Buying a Laptop

The OneMinute Geek

The Problem:

If you think buying a desktop is confusing, you’ll find that buying a laptop can be downright painful. How can you ease the pain and get the laptop you need?

The Solution:

I can't erase the techno-babble or the poorly trained sales people, but I can give you a few tips that may make your experience a little less challenging.

First, stick with the big-name brands such as Sony, Dell, IBM, Apple, Gateway, eMachine, Compaq, and HP. The working guts of most machines are very similar and may even come from the same manufacturer, even though they are sold under different brand labels. The reason to stick with the big names is not the product itself but both the initial sales experience and the after-sales support.

Fortunately, you can buy a decent laptop for about a $1000 dollars. Minimum specifications include 60GB of hard drive space, 512 MB of ram, USB 2.0 ports, built-in wireless ability and a network card.

Unfortunately, the world of laptops is a very subjective business. One person's dream machine is another person's oversized paperweight. If you are an average computer user needing a laptop for word processing and basic Internet surfing, the following list will help you shop with confidence.

Screen: Seeing is believing. If at all possible, try before you buy. Assuming the screen image is bright and clear, a 14" screen offers plenty of eyeball space.

Keyboard: Here's another item that is nice to try before your plunk down your charge card. Go for a full-sized keyboard, and make sure it feels good when you use it. A keyboard should be firm but responsive. You shouldn’t have to work to press the keys.

Size/weight: Size does matter. Especially when you plan to carry your new laptop all around town and in and out of airports. Every pound counts. There are really cool ultra-thin laptops on the market now that weigh in at about 3 pounds. I love them, but be sure they have the CD/DVD drives you may need on that long flight. Laptops in the 4-7 lbs range typically offer larger screens and more features, but their weight probably makes them ill-suited for frequent trips outside the home.

Battery Life: If you're a road warrior, you'll need long, reliable battery life. Three hours off a single battery is minimal. Spend the extra money and get the extended life batteries if they are offered. I use a P-series Fujitsu laptop and can squeeze 14 hrs of juice out of the dual batteries. That's a lot of DVDs on those long flights to Tokyo !

Processor: Look for a unit with Intel's Pentium M chip. The M chip is optimized for laptop use since it doesn't suck up as much battery and doesn't require as much cooling. In practical terms, that means your laptop won't be so thick (aka heavy).

Wireless Networking: This is a real must these days. Make sure your laptop has built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking. You will want one that supports the latest "g" version of Wi-Fi. If you plan on synching your PDA with your laptop or using your cell phone as a modem, make sure your laptop also has Bluetooth wireless networking for short-range connections.

James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a Hawaii-based computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Kerr. He can be reached at kerr@supergeeks.net and 942-0773.