Notebook Buying Guide: How To Buy The Right Laptop Discussion

[TechnologyGuide staff]

Article originally published by Dustin Sklavos and recently updated by NBR Assistant Site Editor Michael Wall, with direction and additions by NBR Editor and Managing Editor Jerry Jackson.

While I'm not an Apple user myself, I understand the products' appeal: Apple computers are simple to use without too much customization or a lot of confusing hardware specs. 

Personally, I love shopping for desktop parts and comparing specs of Windows-based notebooks. For me, the research is actually more fun than the purchase itself. But it's well known that shopping for a notebook, whether online or in a retail store, can be daunting since there are  so many options and a lot of different processors. While it's ideal to find a few laptops in the store, write down their model numbers, and research them at home by browsing reviews, sifting through all the available options on your own can be tough.

With that in mind, before we show you how to choose a notebook, here are some important points to consider.

Read the full content of this Article: Notebook Buying Guide: How To Buy The Right Laptop

[badtzwang]

Very well written article which covers pretty much every area when it comes to Buying a Laptop.

I'm currently in the market for a laptop and everything that is mentioned in this article is something that I've had to think about.

[Zeerax]

Well done mate ! It's good to see actual updated guides with all new technologies included.

[jasperjones]

"Though I caution people interested in video editing to avoid using a notebook as their primary machine and to pony up for a faster desktop."

Completely agree with this. In the forums, often people suggest way too expensive laptops (e.g., featuring 820QM or 920XM processors) in situations where really a desktop plus a (more modest) laptop for mobility needs could do the job better and more cost-effectively.

[Angelic]

Always awesome having an updated laptop buying guide, thank you Dustin.
I definitely agree with you on SSD's not being quite worth it yet. However, you claim the battery life improves. From benchmarks and user reviews, it really doesn't seem like they really help in that regard. They do seem to reduce heat a tiny bit though.

[ChristopherAKAO4]

Nice! I will defiantly recommend this to any one I know considering buying a laptop!

[Thecla]

Nice! I will defiantly recommend this to annoy I know considering buying a laptop!

Why would you want to annoy people buying a laptop, let alone do it defiantly? :P

[ChristopherAKAO4]

Why would you want to annoy people buying a laptop, let alone do it defiantly? :P

Wow, talk about a typo. LOL

[donoz]

usefull article but there are a few glaring ommissions(pun intended) : firstly on the screen front no mention is made of the glossy vs matte screen options in my mind and much to my regret because I have one glossy screens as are found on most consumer store bought laptops are a really bad idea. The option is to go in the business laptops of the big brands to find matte screens which usually means buying online...

Secondly you are a bit hard on AMD with a serious re-fresh of their laptop processors just around the corner and the advent of the graphics hardware as a sort of co-processor( think flash 10.1 hardware accelerated) some of the low power ATHLON NEO and ATI 4200 IGP could make a lot of sense.

[kingtz]

GRAPHICS
Let me be clear: you can't upgrade laptop graphics. I’ve seen this query in our forums, and only laptops purchased by people who don't need to read this article can be upgraded. (Those few laptops that feature upgradeable graphics are hard to find and even harder to upgrade. Most consumers won't even be able to find these specialty notebooks if they try.)

I was just about to say, "Hey now, that's not true!" but your second sentence stopped me.