Deciding on What Laptop to Buy

Most people find picking a new laptop frustrating. There is no "best" laptop to buy. If you asked ten people, they would tell you ten different answers. How can you decide what is the best? Below are steps you can take before selecting a laptop. I recommend creating a grid (using a spreadsheet or a piece of paper) that lists down the left hand column all of the requirements below and then as you look at a laptop, list it across the top and put a check if the laptop will "handle" your requirements.

Hardware Selection Grid template

Step 1: Understand the overall purpose of the laptop

A laptop selected to be used as a primary business computer might be different from a laptop for someone who uses it as entertainment (video, music, gaming).

Step 2: Identify the key ways you plan to use the laptop.

Think about the types of work and activities you plan to do with your laptop and write them down. Examples of things to consider are:

internet
email
video chat
video games
watch TV
watch videos
listen to music
run specific business software
digital media (pictures/video/music) editing
word processing, spreadsheets, presentations

Step 3: Identify current and future software or hardware that must be used with the laptop.

Based on your needs above, identify the specific software or hardware you will need to use with the laptop. Any hardware used should have drivers available for the operating system you select, otherwise the hardware might not work. If you have specific software you own or need to use, you will need to understand the specific system requirements needed for that version of software.

Step 4: Think about other important aspects you want in your laptop.

Key things to consider when selecting a laptop is the type of mouse the laptop uses, weight, screen size, video quality, integrated webcam or other details that are important to you.

Step 5: What type of support do you need?

If you are going to need support and prefer dealing directly with people, you should consider purchasing your laptop from a store that has onsite support for hardware. Apple, Best Buy and Micro Center are just three in the St. Louis area that provide this service. If you are looking at other retailers, verify their onsite computer services if that is important to you. You could consider someone that is smaller and specialized, but remember that many of the smaller computer shops are resellers for a specific brand and you might not get the best deal.

Individuals who want support and a brand they know but can talk with people on the phone or via chat, might consider buying directly from Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo (bought IBM PC division in 2004) or Toshiba. Apple continues to be top in customer service while Dell, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba are all ranked about the same.

If customer support isn't something of concern to you, then you should consider looking at tigerdirect.com, newegg.com or eBay. I have purchased hardware from each of these and had great experiences.

Step 6: Price versus Quality versus Performance

You have to first decide which is most important: Price, Quality or Performance. If price is most important, determine what you can afford and then look for the best performance and quality within that range.

If quality is important, then going with name brands tends to ensure higher quality products (plus better warranties and return policies).

Performance will depend on many things, but here are a few to consider. In general, the more processors the better. The faster the processors the better (but you must also take into consideration the number of processors). The amount of L2 cache and the FSB (front-side bus) speed is also important. The better the video card, the better quality and performance you will see with video. The speed of the hard-drive is important.

Here are some of the latests to consider:

Intel's processors in these series are good: T9, P9, SP9, SL9, SU9
SSD is the newest hard-drive technology being used. SATA is the next best thing.
The Radeon 5870 and the Nvidia GeForce GTX295 are the best video cards for gaming.
The latest wireless range is "n". Make sure that you get at least on that has "g".

Step 7: Compare Laptops Available

Now that you have written down your requirements, understand what is important to you, begin looking at what is available. Based on your decision in step 5, begin looking at the options at those sources. Document your findings in the hardware grid and begin comparing what is available with what your needs are for the laptop. In the end, you might find three that will meet your needs.

As of 12/10/09, here are some of the top ranked laptops:

HP ProBook 5310M and the 4310s
Lenovo ThinkPad T400s
Dell Latitude E6400 & Inspiron 15
Toshiba Qosmio x505
MAC Book Pro

Happy Shopping!