what laptop should I buy ?

Selecting the right laptop to buy can be quite tasking especially if you know very little about them. It is a question all sales people selling laptops encounter everyday. A customer walks in (normally parents) and the way they frame the questions normally sound like this:

I want a good laptop for my child, what do you recommend? or I looking for a good long-lasting laptop for work what do you recommend? or I am looking for the best laptop you have that doesn't overheat what can you recommend? or Give me one of those apple laptops I hear a lot about, I hear they are great laptops. Or my Budget is so and so recommend a good laptop for me that fits this budget. Those that know better may go directly to specifications with questions like: What are the specifications of a good laptop? or what are the specifications of a good laptop for students? Or I need a laptop for personal use with the best specs what do you recommend?

Though these are good questions to ask, but from experience I have come to learn they expose their vulnerability to the salesperson who will either hand them the most expensive laptop they have to get the best commission or consider which old stock they want to quietly get rid off using this customer. From there they proceed to convince you with how a laptop looks good and hope you buy in to the product with little consideration of if it will be of service to you.

Hence it is always advisable to do your homework before visiting a shop to purchase a laptop, that is what this article is all about. I am here to distill years of experiences with this running question and hope that it will make it easy for you to get the right laptop for you regardless of the salesperson trying to convince you otherwise.

So to get started, laptops are best classified into 3 main categories based on work function. These three categories are:

A. Document Handling laptops

B. Programming handling Laptops

C. Graphics Handling laptops

 

A. Document Handling laptops

These are laptops that you use for very simple functions such as word processing, spreadsheets, reading PDFs, watching movies, going for conferences with, for presentations and general work with emails and light browsing here and there. Note I have said "light" you don't want to use this to open ten tabs of google chrome while playing music in the background) Best used for one task at a time if you don’t want to overheat things. For such you are looking for a laptop with the following minimum specifications:

1. Processor: quad core processor. An i3 or i5 max will do for this.

2. RAM : You are looking at 4GB - 8GB of random access memory

3. Hardisk : 250GB-500GB storage for your data is sufficient

4. Weight : Very light weight as you use it to move around a lot from presentation to presentation.

5. Design. This is important especially where presentations are involved. you want one that has the best aesthetics that inspire confidence in what you are presenting.

6. Size: Consider one that can fit in your favourite bag with all other features.

7. Standard wireless communication standards (WIFI)

8. Bonus but not a must:

Touch screen: best for presentation work ease of navigation

360 flexibility and undocking feature. for tablet mode reading

 

 

 

B. Programming handling Laptops

These are laptops built for programmers and people with a higher demand for multitasking and working in virtualised worlds. They will open several tabs on google chrome and another several search tabs on Microsoft edge. on the side they will also have another for Firefox and maybe opera. They do this when testing their web apps or because certain topics are interrelated and they need to explore the topic widely. Researchers also fit into this category. In terms of programs this category of useres may want to run android and IoS in virtual environments or two operating systems together in virtual machines egs Linux or older versions of windows. Cybersecurity pen testers also fall into this category as well as Music producers. For such you are looking for a laptop with the following minimum specifications:

1. Processor: octa core processor (8 cores). An i7/ Ryzen 5/7

2. RAM : You are looking at 12GB - 16GB of random access memory

3. Hardisk : 500GB-1TB storage for your data is sufficient

4. Battery : Large battery due to long, late night use

5. Keyboard : Soft touch keyboard with backlight for long typing hours and works even in the dark

6. Screen Size: Large screen size (15"- 17") due to need for comparison space for tabs and programs

7. Ports : Has multiport for adding more screens and USB access and ethernet port

8. Standard wireless communication standards (WIFI)

9. Bonus but not a must:

- 2Gb dedicated graphics card. Useful for high intensity work

- Touch screen: best for presentation work ease of navigation

- 360 flexibility and undocking feature for tablet mode reading

 

C. Graphics Handling Laptops

These are laptops built for heavy use. Most of this heavy use involves processing of graphical content. Graphic designers, video editors, gamers, 3D design artists, architects all fall into this category. These users handle programs such as Autodesk, Maya, cinema 4D Adobe suit, CorelDRAW, Solidworks, ArchiCAD, Pinnacle, Unity game engine, Unreal engine and run games like Crysis, Cyberpunk, Call of Duty, resident evil, Assassin Creed, Final Fantasy, amongst others. They are mostly recommended to run on PC but there are laptops that can pull this off. For such you are looking for a laptop with the following minimum specifications:

1. Processor: octa core processor(8 cores or higher). An i7/i9/Ryzen 5/7

2. Ram : You are looking at 16GB - 32GB of random access memory(or higher )

3. Hardisk : 1TB-2TB storage for your data is sufficient preferably an SSD/NVME storage

4. Battery : Large battery due to long, late night use

5. Keyboard : Soft touch keyboard with backlight for long typing time and working even in the dark

6. Screen Size: Large screen size (15"- 17") due to need for comparison space for tabs and programs

7. Ports : Has multiport for adding more screens and USB access

8. Graphics card: 4GB-8Gb dedicated graphics card. Preferably Nvidia

9. High resolution Screen (1920 x 1080 pixels or higher)

10. Standard wireless communication standards (WIFI)

11. Inbuilt Fan (preferably two) for maximum cooling

12. Bonus but not a must:

- Touch screen: best for drawing with a stylus

- Cooling pad for the laptop

 

It will now be easy for you to pick out a laptop for what you need regardless of brand and design. With this checklist you can be given multiple options of laptops and know which one will best fit your budget for present and future use. It is also important I recommend that if you go with the the last two options ie Programming handling Laptops and Graphics Handling laptops you do consider having a tracking chip installed in them. This is because these laptop are normally very expensive and hold a lot of data. You can purchase such kind of tracker at

https://www.matrixblackbox.com/matrix_laptop_blackbox.html

 

 

Thank you and have a great time ahead.