How to Choose the Right Laptop?
                     HOW TO 
CHOOSE THE 
RIGHT 
LAPTOP?
INTRODUCTION
BUYING A LAPTOP is an exercise in 
confusion. Even if you know what 
everything means, and know exactly 
what you want, finding it can be difficult. 
Heck, just navigating the manufacturers' 
websites to locate the model you want is 
frustrating.
Source: www.wired.com
PICK YOUR 
OPERATING SYSTEM
Before you begin to look at laptops, you 
must figure out which operating system 
(OS) works best for you. Thinking through 
what software you need to run and on 
which operating systems that software 
runs will help you determine the 
hardware you need.
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WINDOWS
This stalwart OS doesn't get much press 
anymore, but it gets the job done. It's the 
best choice if you need Microsoft apps 
like MS Office, Access, or Outlook. 
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MACOS
Apple's MacOS is a bit more beginner-
friendly than Windows, but it's tightly 
coupled with the company's hardware. It 
probably isn't your first choice if you 
don't own an iPhone or iPad, and your 
options are limited to MacBooks. 
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UNDERSTANDING 
PROCESSOR NAMES 
(CPUS)
Once you know which operating system 
you want and have some idea of the 
software you're going to run, you can 
figure out the minimum hardware 
specifications you'll need. 
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ARE YOU A POWER 
USER?
If you compile software, edit video, or 
work with very large databases you're 
going to want more processing power 
than the rest of us. I suggest an Intel i7 or 
Ryzen 7. You'll also want to load up on 
RAM, but we'll get to that in a minute.
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WHAT ABOUT A 
GRAPHICS CARD?
All laptops technically have graphics 
cards (also called “discrete” graphics and 
GPU), but most are bundled into the 
motherboard with the processor. This 
approach, known as "integrated graphics" 
is fine for most users.
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HOW MUCH RAM DO 
YOU NEED?
The more the merrier! Random-access 
memory, known as RAM, is what your 
laptop uses to hold data while the 
processor does things with it. 
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SSD STORAGE OR 
SPINNING DRIVE?
The hard drive is where you'll store all 
your data. Think of this as the filing 
cabinet next to your desk. The most 
common choice these days is a solid-
state drive (SSD), although some budget 
laptops still use spinning drives.
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CHECK FOR PORTS
While the CPU, RAM, and hard drive will 
have the biggest impact on performance, 
the amount and types of ports on your 
laptop are important. Ports are the 
various ways of plugging things in to your 
laptop, like USB devices, or recharging it. 
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MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Once you've narrowed the field to a few 
models, read some reviews and look for 
things beyond the specifications, like how 
the hinge holds up over time, how the 
keyboard feels, how the trackpad 
performs, and even how hot the bottom 
gets in your lap. 
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