Things You Should Know Before Buying a Laptop

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I know you have been scratching your head for a while to find the perfect fit for a laptop. I have been through the same and I have wasted loads of my bucks by choosing the wrong ones.

In this guide, I am going to save you from that exact hassle by dissecting the complicated terms related to laptops – OS, processors, GPUs, RAM, and SSD. Let me help!

Operating System

First things first, you need to choose an operating system on which you want to work.

These are the options that are currently available in the market right now: Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, and Linux.

Now, the heavy question comes – which one should you go for?

I have tried all of them. Here, I will categorize each of them for their near-to-best use cases.

Windows: This OS works best if you need to run a lot of Microsoft apps like Office, Outlook, or Teams. Though it is not limited to just that, you can also use Windows for almost every general purpose like watching content and editing photos/videos.

Linux: People who want more control over their operating system should use Linux. Linux offers the crazy level of customizability every developer or nerd wants.

ChromeOS: A lightweight operating system that will work best on devices with limited resources. Even if your laptop has a dual-core processor with 4 gigs of RAM, ChromeOS would work just fine.

MacOS: MacOS can be a no-brainer choice for iPhone users because of its tight integration with the Apple ecosystem.

Processors

I guess I have tested almost every processor apart from a few exceptions. AMD Ryzen and Intel Core are the most common chipsets. Which one should you get and avoid at all costs?

Though, to be honest, there’s nothing to avoid, it comes down to your usage and budget.

For example, I love to play games on my PC. So, I have gone for the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series. It can manage almost all the heavy games pretty well depending on the internet connection. My laptop was struggling with performance but that was because of an unreliable internet connection. So, I switched to Xfinity by dialing the Xfinity customer service number and since then I had a smooth experience.

With that said, for a snappier experience for general usage, I recommend going for an i5 or Ryzen 5000 with at least 10th Generation. The older 9th and 8th are fine too but you would have trouble if your laptop is going to sit around for 3-4 years.

In case you plan to get a MacBook, then I would suggest going with the M1 chip because that’s still arguably the most powerful chipset in the world.

GPUs

This one is going to be of great interest if you do a lot of gaming or even video editing on your laptop.

Almost all of the laptops have a graphics card which is called integrated graphics. Intel has Intel UHD Graphics or the one that I am typing on right now has Iris Xe Graphics. They will work fine for basic gaming and small video editing projects.

Now, when it comes down to your usage, if you are a YouTuber who loves to stream his gameplay, then having a great GPU in your laptop is obvious. Speaking of which, there are two major GPU manufacturers: Nvidia and AMD.

Nvidia names its graphics card lineup as GeForce followed by RTX and Max-Q. In laptops, Nvidia usually uses a 2080 GPU which is balanced between power consumption and performance. This particular graphics can easily ply any game between 60fps to 120fps, giving you a smooth experience.

On the flipside, AMD calls its lineup Ryzen Radeon with Vega being the beast and RX series with a more balanced approach.

Either way, you will be fine with both gaming and video editing. In case, you want to buy a laptop, particularly for editing, go with a laptop that is powered by a Nvidia graphics card or a MacBook with an M1 chip.

SSD and RAM

Let me explain what are SSD and RAM before diving headfirst into their specifications.

SSD or Solid State Drive is the secondary storage component of your laptop which stores all the files ranging from apps to videos. As I am writing this article, there are two types of SSDs available in the market: one is SATA and the other is NVMe.

SATA is the older version whereas the NVMe is the latest. NVMe has slightly better read and write speed than that of SATA. I am nitpicking at this point but frankly, you are going to be just fine with any of them for general use.

Now, let’s talk about the RAM. Random access memory is that space of your computer where the programs are stored temporarily before being processed.

Here is the basic rule of RAM: the more, the sweeter. If you can afford 32gigs of RAM, then go for it. Otherwise, try to get at least 16 gigs on your laptop.

To wrap things up, the last thing you have to do is evaluate. Evaluate your needs: for what purpose you would be using your laptop, will it involve heavy multitasking or heavy gaming OR do you need a laptop just for work? Based on your needs, search for particular specs and go with a brand that has a great after-sales support!

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