Laptop Buying Guide - How to Buy the Right Laptop. Compact enough to carry with you, yet versatile enough to run demanding applications, a laptop is the best tool for doing serious work or play at home and on the road. While standalone tablets and smartphones are always popular, most people realize that everything from typing a research paper to crunching video to gaming works better on a laptop. So what type of laptop should you get? There's a wide variety of sizes, features and prices, which makes choosing the right laptop a challenge. That's why you need to figure out what your needs are. To make the right call, just follow these steps. Pick a Platform: Mac, Windows or Chrome OS? This is not an easy question to answer, especially if you're not familiar with both Macs and PCs. But this quick overview of each platform’s strengths and weaknesses should help. Most laptops come with one of three operating systems: Windows, Chrome OS or Mac OS X (for Mac. Our Portege Laptop range are designed for those who demand the highest performance from mobile computing. View our strong, light Portege laptops today.Books only). Choosing the right one is a personal preference, but here's a quick summary of what each offers. Windows 1. 0The most flexible operating system, Windows appears on many more makes and models than Chrome OS or Mac OS X. Windows notebooks range in price from under $1. Windows 1. 0, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system, provides a number of improvements over Windows 7 and 8, including the ability to switch between tablet and desktop modes, a revamped Start menu with live tiles and the powerful Cortana digital assistant. Since its launch in July 2. Windows 1. 0 has also added a host of improvements, including the ability to use follow- up questions with Cortana, search your email using natural language and use your stylus to scribble almost anywhere. MORE: 1. 00+ Windows 1. Tips to Help You Master Microsoft's OS Apple mac. OS Sierra. All Mac. Books come with Apple's latest desktop operating system, mac. OS Sierra. Overall, the operating system offers similar functionality to Windows 1. Microsoft's Start menu and taskbar. Instead of the Cortana digital assistant, Mac users get Siri. They can also perform transactions with Apple Pay, take calls or texts from their phones and unlock their laptops with an Apple Watch. Ultrabooks reviews, specifications, price comparisons, editor's ratings & bargain hunts to help you find one that suits your needs from PCMag.com. Discover the elegance power and speed of Series 9 ultra thin & lightweight ultrabooks featuring high brightness and power plus charging! When we first reviewed the $1,499 Samsung Series 9 15-inch Ultrabook, we marveled at its slim and light design, spacious 1600 x 900 display, fast boot time and long. Laptop Buying Guide: 8 Essential Tips; The Best & Worst Laptop Brands; Laptop Tech Support Showdown: Undercover Report; Should I Buy a Chromebook? Get access to helpful solutions, how-to guides, owners' manuals, and product specifications for your ATIV Book 9 Plus Windows Laptops NP940X3GI from Samsung US Support. Acer don’t have a long history of making dedicated gaming laptops, yet they managed to create some great Predator computers in these last two years since the series. Selecting your best Dell product is easy. Browse for great Dell deals on Dell desktop, PC or laptop computers and electronics for your home or home office. Fast shipping! However, mac. OS isn't made for touch, because no Mac. Book comes with a touch screen. MORE: Mac. Book Air vs Mac. Book Pro: What Should You Buy? Chrome OSFound on inexpensive . News; The 10 best Ultrabooks of 2017: top thin and light laptops reviewed; The 10 best Ultrabooks of 2017: top thin and light laptops reviewed. By Kevin Lee. Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Price. See below for latest prices.) USA: $699: 30 Oct 12: Germany: The user interface looks a lot like Windows with an application menu, a desktop and the ability to drag windows around, but the main app you use is the Chrome browser. The downside is that many of the . Google is also slowly adding support for Android apps , with a handful of Chromebooks able to run Google Play today. MORE: Best Chromebooks Available Now. Decide If You Want a 2- in- 1. These days, many PC laptops fall into the category of . The 2- in- 1s generally come in two different styles: detachables with screens that come off the keyboard entirely and flexible laptops with hinges that bend back 3. Most of these systems are much better at serving one purpose than the other, with bend- backs being laptops first and detachables offering a superior tablet experience. However, if you don't see the need to use your notebook as a slate, you'll usually get more performance for your money and a better productivity experience with a traditional clamshell laptop. If you decide you want a 2- in- 1, note that bendables usually have far better battery life than their detachable brethren. Choose the Right Size. Before you look at specs or pricing, you need to figure out just how portable you need your laptop to be. Laptops are usually categorized by their display sizes: 1. The thinnest and lightest systems around have 1. Provides the best balance of portability and usability, particularly if you get a laptop that weighs under 4 pounds. The most popular size, 1. Consider this size if you want a larger screen and you're not planning to carry your notebook around often. If your laptop stays on your desk all day every day, a 1. Check That Keyboard and Touchpad. The most impressive specs in the world don't mean diddly if the laptop you're shopping for doesn't have good ergonomics. If you plan to do a lot of work on your computer, make sure the keyboard offers