Carl’s Guide to Selecting the Ideal Laptop
With hundreds of choice laptops, which is right for you? Today you can choose a laptop with a 200GB hard drive, dual core processors, DVD Burners and much more. I’ve put together information about the various laptops available today, their beneficial features, and how to make the choice that’s fits your needs.
Carl’s Guide To Selecting A Laptop That’s Perfect For You…
by Carl Fiorentino, President - TigerDirect.com
Here’s my personal guide to finding your ideal laptop for you. Laptops have changed, evolving to adapt to the needs of different people, different environments, and of course - different uses. We’ll take a look at several types of laptops to determine which is best for you.
Thin and light, ultra small, widescreen, and desktop replacements – you may ask which one is best for you. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Now you need to figure out what features you want in your new laptop. Let’s take a look at one of the most popular types of notebooks first.
Thin, Light, Fast & Ultra Small Laptops
Here’s How to Tell if You Need a Thin, Light, Fast and Ultra-small Laptop.
Do you travel frequently? Are you on and off of flights, and in and out of the car? Is there an indentation in your shoulder from carrying your 12lb brick of a laptop? If so, then you need to invest in a thin, light, fast and ultra-small laptop. Manufacturers such as Sony, Acer, Lenovo and Systemax offer these compact marvels that boast processor speeds greater than 1GHz. Many feature multi-core processors from manufactures such as Intel and AMD. With technology innovations such as Intel’s Intelligent Power Capability and AMD’s PowerNow!, battery power has been dramatically increased to give you hours of use with your notebook. Thin laptops sometimes have external optical drives, such as DVD/CDRW Combo drives. However many now have internal optical drives. You’ll also find laptops with hard drives in excess of 40GB, plenty of memory installed to operate a multitude of application software, and the latest operating systems on the market.
The thin, light, fast and ultra-small laptop is ideal if you frequently travel over long distances. You’ll have the luxury of owning a light and small laptop that fits easily in your briefcase, carry-on bag or even a purse. Best of all, you’re not sacrificing performance for size.
Student Laptops
Here’s How to Tell if You Need a Student Laptop.
Have you ever found yourself sitting in a class, realizing that you have a 20-page dissertation due the next day, and it has to be typed into document? Are you a student at a school that requires you to own a laptop so you can take full advantage of the enormous research potential of the Internet? These are only a couple of the many reasons why it makes sense for a student to own a laptop.
Student laptops are application workhorses and often come pre-installed with the basic office program suites. These program bundles might include word processing, spreadsheets, databases and email applications. Software is not the only great feature you will find in student laptops. Laptop manufacturers produce reliable, high-quality reliable laptops that students can use as a resource. You’ll find that most student notebooks feature LCDs averaging between 12 and 14 inches in size and feature hard drives that are usually 80GB or larger. Generally, the processors on student laptops are value performers such as Intel’s Celeron or AMD’s Sempron line. Student laptops are not designed to be desktop replacements. However they are great tools for using word-processing, spreadsheets, databases, e-mail and Internet use. Another great benefit of owning a student laptop is that it is light enough to easily carry to and from school, and to all your classes.
Student laptops are well suited for high school and college students. The hard drive size is large enough to store a significant amount of word-processing documents, spreadsheets and database. The processors are fast enough to operate several application programs and run a multi-media program such as a music player simultaneously and seamlessly.
A student laptop is great multi-purpose machine. Besides allowing you to complete your schoolwork, student laptops are also great for games, Internet, and financial. When you purchase a student laptop, you’re getting much more than a word processor. You’re getting a multi-media machine.
Business Laptops
Here’s How to Tell if You Need a Business Laptop.
Do you need reliability, ample supply of processing power and the ability to access multiple applications simultaneously? Programs such as Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, ACT and Lotus SmartSuite can tax your processor and use a great amount of memory. They also can consume vast amounts of hard drive space. If you need to use such powerful software programs, a business laptop is your best choice. If you plan to use the laptop for more than a few hours per day, you must invest in a descent sized LCD. You should begin with at least a 14-inch viewable screen. When reading text hour after hour on a smaller display, you’re sure to suffer from eyestrain. And you’ll be too tired to get much done.
Processors are every bit as important as computer screens. Intel and AMD are the leading processor manufacturers and they produce a fantastic product. Currently, you have choices of single and multi-core processors. If you are looking for years of use from your laptop, purchase the best processor you can. This is because many notebook processors cannot be upgraded.
Don’t forget about memory. I recommend at least 512MB of DDR Memory. Many programs require 64MB or more to operate. If you find that you’re using four or more programs and your laptop is sluggish, you probably need more memory. Several manufacturers on our site offer laptops with upgradeable memory.
Because you will use your laptop for business, you can’t afford to run out of storage room. Notebook hard drives can store in excess of 160GB, and this number is ever increasing. And because the vast majority of laptops include a CDRW, DVD Burner or combo drive, you can back up all of your files, giving you an extra measure of security.
Tablet PC
Here’s How to Tell if You Need a Tablet PC.
Do you find that you carry your laptop and a notepad everywhere you go? Ever notice that you write things down only to return to your office or home, facing the arduous task of typing all of that info into a word processing document? Have you ever noticed that you juggle between your laptop and notepad throughout the day? Then you definitely need a tablet PC. Many people in the healthcare, insurance and retail industries find that the Tablet PC provides a convenient, easy-to-use way to stay productive throughout the day.
Using a Tablet PC allows you to make written notes using a stylus and the LCD. Once you finish your notes, you can transpose them into text for formal presentation with only a click of a button. Tablet PCs have all of the functions of a standard laptop. You can attach printers, scanners, cameras and connect to the Internet. Many Tablet PCs also have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability. You can also choose among several high-performance and dual-core processors built for Table PCs. You also have many options for optical drives, hard drives and memory.
Extreme Laptops
Here’s How to Tell if You Need an Extreme Laptop.
Do you want to replace your aging desktop? Do you want to play graphics intensive games? Do you need plenty of speed to operate multiple applications simultaneously? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then an extreme laptop is the answer for you. Manufacturers such as HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Systemax and others offer extreme laptops that are just as powerful and versatile as a high-end desktop. Many of these extreme laptops offer fast, multi-core processors. and hard drive space can be as large as 200GB or more. Extreme laptops also feature 15- to 17-inch high-definition widescreen displays with graphics processors of 256MB or more. You also have the luxury of High Definition DVD-ROM and Dual Layer DVD±RW. Many desktop PCs on the market today don’t have these features and functions. Extreme laptops also feature top-of-the-line communications. You’ll also find Integrated Bluetooth, modems, LAN and wireless LAN on many of these extreme machines. Extreme laptops also come loaded with flash media readers that allow you to easily manipulate data from a variety of digital products.
As you can see, extreme laptops are powerful, stylish and full of innovative features. An extreme laptop would have no problem replacing a desktop and is overall the best choice if you need plenty of power, storage and the use of a high-performance PC – Only portable!
I hope you find this guide informative and I encourage you to browse through TigerDirect’s full line of laptops and other electronics. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call, we’re available 24/7 and ready to serve you.
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