What to Look for in a New Laptop

With many laptops available on the market today it can be bewildering choosing a new laptop. There are so many different options so it is important to understand what they all mean.

The first thing many people notice when they are purchasing a new laptop is the processor. This is frequently considered the most important specification in a laptop as it is one of the features that controls the speed at which a laptop will operate. The processor is what actually does all the calculations and processing that a computer needs to perform - both for the operating system and user applications. A processor's speed is measured in hertz (Hz) or gigahertz (GHz). Another important thing to note about the processor is whether it is dual core or not. A dual core processor will run much faster than a single core processor.

Another key factor that controls the speed of the laptop is its RAM. RAM stands for random access memory and is temporary memory. All applications need to store data for a short amount of time and so they use RAM. As with the processor a higher RAM dictates a faster laptop. RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). 512 MB of RAM is about the lowest you would want to consider on a new laptop.

Also the hard drive is important as it stores all your files and data. Unlike RAM a hard drive will keep what it is storing even after the computer has been switched off. The storage on a hard drive is again measured in gigabytes and currently anything between 60 GB and 160 GB is about standard on a new laptop.

A more complex specification is the graphics card inside the laptop. Generally most laptops come with an ATI graphics card. The specific graphics card you want will depend a lot on what you intend on doing with the laptop. There is lots of advice available on the internet on what different graphics cards are good for so take a look at that before purchasing a laptop.

The operating system itself will also make a difference in what laptop you want to buy. Generally speaking if you are new to laptops choose an OS you are used too. So if you normally use Windows stick to a Windows laptop and if you normally use Apple Macintosh buy one of their laptops. Also ensure the laptop that you are considering meets all the specifications required to run your intended OS - for example if you plan to run Windows Vista 512MB RAM is the absolute minimum while 1GB is recommended.

However the main point is just to spend that extra bit of time researching your intended laptop and you will avoid buying one that doesn't do what you want.