Before year 2000, laptops were ugly and unattractive. Not just ugly, but also heavy and expensive. More than #100,000 naira bought a small 4:5 screen, chunky keyboard and a hard
drive measured in megabytes, not gigabytes.
Thankfully, modern laptops
are entirely different beasts. They're lighter, faster, infinitely more
versatile and cheaper than ever. Though, price depends on what you want. In the
first quarter of 2010, about 50 million tablets were sold worldwide.
The various options in today's laptop market makes finding the right
system a bit of a challenge. There are desktop replacement laptops,
ultralights, high-end systems for gamers and cheap netbooks for taking notes. You have to know exactly what you're looking for.
When people ask me which laptop is best for their needs, the first
thing I tell people is that there is no clear answer. There are too many
different types of laptops, and different price categories to suit them.
However, I have 11 checklist that will guide anyone before buying one.
1) Size/Weight
If portability is your
main concern, then you need to consider a notebook that has a smallish
screen and a light weight. Any laptop marketed as an Ultrabook should
fit your bill here, as they are designed to be slim and light. More to
the point, though, look for a laptop with a screen that’s 12.0-13.3
inches in size, and a weight that is from 1-1.5kg.
Heavy laptops kill mobility. In 2011, computer processor maker Intel
began pushing an ultrabook category that focuses on lightweight systems, usually weighing about 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms) to make use of its
ultra low voltage CPUs. Ultrabooks do away with disc drives and focus on portability, long battery life and a starting price range of #90,000 to #250,000 naira.
2) Screen Quality/Resolution
Since you will be staring at your laptop for many hours every day, so you want
to make sure you get a screen that is comfortable to look at. Many
laptops these days also have touchscreens, which means they are glossy.
Glossy screens lead to reflections, so consider a laptop that doesn’t
have a touchscreen.
Next, look at the resolution. A
1920x1080-pixel resolution (i.e. Full HD) should be considered if you
want plenty of space to line up windows and keep things in view.
Finally, the viewing angles are extremely important. A laptop screen
that touts IPS (in-plane switching) technology offers the widest viewing
angles and the best user comfort. Try not to buy blind. If
possible, go into a store and see the screen for yourself. Otherwise,
rely on multiple reviews or buyer from a known retailer to get a good overview of the product.
3) Keyboard Quality
For long typing sessions, you must get a laptop that has a comfortable
keyboard. You don’t want to get a keyboard that packs in every key under
the sun (think keyboards that have squished in number pads) because
that can translate to a poor overall user experience when hunting for
keys like the arrows.
You want a keyboard that has a comfortable
layout with full-sized keys and some space around the arrow keys. The
keys should have adequate travel on the down-stroke and snappy
responsiveness when you let them go. Make sure the keyboard is also
backlit if you can afford that, so that you can type with an easier view on the keys in dimly
lit environments or if there is not light. If your main task is tying then just like the screen, try before you buy or check for pictures.
4) CPUs, Processor and Graphics
When it comes to CPUs, you have one of two firms to choose from: AMD
and Intel. These companies make virtually all of the world’s desktop PC
CPUs, but that’s where the similarities between the two firms end, for
the most part. So, should you go for an AMD or Intel CPU when buying
your PC? I’ll shed some light on the differences between Intel’s and
AMD’s CPU offerings in a latter post. However, power efficiency, game performance, overclocking etc are things to look for in both AMD or Intel.
Both AMD and Intel have battled for two decades, but in recent years the
battle has become a bit one-sided. New Pentium and Core chips have
slowly edged out AMD at a variety of price points.
If you have a high budget, then Intel is obviously the way to go. However, note that with a Core i7-based system, heat
coming through the base of the laptop can be cause for concern,
especially if you plan to actually use the laptop on your lap a lot of
the time.
A computer's processor determines how efficiently it can run
programs, multi-task and basically do everything we expect of modern
computers. Processors get faster and more efficient every year. Most
Windows-based computers run on Intel's or AMD's processors; smaller
ultraportables, such as Apple's thin MacBook Air,
run on ultra low voltage processors that draw less power than some of
Apple's other chips. Quad-core chips deliver more powerful performance,
but even dual-core processors are up to the task of playing 1080p video
and running system-intensive programs like Photoshop.
The graphics processor, or GPU, is important when it comes to
playing HD video and running games. Many laptops use integrated graphics
rather than dedicated graphics chips. These are less powerful (and also
less battery intensive), but powerful enough to decode 1080p video.
Dedicated graphics chips are important for playing video games, but for
the average computer user anyone will work.
5) RAM
You need 2GB of RAM or more to get the
best out of your system. More RAM allows for more applications to be run
at the same time, and for more data to be quickly accessible by the
system at any one time, which comes in handy for tasks such as editing
photos.
6) Storage/HDD/SSD/SSHD
Hard drives used to be all the rage,
but these days they are mostly out of favour, especially for thin and
light laptops. This is because they can be slow, somewhat bulky, and
produce noticeable heat and noise. A solid state drive (SSD) or solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), on the
other hand, offers a lot more speed than a hard drive, runs silently,
and can be installed in a form factor that doesn’t add too much to the
weight and bulk of a laptop.
The only problem is that SSDs don’t
offer as much capacity. You’ll be stuck with a drive that’s either 128GB
or 256GB in size, and even then, laptops with 256GB SSDs are pretty
expensive. Stick to a 128GB SSD for your new laptop, though, and you’ll
love the speed with which it can load programs, access your data, and
also how quickly it can boot up your system (it takes under 7 seconds
for some Windows 8 systems). However, some system comes with 500GB plus 128GB SSHD. It all depends on your budget.
