How do you choose a laptop when you don't know anything about laptops?

WibblyGirly

Don't go for the cheapest. I went for a cheap Acer one for uni and it lasted 2 years then the track pad wouldn't work. Wish I had a bit more and got something better. I have one of the new slim MacBooks now and I love it. It's fast, holds charge for a long time and very lightweight to take to uni with me.

Cash-Cows

Unadjusted wrote: »

All I want is a quick laptop but I am getting really confused but the huge range out there.

Can anyone recommend anywhere I can learn more to help me choose?

Go to apple shop. Product line is simplified and no pushy sales people.

jamesperrett

I've just gone for a refurbished high end laptop which gave me much more for my money. The nearest new laptop to the spec I bought would cost nearly £800 but I paid under £300 which included a years warranty.

Cisco001

What programme are you running?

What size?

SPFreely

Well here's one criteria not to go by and that is the array of fruity colours the laptop comes in. If high street retailers had their way the majority of your tech would be pink and purple, but outdated technologically in 6 months.

Bear the following in mind. You want a decent speed for the processor, so aim for at least above 2GHz if your budget will allow it. Furthermore, the more cores the Processor/CPU has, the better. I'm sure you don't need to be told about RAM. I at least go with a minimum of 4GB with the option to upgrade.

Moreover, do not make an on the spot purchase with a laptop. Take the specs away to research in your own time, find out just how modern the hardware inside is.

If you want to do more with your laptop than basic computing i.e. like gaming, look for a laptop with dedicated graphics, because I can tell you right now Intel HD will not cut it.

Also, expect every new laptop to come with Windows 10 installed (unless you're specifically purchasing one without an OS), so be cautious of any computer coming with it's predecessor. That will be an automatic sign of its age.

I'm sure I'm stating a few obvious facts here, but this is how I select a laptop for purchase.

martinthebandit

Cash-Cows wrote: »

Go to apple shop. Product line is simplified and no pushy sales people.

If you want quick then apple is (unfortunately) the right answer.

jshm2

Depends what your budget is and what you're looking to do with the machine.

If you're looking to do gaming then the glorified PC's Apple sell, are useless for that for example. But in most cases you are better checking some out in John Lewis/Curry's and then checking online to see if they will price match.

esuhl

SPFreely wrote: »

Bear the following in mind. You want a decent speed for the processor, so aim for at least above 2GHz if your budget will allow it. Furthermore, the more cores the Processor/CPU has, the better. I'm sure you don't need to be told about RAM. I at least go with a minimum of 4GB with the option to upgrade.

Ideally you need to look at the full specs of the components. Two PCs might have 4GB RAM and a 2.0GHz CPU, but the memory may run at a different frequency, it may have different latency, and the CPU caches may be different sizes.

High Street shops often focus on the main specs (4GB / 2GHz) because they know that's all most people will use to compare models. So they get the slowest, cheapest RAM, and the cheapest CPU with only a small onboard cache.

Linton

In my view....
One with an SSD rather than a mechanical hard drive will feel faster - startup is much faster. This is more important than having the fastest processor. 8G minimum memory. An i3 processor is fine for normal use. Dont go for a Celeron or a Pentium.

Is battery life important?

Majic

Can anyone advise cheapest device to be able to play online gaming. I have 1 laptop with graphics card and good speed and memory. I've been told around £600+ to but something similar.

It doesn't have to be a laptop. I don't really want another PC would a tablet be a good idea?