LAPTOP Buying Guide for ppl who aren't exactly Computer geeks :)

Hi all

Many of my friends who will soon be joining MBA courses and have no prior knowledge about computers have been asking me how to

go about buying a laptop. hence the origin of this post

I would try to explain the various things you need to know before you buy your laptop in as simple a terminology as possible. I wont
however be able to comment on diff laptop configurations or models of companies as I am no Laptop expert, just a guy like you all who
happens to be an IT engineer by fate

Lets start with the major things which u must know before u zero in on a laptop (i.e zero in on the basic configuration of a laptop ) :

1) Processor: Intel is world leader in this field. There are 3 basic processors you will hear :
a) Intel Core 2 Duo
b) AMD Turion 64 bit
c) Intel Dual Core
The best among these is Intel Core 2 Duo in terms of performance and heat generated in the laptop(least for Core2Duo) however it is
also the most expensive .AMD 64 bit is slightly lower in performance than Core 2 Duo and also generates more heat .However as it is
cheaper so AMD 64 bit is the most economical choice as it offers you good performance at about Rs5000 less than what you will
need to shell out for Core 2 Duo. For people who would use the laptop only for light applications and browsing, even Intel dual core will
work fine…however its an old technology and the newest one is Core 2 Duo. The difference btw Dual Core and Core 2 Duo is about
Rs8000 atleast and btw Core 2 Duo and AMD 64 bit is 4k-5k atleast.
Now comes the Processor speed. In my opinion anything above 1.7 GHz is gud enough

2) OS – Operating system, as most companies nowadays give you Windows Vista, there is not much to be said about the OS except
that go for a Windows Vista Home Premium rather than Vista Home Basic

3) RAM – it is the most important part of your laptop. RAM is a place where your computer stores data for immediate and fast use. The
RAM will determine how fast your notebook really works.It comes in following configuration : 1 GB,2 GB,3 GB and 4 GB.
For running Windows Vista efficiently, I would advice you to go for a 2 GB RAM atleast though Vista will also run with 1 GB. Anything
more than 2 GB would be a plus but don’t go in for less than 2 GB RAM unless you have budget issues….running of multiple
applications/music/games simultaneously can use more than 1 GB RAM and then performance will be surely affected so 2 GB is a safe
bet

4) Screen/Display and Weight – the smaller the size of the screen, more would be the cost as the weight would decrease. Decide
your basic needs for a laptop, for students I would suggest 14 inch or 15 inch screen (weight of laptop alone will be btw 2.4 kgs to 3 kgs
incase u go for 14 or 15 inch screen while for a 12 inch screen it is 2 kg max) If you're mainly going to keep your laptop at one place
and hardly ever use it on-the-go, a screen size of 15-inches is fine. But if you plan on moving around a lot, 12-inches or 14 inches is the
way to go. However, some people who watch a lot of movies on their laptops might find 12-inches to be too small for viewing, so my
suggestion is to opt for a 14 inch screen.

5) Hard Disk - The hard disk is really dependent on how many photos, music and movies you plan to store on your system. Most
laptops come with 120 GB atleast, you can go in for 160 GB or 250 GB incase you need to store lot of data.120 GB should be more
than enough

6) Graphics Card - This determines your display quality and which games you can play.
For serious gamers,256 MB (dedicated memory) graphic card is essential however it will add up to the cost. Most laptops come with
256 MB (shared memory) graphic card or 128 MB (dedicated )graphic card which enables you to play most of games and also
have a very good display quality and enjoy movies etc

These 6 were the most basic parameters which you need to deicide before buying a laptop based on your requirements and your
budget

To summarize, My Best buy configuration is : atleast 14 inch screen,1.8 GHz AMD 64 bit processor, atleast 2 GB RAM,120 GB
hard disk,128 MB graphic card
(this is a laptop configuration which will serve almost all your needs and work fine for atleast 2 years till some new technology crops up)

The above configuration will cost anything between 37-40 K depending on your bargaining abilities …. ...cost shoots upto 45 K if u
buy same config as above but change the processor to Intel Core 2 Dual and cost falls to 35 K if u use Intel Dual Core
One important thing you must keep in mind apart from all the above is how long is the warranty period(I strongly suggest you not to
compromise on this aspect ) and the service/repair centers available in your city incase the laptop gives trouble.

I would narrow down my options to 4 best firms in the business :HP, DELL ,IBM/LENOVO and SONY which have a good presence in
all parts on India

After you are over with the first part of deciding your laptop configuration, go to computer retailers in our city and they will show you all
models which come in the same config or a matching one.

Once you know the various model names which come with your configuration you can use the following sites to read their reviews (just
type in model name by visiting these sites or
Google “review MODEL.NO”

The top 5 sites which offer you all pros and cons of models you choose are :

1) Notebook and Laptop Reviews

2) Laptops & notebooks: Laptop computers, notebook computers. - CNET
3) Find reviews, top products, technology deals and more at ComputerShopper.com - Prestitial
4)Electronista | Gadgets, Mobile Phones, DVR, GPS, Camera, Music product reviews
5)Notebookcheck: Notebook & Laptop Reviews and News

Hope you have got basic know how of how to buy a laptop after reading this post

Cheers !!!

Thanks for having the patience to read such a long post ……

PS : I am no Laptop expert and hence wont be able 2 reply to PM’s or posts or scraps asking me about particular laptop models …
…all views expressed above are personal views and this is info collected from my friends and the web and talking to few ppl who are in
the business of selling laptops…

this was just a starters course for ppl going to buy a laptop and who are not from Computer background…….hope this helps

Dubya
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LAPTOP Guide for Dummies

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