Laptop Buying Guide – Important Things to Know Before to Buy New Laptop

Buying a laptop can be a very hectic task when you have so many options. We’re talking about laptops in a much more general way. I’m going to give you some quick advice about buying a new laptop and making an informed buying decision, so you can get the laptop that best fits your needs. 

Before we even get in to, like, Mac versus PC, the thing you need to do is figure out what you need to use this laptop for, whether you’re a student, whether you’re doing productivity work, whether you’re a designer or video editor, photographer, a gamer, your needs are going to be different.

What is the Difference Between i5 and i7?

One of the first things you have a figure out is your budget. The budget is going to be the key to what you can get. Here are some basic things to think about when you’re budgeting for a laptop. Again, think about how you’re going to use it. The main components of a laptop are the processor; you’re going to have to decide between an i5 and an i7 likely.

 The i7’s more powerful; the i5 is cheaper. You’re going to have to decide whether you want to have a solid-state drive. That’s one of the new flash-based drives that’s a lot quieter, it’s not as noisy, doesn’t have the spinning rotation, so it’s going to last longer, be quieter, and it’s going to be a lot faster, but it’s also going to be a lot more expensive.

 The other thing is that it might let you have a smaller, lighter, thinner laptop, which could affect the form factor, the appearance, and how beautiful the laptop is. Again, you’re going to get what you pay for where that kind of thing is concerned. RAM is probably one of the most important things you can think about when you’re buying a laptop because it’s going to determine how many applications you can use and how quickly they’re going to run.

How Much RAM is Good for My Laptop?

 I don’t buy laptops with less than 8 GB of RAM for the most part, even if I’m buying a travel laptop, something like an ultrabook. I still try to steer toward 8 gigs of RAM. If you go to that route, it’s going to be expensive for you in the Mac product line.

Unless you’re committed to the Mac Ecosystem, I would consider looking at a cheaper Windows option if budget’s a problem for you. The graphics are another thing. Most of you you don’t need graphics to do anything really, even if you’re doing video editing as I do on the YouTube channel. I’ve done every kind of video editing you can think of, except for, like, 3D modeling and high-end visual effects, and I can get by with an integrated graphics card instead of a dedicated one.

Is Graphics Card Important for My Laptop?

The GPU is not a dealbreaker if you’re doing PhotoShop, After Effects, Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere, for the most part. Even if you’re doing color grading, you don’t have to go there. It does make things faster and better, but it’s also very expensive. If you’re doing gaming and you want to make the best resolution, you want to do the best settings, then, yeah, you’ll need a better video card for that, but again it will cost you more, so keep those things in mind.

What is the Best Laptop for Watching Videos?

For the casual, everyday person, video card, you can get 4K video out of a great display like the Dell XPS 13 without a dedicated video card. The onboard video cards have come so far that even Mac uses them in the entry-level Mac Book Pro models as well as the Mac Book itself and the Mac Book Air model.

Keep those kinds of things in mind when you’re buying, you can save a ton of money. Because I do photography and video, I like to have USB ports, and I like to have SD card slots. Depending on your budget and what type of laptop you get, you might have to sacrifice some of those things.

The Mac Book, for example, only has a USB C port, so that’s going to be very limiting for you, especially since you might have to spend more money on adapters and things that are compatible with it. The Mac Book Air product line still uses USB 2.0, in some cases USB 3.0 in the newer stuff, so that’s something to keep in mind.

But, newer laptops from competitors are using everything from Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0, so those might matter depending on your work and setup. My main tips for buying a new laptop: think about your budget, think about the user experience you need, think about the operating system that you need, are you more comfortable with Windows or Mac, and are you willing to pay for it?

Getting a refurbished laptop is good, depending on what brand you get and as long as you’re getting it from a reputable place. I prefer to get my stuff from Amazon because of their 30-day money-back guarantee and the fact that Amazon shipping is really fast.

 There’s also the fact that I can look at the reviews from other buyers, so those things make me more comfortable when I’m making a buying decision. I provide links to my recommended laptops in the description below for every budget and situation. From travel laptops to gaming to productivity to everyday work to budget solutions, especially if you’re a student.

Final Words

Make sure you’re checking out itechverge regularly for laptop related stuff. I hope this article gave you some quick tips that help you figure out what laptop you need. You’ll have a much more comprehensive, detailed content about this, Make sure you stay tuned to our blog.

If you have questions, leave those in the comments section. 

Thank You.