solid tactile feedback, plenty of vertical travel (distance the key goes down when pressed, usually 1 to 2mm) and enough space between the keys. Look for an accurate touchpad that doesn't give you a jumpy cursor and responds consistently to multitouch gestures such as pinch- to- zoom. If you're buying a business laptop, consider getting one with a pointing stick (aka nub) between the G and H keys so you can navigate around the desktop without lifting your fingers off the keyboard's home row. Pick Your Specs. Notebook components such as processor, hard drive, RAM and graphics chip can confuse even notebook aficionados, so don't feel bad if spec sheets look like alphabet soup to you. Here are the main components to keep an eye on. CPU: The . Here's a rundown. Models that end in U (ex: Core i. U) are the most common. Intel's latest- generation, . Models with numbers that end in HQ or K use higher wattage and have four cores, allowing for even faster gaming and productivity. There are also Core i. Y series chips that have lower power and performance. Keep an eye out for CPUs that have a 7 in the model number (ex: Core i. HQ) because they are part of Intel's latest, 7th Generation Core Series, and offer better performance. Intel Core i. 3: Performance is just a step below Core i. If you can possibly step up to a Core i. AMD A, FX or E Series: Found on low- cost laptops, AMD's processors - - the company calls them APUs rather than CPUs - - provide decent performance for the money that's good enough for web surfing, media viewing and productivity. Intel Atom: Found on very low- cost laptops - - think $2. Atom offers basic performance but more battery life than Celeron/Pentium. Intel Pentium / Celeron: Common in sub $4. Atom, but offer worse battery life. If you can pay more to get a Core i. Intel Core m / Core i. Performance is better than Celeron, but a notch below regular Core i. U series. Intel Xeon: Extremely powerful and expensive processors for large mobile workstations. If you do professional- grade engineering, 3. D modeling or video editing, you might want a Xeon, but you won't get good battery life or a light laptop. MORE: Which Laptop CPU is Right for You? RAM: Some sub- $2. GB of RAM, but ideally you want at least 4. GB on even a budget system and 8. GB if you can spend just a little more. For most users, 1. GB or more is overkill. Storage Drive (aka Hard Drive): Even more important than the speed of your CPU is the performance of your storage drive. If you can afford it and don't need a ton of internal storage, get a laptop with a solid state drive (SSD) rather than a hard drive, because you'll see at least three times the speed and a much faster laptop overall. Sub- $2. 50 laptops use e. MMC memory, which is technically solid- state but not faster than a mechanical hard drive. Display: The more pixels you have, the more content you can fit on- screen, and the sharper it will look. Most budget and mainstream laptops have 1. HD or 1. 08. 0p. Some higher- end laptops have screens that are 2. On 2- in- 1s, touch screens come standard. Graphics Chip: If you're not playing PC games, creating 3. D objects or doing high- res video editing, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares system memory) will be fine. If you have any of the above needs, though, a discrete graphics processor from AMD or Nvidia is essential. As with CPUs, there are both high- and low- end graphics chips. Nvidia maintains a list of its graphics chips from low to high end, as does AMD. DVD/Blu- ray Drives. Few laptops come with optical drives, because all software and movies are downloadable. However, if you really need to read / write discs and your laptop of choice doesn't come with a built- in DVD drive, you can always buy an external one that connects via USB for under $2. Don’t Skimp on Battery Life. If you're buying large, bulky notebook that you'll use only on a desk near an outlet, you don't have to worry about battery life. However, if you plan to use the laptop on your lap, even if it's at home and or work, you'll want at least 6 hours of endurance, with 8+ hours being ideal. To determine a notebook's expected battery life, don't take the manufacturer's word for it. Instead, read third- party results from objective sources, such as our reviews. MORE: Laptops with the Longest Battery Life. Plan Based on Your Budget. These days, you can buy a usable laptop for under $2. Here's what you can get for each price range. The least- expensive notebooks are either Chromebooks, which run Google's browser- centric OS, or low- end Windows systems with minimal storage and slower processors, such as the HP Stream 1. Lenovo Ideapad 1. S. Use these as secondary computers only or give them to the kids. For well under $6. Intel Core i. 5 or AMD A8 CPU, 4 to 8. GB of RAM, and a 5. GB hard drive, all respectable specs. However, at this price, most notebooks don't have an SSD, a full- HD display or long battery life. There are a few noteable exceptions, such as the Asus Vivo. Book E4. 03. Sa and Lenovo Think. Pad 1. 3. 6. 00 to $9. As you get above $6. Manufacturers also start to add in other features as you climb the price ladder, including higher- resolution displays and SSDs. Above $9. 00: At this price range, expect notebooks that are more portable, more powerful or both. Expect higher- resolution screens, faster processors and possibly discrete graphics. The lightest, longest- lasting ultraportables, like the Apple Mac. Book and the Dell XPS 1. Dell for less if you don't opt for a touch screen). High- end gaming systems and mobile workstations usually cost upward of $1,5. MORE: Best Laptops Under $5. Mind the Brand. Your laptop is only as good as the company that stands behind it.
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