How to choose the best laptop hardware configuration?
The three basic items that you really need are
- Processor
- RAM
- Hard disk storage
The processor is the laptop’s main chip. It is not the brain of your computer. Software is the real brain. It tells the processor what to do. You want to make sure you get a processor that is fast enough to handle the applications that you need tomorrow. When more money is invested in a fast processor now, it would prolongs the useful life of your laptop, it ensures that you can run a heavy software in the future. So get a laptop with the fastest processor you can pay.
Memory is where the real action happens in a computer, it’s where the work is done. If software says he wants more than 256 MB of memory, and then gets a laptop with lots of RAM.
Hard disk store electronic documents. This includes not just the operating system, but all software that you obtain and install later, and all important files and junk files that you collect. Again, the software will tell you about disk space they need. The total space for each application must be totaled, and then at least doubled, to give you a figure for how much hard disk storage you need.
- Laptop processors are more expensive than their desktop cousins. That’s because the laptop processors must be designed to use less energy and produce less heat. It takes time, so that their development process is longer, hence it comes with an extra cost.
- When reading hardware on a box of software, always use the “recommended” values, not the minimum. For example, a program of may demand 256 MB RAM, but it really need 384 MB. If so, get 384MB RAM or more.
- RAM is important If you can not afford a fast processor, you can always to buy more RAM.
- Buy the biggest hard drive. Especially if you plan to put lots of music on your laptop, you’ll need at least 80 Gb HD.
- If possible, I recommend least 512 megabytes of RAM. If you can afford to 1024MB RAM, by all means get it. If you can afford to 2048MB RAM, get it.
- The things that consume huge amounts of disk space are graphic image files, music or audio files, video and files. If you plan on storing any of these inside your laptop, get a bigger hard drive!
- Investing with fastest processor, lots of RAM, and sizable amounts of disk space, would mean extending your laptop’s useful life. It is a good thing. You should make your laptop as a good investment for years to come.