Quick Buying Guide for Laptops
There are many hardwares, operating systems and technologies when it comes to laptops. We’ll cover some of the most important ones below.
- We list the most important pieces of hardware you should consider before buying a laptop.
- And the 3 of the most common operating systems.The most important pieces of hardware
The Processor
It is the brain of the computer. A more expensive and better processor can handle more programs at the same time and can be faster if you have a demanding program that needs to be run. The most popular are Intel and AMD. Now Apple M1 and M2 processors are getting popular and preferred by lot of Intel users
The RAM
The Random Access Memory (RAM) is the working memory. It can also be called computer short-term memory because it is so-called volatile. This means that it is cleared every time you turn off your computer. More RAM is better if you have large applications to run and your laptop will be faster while using the apps.
The Hard drive
This is where your files such as documents, spreadsheets, videos, and pictures are stored. There are mainly 3 types of hard drives- SATA, SSD, and NVMe. SSDs are significantly quieter than the others. With an SSD, you get faster operating system start-up and faster load times.
The Graphics card
It is an additional processor dedicated to processing what is displayed on the screen. The extra horsepower is needed for heavy graphics applications such as image processing in Photoshop, movie editing, or for displaying high-definition movies on an extra LCD monitor or TV.
Battery
The power of a battery depends on the number of cells it contains, its capacity (mAh), and voltage (V). Higher values mean longer operating time, but the battery also weighs more.
The 3 most common operating systems
Windows 10
The world’s most used operating system. For cheaper laptops today, the HOME version is used. For more lavish computers, the PRO version is usually included. The PRO versions of Windows 10 offer more features, such as optional Bitlocker encryption.
Apple OS X
This operating system from Apple is the second most common operating system in the world. Many describe OS X as a more user-friendly operating system than Windows.
Google Chrome OS
Google’s Linux-based operating system, unlike normal Linux distributions, is very simple and user-friendly. Trojans and other malware are not very prevalent, although (like all established operating systems) they do exist. Many times, a trial version of Google Drive is included with more space. Then after a year or two, a monthly fee is added if you don’t want to stick with the free plan with less space.
