Buying a portable computer: Buy what you need and nothing more or less

Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under Technology |

Every time a friend of mine decides to buy a new portable computer, he/she asks me which one is the best. My answer is always the same: Buy the computer that fills your needs and nothing more or less. They often ignore my advice and then go out and buy either something that is on sale or something that is overpriced only to come back to me after a few months to tell me that they bought the wrong computer and that I was right.

My advice is based on personal experience. I have a long history of buying the wrong piece of equipment; until I learned my lesson, of course. When it comes to portable computers some times people are looking for mobility and some times they are looking for a desktop replacements. Neither of the two can do the job of the other in a satisfactory way long term.

A truly portable laptop computer often has a small footprint, with a small LCD screen, basic video card, and long battery life. Such a machine is perfect for work on the road. To be used as a desktop replacement more money has to be spent on peripheral devices such as a keyboard, mouse, external storage, and a large LCD screen. These laptop computers also tend to cost more because having so much power in a small package is an expensive task.

A desktop replacement portable computer, on the other hand, often has a larger screen, the latest video card, desktop-level CPU, lots of on-board storage and RAM. Such a machine is often very heavy reducing its mobility, unless you are a bodybuilder or something and can afford to carry it with all the time. Battery life is also sacrificed mostly because lots of energy is needed to run all the hardware (LCD screens and video cards consume energy like M&Ms at an Oprah convention.) Desktop replacement laptops are often cheaper mostly because all the components are the same as you would find in a normal desktop computer; there is not exceptional engineering going on here.

So, before you spend your hard earned money on a new laptop computer, think about what your needs are. Are you looking for mobility or desktop replacement? This is only a rough guideline, of course. There are probably more parameters to consider which differ from person to person. But this is the one factor that if you get wrong, you will regret it for the rest of your new computer’s life.

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