Why You Always Overpay for Laptops:
What to look out for and how to pick the right one.
By Malachi Daniel
By: Malachi Daniel
Computers are in almost every home these days, and the market for laptops is large and growing.
The problem with buying them is that lots of confusing terms are thrown around by salesmen, so finding one for the best price is a challenge.
One of the main reasons people overpay for laptops is because they don’t know the right specifications to look for. The lack of knowledge of the average consumer causes people to overpay for their device. This article will show how to choose the right laptop, how to find and base your price around parts, and how to save money.
One of the main reasons people overpay for laptops is because they don’t know the right specifications to look for.
Laptops are a great device for people who need to get work done on the go. With their portability, they are a great way to be productive while on the move, and they are a great choice for students.
Here are a list of keywords and their ideal configurations that you should look out for:
• CPU: Intel Core i5 or greater.
• Solid State Drive (SSD): 120GB or more.
• Hard Drive: 1TB (the current standard, adjust if you need more or less).
• Memory (RAM): 8GB of RAM (Bare minimum should be 4GB).
Some of these terms may not make sense, so let's get into what each part does and how it’s beneficial.
Some of these parts may not make sense, so let's get into what each part does and how it’s beneficial.
CPU
The first term is something we hear all the time: “Intel Core this, Intel Core that,” but what exactly does it mean? Basically, an Intel Core is a CPU that does all of the calculations for a computer; the faster it is, the more things that are calculated. For most students, nothing more is needed than an i5. The bare minimum should be an i3 if you are on a budget. The CPU does not have to be an Intel Core, but the best standard at the moment is Intel for laptops.
An i5 is good because it’s the sweet spot between performance and price for laptops.
Storage
The second term a consumer should understand is storage. This is where all your files are kept, where your programs are stored, and where your operating system resides.
Currently, there are two main types of storage for laptops: hard drives and solid state drives (SSD). Hard drives are the most common storage type in laptops because of its cheap price and generally large storage. An SSD is a new type of storage that is significantly faster because it has no moving parts, unlike a hard drive, which is a spinning disk. An SSD will allow your laptop to turn on quicker, open programs faster, and make your overall experience smoother.
If you need more space, a hard drive is a must because of how cheap it is. Hard drives are slow compared to SSDs, which is why you are sacrificing speed for storage space. An SSD, on the other hand, allows the user to work much faster, but they are more expensive than a standard hard drive. If cost is not an issue, an SSD is the way to go.
In the image above, an SSD and a hard drive’s read and write speeds are being compared. Essentially, it is comparing how fast it can open (read) something on your laptop and save (write) information to the disk. As you can see, the SSD’s numbers are almost three times faster than a hard drive.
The type of storage a consumer needs really depends on what they use a laptop for. A 120GB SSD will most likely not be enough if you would like to video edit and/or save large amounts of photos. If most of your work is stored online rather than physically on your drive, an SSD is a great choice because you will most likely not be using a lot of space.
Memory (RAM)
The last term a consumer should know is memory. Memory is where all of your programs store temporary information. The difference is that RAM is a lot faster than your storage, but it is reserved for the CPU. For example, the tabs open in Chrome are being stored in the RAM because it is temporary, while your actual Chrome application is saved in the hard drive/SSD.
If you are running multiple applications such as Chrome, Spotify, and Word, they are all using some of your memory to get information to the CPU. Having a low amount of memory will make the laptop unable to run multiple things at once because there is not enough space to hold the information the CPU needs. This will effectively slow down your overall experience.
8GB of RAM is the standard for laptops these days; if you are on a budget, 4GB is okay, but it’s not recommended as you will not be able to run as many tasks as you would like at once.
Examples
Here are three different laptops to take a look at:
Ideal (Hard Drive): Samsung Notebook 5 15.6” - This laptop sports an Intel Core i5, 8GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive. It has the ideal CPU and memory amount and has a 1TB hard drive for extra storage. Consider this if you want more storage but you don’t necessarily need speed.
Ideal (SSD): Dell Inspiron 15.6” - This laptop has the same specs as the one above (Intel Core i5, 8GB memory), but this time it has a 256GB SSD. The SSD, as stated above, allows you to have a smoother experience due to its speed. Consider this if you need faster speeds but less storage.
Budget: Dell Inspiron 15.6” - This laptop has an Intel Core i3, 8GB of memory, and a 1TB hard drive. It still has a good amount of memory for necessary headroom, but it will be a bit on the slower side due to the i3.
A Cheaper Alternative
If you are really trying to stay on a budget and only see yourself doing quick and easy tasks such as using Google’s suite of apps and mostly web-based things, a Chromebook is an excellent choice. Although the parts inside aren't the best, they give the best bang for your buck if you're on a budget. Budget Chromebooks range from $150 to $300, significantly cheaper than most Windows computers.
Don’t expect amazing performance from a Chromebook; think of it as a work only laptop for a cheap price. A Chromebook doesn’t have the performance like a normal laptop to do other things such as run iMovie to edit videos. Choose a Chromebook if you feel like you’re only going to be typing documents and browsing the internet because that's basically the most it can do.
Final Word
Hopefully this advice has been useful, for more information, tips, or help you can email the author at: [email protected]
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The Ideal Setup for the Average Consumer and Student
Photo depicting an SSD vs a HDD read/write speeds, courtesy of Creative Commons.
Best Buy sells an assortment of different laptops with have many unique specifications, image courtesy of Creative Commons license CCO. No attribution required.
The Charger, December 2017
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