Whether you’re buying a phone or a laptop, finding a device that fits your budget and matches how you’ll actually use it is genuinely difficult. Among the many brands out there, there’s a huge range of prices and features to sort through. Here are a few things to keep in mind to help you find the right laptop for you among all those choices.
(1) Operating System
Before buying a laptop, you should decide on an operating system (OS) first. Do you want Windows OS, which supports the most Microsoft applications and offers the widest range of choices? Or MacOS, which is beginner-friendly but limited to its own specific software? Or, if you mainly want your laptop for web browsing, Chrome OS, which is very useful for that purpose? Or would you prefer the open-source Linux OS? These four — Windows, MacOS, Chrome OS, and Linux — are your main choices. Note that Chrome OS and Linux cannot run Microsoft Office or Adobe’s Creative Suite.
(2) Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Once you’ve chosen an OS, the next thing to think about is the processor, or CPU. This should be chosen based on what kind of software you’ll actually be using. There are two main processor makers, Intel and AMD, and each of these has many sub-categories to choose from.
Intel Processors
In ascending order, Intel has Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9, where Core i3 has the least processing power and Core i9 offers the best performance. Intel uses numbers to label its processors. For example, in “Intel Core i5-12510U,” it’s an Intel Core i5, “12” indicates the generation, and the last two or three digits — “510” in this case — indicate performance level. The letter shown at the end, such as “U” in the example, can also be “Y” or “H,” each indicating what the chip is mainly optimized for: “Y” is tuned for battery life, “H” for performance, and “U” for battery capacity. This means that an Intel Core i5-12510U would have less processing power than an Intel Core i7-12350U.
AMD
AMD’s naming convention differs from Intel’s. For example, in “AMD Ryzen 5 7600X,” the “7” indicates the generation. The digits after that don’t carry much special meaning, but the “X” indicates high performance. A “U” would indicate “ultra-low power.”
Generally speaking, while an Intel i5 is comparable to a Ryzen 5, there are differences in some areas of performance. For graphics performance in particular, AMD tends to be better than Intel. For everyday use with occasional editing software, something around an Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 should be more than comfortable enough — and the higher the model, the better. If you use editing software more intensively than average, you should consider an Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7.
(3) Graphic Card
Every laptop comes with a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). There’s also a wide variety of graphics cards that pair with these GPUs. In most cases, the graphics card is already built directly into the motherboard. Integrated graphics are perfectly fine for most people, but if you’re into gaming or need heavy graphics power, you’ll need a more capable dedicated graphics card.
(4) RAM
Another thing you can’t overlook is Random-Access Memory, or RAM. Just as a bigger desk gives you more room to lay out your things and work, RAM works the same way for a laptop. 16GB is generally a solid, sufficient amount for a laptop, and is also a reasonable minimum for gamers. If you’re doing two kinds of demanding work at once — say, programming and using editing software — you’ll need a fairly large amount of RAM: at least 16GB, and ideally up to 32GB if you can afford it. Chrome OS devices can run on 4GB, and perform even better with 8GB.
For RAM, DDR4 (Double Data Rate) refers to its speed — DDR4 is faster than DDR3 RAM.
This covers Part 1 of things to consider for those who are thinking about buying a laptop but aren’t sure how to choose. Part 2 will follow next week.