A.J.R's Laptop Buying Guide

A.J.R’s Laptop Buying Guide 

I get many customers asking me what laptop they should buy, which one is the best, etc. All models of computers/laptops end up in our workshop, so they all break at some point. My opinion..? Follow these simple rules and you just bought the best laptop!

1.) Figure out a budget. Remember that with a new computer, you may need to buy new software. The Office suite can run up to £200 for the full package, so keep that in mind or you can install the free office program open office http://www.openoffice.org/.

2.) Test out laptops in stores first if you are buying online. Buying online gives you no sense of how the computer feels, weighs or views in bad/good/extra light. Once you see the one you want at the store, then go find it online and order there if you are getting a better deal. Some stores have the same computer on their own website cheaper!

3.) When you are at the store…. make sure to check out the next few things:

·        Keyboard. Play with the keys and make sure you can type ok and see the keys. Some laptops today have the shiny look and feel and it’s hard to view and use those! Or they have the “bouncy” keys and it’s even hard for me to type on and I can type fairly fast!

·        Weight. Pick up the laptop and make sure you can carry it without problems. Many people end up buying 10 ton weight laptops and they are very hard to drag around.

·        Screen. Check out the screen and make sure there is not too much glare. If you plan on working outside, many screens have too much glare and you can’t read the screen in natural light, even too much overhead light can be bothersome.

·        Screen width. Many people hate the wider screens. It is not an issue for me, but for those with the regular monitors, it’s quite a change. Test opening some stuff on the computer and make sure you like how it looks.

·        Memory. Try to get 4-8 gig of RAM if you can. Most new computers are coming out with at least 4, but if you can get a good deal with 6 or 8 gig, go for it! You should be fine with that for many years to come. But with how fast technology is changing, who knows…8 gigs might be slow soon, hah!

·        Hard drive size. Most new computers come with 250 to 1TB hard drives. If you are a data hoarder (like me!), then getting the biggest hard drive possible that meets your budget is best. If you don’t keep a lot of stuff, then a smaller one is just fine.

That’s the quick and dirty…many people also ask about the processors…my answer is you’ll be ok probably if you can find a computer that fits your needs with the list I gave you. Those are much more important for the standard/average user. But i will give you a quick insight to help you out

How to choose a processor

Intel and AMD are the two leading computer processor manufacturers. Both today’s Pentium series processors from Intel (Pentium 4, Pentium D, and Extreme Edition) and the Athlon 64 and 64 X2 series processors from AMD are excellent, so let price and chip speed be your guide.

These three processor features all have their own distinct advantages: 

·    Dual-Core: Essentially embodies the inner guts of two processors, even though there’s only one physical chip. 
  (dual-core processor is much better at multitasking and juggling more than one running program at a time, or both “virtual” processors can work on the same task. It’s very sexy — in a computer hardware sort of way, naturally.

·    64-bit: A 64-bit processor can input and output much more data (and work with a whopping larger amount of RAM) than a 32-bit processor.

·    Hyper-Threading: Jeez, what a moniker — just think of a Hyper-Threading processor as much more efficient and significantly better at handling multiple programs at the same time than a processor of the same speed without Hyper–Threading. (Who thinks up these names — the marketing guys?)

I personally like the Intel iseries check this website to see what iseries processor you may be best with http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/comparison.htm

Customers frequently ask me to recommend the best laptop brand available, so I will give my opinion on the brands to stay away from and the ones that I would recommend.

Don’t Buy..!

·    HP Laptops – We get allot of these into the workshop with bed overheating and screen problems.

·    Advent – (Pc World’s own make)  - We also get lot of these in the workshop, made very cheaply and overpriced..!

Recommend..!

·    Samsung – Make quality laptops..! I’m becoming a fan, but be prepared to spend between £350 onwards. £400+ for the good spec models.

·    Sony & Dell – not the cheapest laptops and some Sony laptops do overheat due to the processor (CPU) fan failure in particular the Sony Vaio model we get a few of these for fan replacements. But nice laptops. Dell make good solid laptops but one model in particular  the Inspiron1525 does have problems with the power jack chip we have had to replace a few of these over time.

·    Toshiba & Acer – Cheap cheerful but produce decent quality laptops at budget prices can’t go wrong for the money.

If you are buying a new computer and need help with the set up, data moves, antivirus protection plans or data back up, please let us help you. Our remote and onsite support rates are very affordable and will get your computer up and running quickly!

Give us a call at 01709 519083

Hope this helps and thanks for reading

Andrew Marriott (Owner & Founder)

A.J.R Computing & Rotherham Laptop Repair