Are you planning to pick a laptop and don’t know where to start? It's easy to be waylaid by the variety of features available, but a smart buy is one that fits your needs and gives you value for money. Milan Sharma looks at the laptops that will suit the requirements of different user groups.
Students
Portability is the key for students who want to lug their laptops to college and between lecture rooms. They are likely to need a device that can be used for browsing, editing documents and preparing college reports. Of course, it should also be handy for some fun—chatting with friends, watching movies, uploading photos and listening to music. Netbooks are a good choice and reasonably priced too. These have single/dual core processors, such as the Intel Atom, and 1-2 GB RAM, which can handle most computing functions, such as the Samsung NP-NC110 and the MSI Wind Netbook series. A hard disk drive of 160-320 GB takes care of most storage needs and the netbook’s small size and light weight (about 1 kg) make it easy to carry. The only drawback is that these have small screens, usually 10-13 inches, and no optical drive. However, the presence of 2-3 USB ports takes care of any data transfer needs. Netbooks have a VGA port (some have s-video or HDMI too) so that you can hook them to a bigger LCD screen/monitor. If you want to cut down on cost, don’t install a paid operating system. Instead, download a free one, such as Linux.
Price: 13,000-24,000
Home/small
office users
If you plan to use the laptop only for browsing, it may be better to go for a 13-inch netbook. However, if you are going to run some software, make budgeting spreadsheets for your house or small business, and edit photographs or home videos, you will need a laptop with more computing power. Opt for one with a faster dual/quad core processor, a 2-4 GB RAM and a hard disk drive (HDD) of 320-500 GB, such as laptops from the Lenovo IdeaPad series and Acer Aspire series. The HDD is usually 5,400 or 7,200 rpm, which signifies how fast the data can be transferred and applications launched. A higher number indicates better speed for copying files and booting up, but even 5,400 rpm will be sufficient for you. An integrated graphic card will be adequate for your needs, so don’t pay more for a separate one. You could pick a laptop with a 15-17 inch screen so that you can watch movies and play arcade games.
Price: 30,000-65,000
Professionals and business travellers
Office-goers need faster processors that can handle multi-tasking smoothly, including document editing, huge balance sheets and project presentations. So, a laptop with a quad core processor and 4 GB RAM will be the best. It will be useful if the RAM is upgradeable as you may require more computing power after a couple of years. An optical drive with a DVD writer is necessary, so that you can burn data on DVDs and give these to clients or colleagues when needed. You will also need a bigger screen, 14-16 inches, for better readability. Though an integrated graphics card will work well, you can opt for a laptop with a separate card of 512 MB or 1 GB. If you travel frequently, you will need all the above in a smaller package. Your best choice is an ultraportable laptop, especially one which weighs less than a kilogram. You can pick one from the series of Acer TravelMate or Dell Latitude. These look similar to a netbook as they are small and lack an optical drive, but have faster processors, higher RAMs and are more hardy. Avoid laptops with glossy screens as these make it difficult to read the text in sunlight and brightly lit spaces. Some ultra-portables will cost more as they have integrated mobile broadband modems and extra security features to protect and preserve data.
Price: 35,000-75,000; 55,000-1.2 lakh (ultra-portables)
Gamers & photographers
The need for heavy-duty editing software and games means you will require the top computing power available. So get a laptop with the fastest processor, such as Intel’s i7 Core processor. It’s necessary to have a graphic card like Nvidia’s GE Force N260 with a dedicated memory of at least 1 GB. If money isn’t an issue, opt for a solid state drive (SSD) rather than an HDD. Though SSDs are more expensive and offer less space, they are also faster and more durable. The laptop should have at least 4 GB RAM and DDR3 memory (this is faster than the DDR2 version). It will be beneficial if the laptop has a faster clock speed of 1,066 MHz rather than the more common 667 MHz. Gamers can pick a laptop from Dell’s Alienware series, while artists may prefer to pick from Apple’s MacBook Pro series.
Price: 70,000-1.3 lakh
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