. They are so flimsy looking!!! I dont like today's technology already! I will rather wait for bigger flash cards and OLED screens to come along before I buy antoher laptop.

darknight815 said 7:04PM on 3-19-2009

what the hell are you talking about?
thats like saying i rather use lighter fluid to drive my car.

Richard said 4:28PM on 2-05-2008

Good luck with that wait! You won't be purchasing a laptop until 2015 or so if those are your requirements.

Mr. Irons said 3:23PM on 2-05-2008

Flash drives, as a main? Are you an idiot? Flash Drives are ment to be cheap temporary storage units between machines. Relying on a platform that has speed degradtion and data corruption rates as it ages is highly ignorant and foolish for a permanant storage medium.

Protocol said 3:47PM on 2-05-2008

The Best Selling Person in America Is?
Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton!!!

The Best Selling Product In America Is?
The Re-Chargeable Battery For A Laptop!!!

No. 2: Multi-Media Web-Based TV Stations ***^^
No. 3: Construction Equipment & Supplies *****

Barbara Finger said 3:55PM on 2-05-2008

Just buy a Mac if you want to be happy and avoid viruses etc.

richard f martinez said 3:28PM on 2-07-2008

recommendations for lap top for deejays, how ram, memory, and such thanks

Paul Vernon said 4:01PM on 2-05-2008

Very helpful article for a novice like me...but what is #1 (of the 5)?

darknight815 said 6:53PM on 3-19-2009

lol macs. but of the 5 i have seen lots of those asus laptops on campus. They last pretty long and are much lighter then most.
the dell is horrible but best at online support. So its hard either way you take it.

Charles Carter said 4:05PM on 2-05-2008

I have used computers for a very long time and I can assure you that the newest computer you buy today will be a dinosaur in another year.

Dells said 4:44PM on 2-05-2008

Are dells really all that bad? I still don't understand the problem they have with the RAM.. Can someone please explain?

Zachary Peter Mehlek said 11:53PM on 8-07-2008

Well ya its not the ram with mine. My first one was a Damension 4300 and it would last for a long time but what was weird about it was that every time it crashed the hard drive would wer it self out and everytime I called for a replacement hard drive the warrenty would exspire and every time the warrenty exspired the hard drive would just terminate itself for some reason and the hard drive was a Dell product made for microsoft.

Mike said 3:18PM on 2-06-2008

As a longtime computer user both Mac and Pc, I find that most of us above the age of 40, uses computer mainly for word prosessing, mail a few times daily/weekly, recepies, and home inventory purpose, as such I still use an IBM PC from 1987, and it is fine since I don't need speed or play games on it. Better yet, they don't brake down so often as the component crowded new PC's
Yes, I admit I have four relatively new PC's for gaming, music etc.
Now, if you consider it for graphics, video, games,and audio, then you need to upgrade every three years or so.
If you use it for correspondence, and home inventory or even email, you don't have to upgrade every year, period! NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE. Unless... of course you want to show off to your friends, that you are better than they are.

tony said 4:33PM on 2-05-2008

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE IN "CORE 2 DUO" AND "DUAL CORE"?

Richard said 4:32PM on 2-05-2008

My previous comment was directed at the first poster. Took me a while to confirm.

As for the second poster, Mr. Irons, welcome to the world of computing. He is referring to SSD, solid state disks, which are a form of flash memory that WILL replace hard drives. They are great for their extremely fast read/write speeds, lower power consumption, and better reliability as they have no moving parts that can wear out. He is not referring to the little usb keychains that people use.

Jackie said 6:19PM on 2-05-2008

Mr. Irons is dumb. He needs to do some research. If you didnt know Mr. Irons, one of apples most recent laptops is using flash drives.

karl said 5:01PM on 2-05-2008

Whoever wrote this article doesn't know much about computers. Get your own second, opinion and believe what this article says.

ruff ready said 2:12PM on 8-06-2008

Not a good comparison article. Yes, PCs are great for games. Tv on any mac is easy,,, think elGato. and running Vista on a mac laptop in Boot camp mode is NOT running two operating systems at the same time. I can run any windows program on my intel mac. I can even run On my PC laptop using my mac, I can watch TV ( HD ) Mac and windows systems interface easily.

If you are going to compare: compare apples and apples. Ie compare units that have equivalent features. PCs are ok, Macs are great ....

Trina said 12:16PM on 2-06-2008

Ok,I have read this article, to which I feel more informed. But, since this is a huge chunk out of my budget (my current laptop is 2 years old, I'm not overjoyed with it)I realy don't waht to be buying again in 2 years.

I prefer Windows XP - and the only place to get that is Dell. I use on the road for my job, as well as my side business, and I go to college online. So I do many things at once.

Any suggestions?!

darknight815 said 7:02PM on 3-19-2009

buy a mac book and put windows XP on it. for some reason XP even more so vista runs a lot better on the macs.

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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