7) Battery life
Manufacturer-quoted battery life is often not
indicative of what a laptop can do, and this is based on the many
variables that affect battery life. These are the screen brightness, the
screen resolution, and the tasks that you run. If you run programs that
need lots of processing, or if you stream lots of online video, or if
you transfer lots of files over your wireless network, then your battery
will drain a lot sooner than what the vendor has quoted.
Look at
the rating of the battery in Watt-hours (Wh) or milliamp-hours (mAh).
The larger these figures are, the longer the battery can last. For a
13.3in Ultrabook, for example, a battery with a rating from 44Wh to 50Wh
will give you the best results. As laptops get slimmer and designers pay more attention to making them
sleek and compact, more and more systems use integrated non-removable
batteries. The trade off for that sleeker laptop body is that it's
impossible to buy a backup battery and swap the two out to double
battery life.
Finally, always be skeptical of claimed battery life
times. The numbers that laptop makers convey often refer to light usage
with a dimmed screen. Assume you'll get 1 to 2 hours less than claimed
while browsing the Web and running multiple applications and possibly
even less if you're playing games or doing something else that tasks
the computer.
8) Wireless networking and Bluetooth
This is something we often overlooked when buying a laptop,
but considering that most laptops rely on an Internet connection for the
majority of their tasks, it’s an extremely important feature. At the
very least, you need a laptop that has a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter. This
will allow you to use the laptop with a dual-band router’s 5GHz network,
allowing it to work quicker and perhaps segregating it from other
devices on your network that use the 2.4GHz network.
For those of you who want the fastest networking,
get a laptop with an 802.11ac wireless adapter (some laptops come with
an Intel Wireless-AC 7260), which can work with the latest range of
802.11ac routers that have hit the market recently. Using 802.11ac, your
file transfer rates will be able to hit speeds over 30 megabytes per
second (MBps), and in some cases even approach 40MBs. For instance, when you want to transfer video files to your laptop before going on a
trip or running late for a meeting.
Also look for Bluetooth 4.0. Bluetooth isn’t
only handy for connecting to wireless mice and keyboards, it’s also
awesome for connecting to a Hi-Fi system wirelessly. We use Bluetooth
all the time to play music through a stereo system
from our laptop. This is music that’s either stored locally or streamed
from Google Play Music or online radio stations while we work.
9) Ports and Expandability
Though most laptops now come with at least one USB 3.0
port, but some still comes only with 2.0 ports. You should look for a laptop that has at least a couple of
these ports. This is for obvious reasons such as plugging in an external
hard drive to back up your laptop’s data, or for when you want to plug
in a conventional mouse or a fancy keyboard.
Everyone is familiar with the USB port,
but not everyone is aware that a much faster update is available. USB 3.0 can
be 10 times faster than its predecessor in real-world usage, delivering
transfer speeds of up to 400 megabytes per second.
Even if you don't own any USB 3.0 hardware right now, consider future
proofing when buying a new laptop. You might be really thankful you have
that USB 3.0 port down the road.
There are other ports to consider as well. Do you want HDMI
to output video to a TV or projector? Do you need an SD card slot for downloading
digital camera photos to your laptop? Will you need an Ethernet port for
Internet or will a laptop's built-in WiFi connection be enough? Do you need an optical drive? and if you're on the fence about needing a disc drive, educate yourself
on cloud storage.
10) Security Features
We keep mountains of personal information on our computers. There's
always a risk when storing information digitally and on the Internet,
but laptops elevate that risk by being much easier to steal than desktop
machines. Some laptops, specifically those aimed at business and
enterprise users, are built with these concerns in mind. For example, fingerprint scanners are found on plenty of business PCs and require users to pass a scan before logging into the operating system.
Many laptops also include Kensington security slots. Security cables
are attached to these slots to bolt a laptop to a table or kiosk. Ever
look at laptops at a store like Depolie Tech or Best Buy? Then you've probably seen one
of these in action. Durability is another factor when it comes to
security: To ensure no data loss happens due to a butterfingers moment,
Panasonic sells ToughBook laptops designed to survive a nasty drop onto
unforgiving concrete.
11) Warranty and Release Cycles
Buying consumer electronics is always a battle against irrelevancy. It's tough to buy something that will be outdated in just a few months, but there's always new gear just beyond the horizon and remember you can't put off a purchase forever. To maximize the value of a laptop purchase, buy shortly after a product refresh. New systems usually come out shortly after Intel launches new processors. Look up review for laptops. See a model that was highly rated but came out nine months ago? A newer version will probably be along within a few months. Don't buy a laptop months into its release cycle unless you're shopping on a budget and spy a killer deal.
Picking a warranty isn't an easy decision, either. If you're clumsy
and accident prone (or paranoid), opting for a long warranty will put
your mind at ease. But it will also cost you an extra hundred naira or
more, depending on the kind of coverage you choose. Total coverage
packages for accidents are expensive, but you'll be glad you have it if
you accidentally step on your screen and break the LCD. And there's nothing wrong with going for the cheapest limited warranty you can. However, most manufacturer gives a limited warranty in the case of Nigeria.
Lastly, Analyse Your Needs and Budget:
Of
course, you need to balance these features with your budget and your
needs, and you might have to make some compromises. Rarely does a laptop
come along that ticks all the boxes, especially when it comes to price.
We're not all looking for the same qualities in a laptop, and the
kind of programs you want to run determine your demands in the
categories that follow. First, consider why you're buying a laptop. Is
it to make PowerPoint presentations, take notes and do other simple
business tasks? Or do you plan on watching HD movies, playing video
games and video chatting with your friends?
Figure out how much you can afford to spend on a laptop and find the
best system in that price range with the features you need. System for business use, would be a pretty cheap laptop. With as low as #60,000 Naira you
can easily get a model that will run Microsoft
Office and other productivity software. To order you can visit Depolie Technologies
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