Five Things To Look At When Choosing A Laptop

Shopping for a new computer is not as easy as you think; and this is especially true when it comes to laptops. Laptops are all the rage these days and the nicer they look, the better they sell. However, this is exactly what lots of computer manufactures would like you to do: buy their products because they make you look cool and trendy. The problem with that is you won't really know what you are getting until you are using the product itself.

Laptops are devices with features that you have to study well before purchasing. And it is a great help to know exactly what you want and what to look for in a mobile computing device. Here are a few things that you should look out for when you choose your next laptop.

• Size & Screen – The very first things to look out are how big the laptop is and how big the screen is as well. There are some laptop brands out there that have great portability but their screens aren't large enough for consumer use. This is especially true with many of the ultra mobile PC's that have become very popular. Choose a good size computer with a large screen so that you don't have to strain your eyes reading while you surf the Internet.

• Battery Life – Gone are the days that laptops would last 2 to 3 hours per charge although many of those still exist today. Look for a laptop that can do at least 5 to 6 hours on a single charge. These laptops usually have what they call 6-cell Lithium batteries and promise lengthy use per charge cycle. There are even larger batteries that are sold separately.

• Processor Speed – You've seen processor brands like Intel Centrino Duo or Intel Atom. But what is really important is the speed that they process. Theses days, the standard is pretty much 3.0 GHz but there are a lot of processors that still range between 1.6 GHz to 2.0 GHz. These are still great but the more power you have, the better. Also keep in mind that the price will substantially increase the faster the processor.

• Memory – Do you multi-task? Then you need as much memory as you can get. If you open a lot programs on your laptop, this will bog down its performance. But if you have at least 2 gig of memory, then you will have a pretty good workhorse of a machine. 1 gig of memory is still pretty good if you just have a few programs open for surfing, chatting, and word processing. Graphics-based programs like Photoshop are memory hogs so make sure you get a laptop with beefy memory if you need it to handle graphics tasks.

• Ports – These days, peripherals come in all shapes and sizes and most of them have USB cables to attach to your laptop. Occasionally, you may run into a device that needs a fire-wire port on your laptop, even a serial port although this is rare. Make sure the laptop you choose has a wide range of different ports for any future external devices that you have or may purchase in the future, like solid state drives, printers, or even a DSL connection.