Brands:
» Top tier laptop brands:
Lenovo (formerly IBM), HP (but not their Pavillion line),
Dell
» Second tier laptop
brands: Toshiba, Acer, Gateway
Processors (CPUs):
Laptops with Intel processors are generally more expensive,
but have better performance, machines with AMD processors
have slightly lower performance, and lower prices. Each of
those companies, though, have their high-performance CPUs,
and lower-performing CPUs. Of course, the better-performing
ones cost more.
» Good CPUs: AMD Athlon X2,
Intel Core 2 Duo
» Not good CPUs (avoid
these): AMD Turion,
Intel Celeron
Operating System:
Vista:
All laptops built for home use and sold before October 22,
2009, will have Windows Vista on them. Vista is a huge,
bloated operating system that requires significantly higher
system resources to run at the same speed as XP. Also, Vista
is less stable than XP, and there are still compatibility
problems with drivers and programs - even though Vista has
been around for over 3 years.
Windows 7: Windows 7 is the latest operating system
from Microsoft. It is basically a streamlined version of
Vista, with all the rough edges sanded off. Unlike Vista, I
can recommend 7. If you will be using your new laptop at
home, or in any environment without a Windows Server, you
will be fine with Windows 7 Home Premium Edition. If you
will be using your laptop with a Windows Server, you
definitely need Windows 7 Professional. If you get Windows 7
Ultimate, you can't go wrong either way.
Laptops for business can still be ordered from distributors
with XP as of December, 2009. All laptops
come with either Vista or Windows 7, but some can be "downgraded" and will have
XP installed on them. That is because Microsoft has required
all vendors who sell their operating systems to include a
copy of Vista or Windows 7 with every machine they sell.
Memory (RAM):
» If you get a system
running Windows XP, 1 GB of RAM will do just fine, and even
512 MB is okay.
» If you get a system
running Vista or Windows 7, you need at least 2 GB of RAM, and more is
better. 4 or 6 GB is strongly recommended.
Graphics chips:
This isn't much of an issue for general business use, but
you may see some systems boasting that they have "discrete
graphics," while most systems have integrated graphics. In a
nutshell, discrete graphics have vastly better performance
than integrated graphics, but unless you are playing a game,
or doing video or extremely high-resolution photo editing on
the machine, you will never notice the difference.
Screen:
The displays are important, since that is what the user will
be looking at all the time. Pretty much all laptops these
days have widescreen displays. Personally, I prefer the old
square aspect ration screens, but those are no longer
available.
The only real options are to get a screen that is bright but
subject to glare and reflections vs. a screen that is less
bright with a matte finish and anti-glare. Pretty much all
the "home" systems have extremely bright coatings on their
screens. It makes them look great when playing a DVD movie
in a dark room, but in bright conditions, such as using the
laptop with a bright window behind you, you can get some
extreme reflections off the screen. Unfortunately, most
laptops of any sort have gone with the bright type of screen
coating - even many laptops intended for business use. It's
not too bad, just something you have to live with. If this
is a big deal, though, I can track down models with a
matte/anti-glare and anti-reflective screen.
Docking options:
Less expensive laptops have no docking port, which means
they can never be attached to a dock. Docks are really great
if you want to travel frequently with the laptop, but it is
also your main system. A dock lets you plug the laptop into
one connection, and from that have an external monitor,
keyboard, mouse, network, and power all connected. I like
docks a lot, as they can be super-convenient. Docks usually
cost between $50 and $150.
Battery life:
Pay attention to the number of cells in the battery. Cheaper
batteries have lower number of cells, such as 3 or 4, more
expensive batteries and laptops have much higher numbers,
like 6, 8 or 9. The more cells, the longer the battery will
last.
Laptop bags:
If you're looking for a nice laptop bag,
I recommend
www.ebags.com. You can use their
laptop bag finder - just put in the dimensions of the
laptop, and it will show you all the bags that it will fit
into. |
