Introduction
A sign of the times?The laptop on the move and there are many manufacturers who are trying to break into this promising market. As a result of this craze: the references are multiplying and it becomes very difficult to identify the machine of your dreams or, at least, the one that offers the best value for money on a given segment of the offer.This guide is designed to help you become aware of the criteria for choosing a laptop and suggest some models identified by our staff as leaving the lot.
As always, it is better to have a clear idea of their real needs before embarking on the purchase of a laptop.I realize latter in a state of mobility or will it be intended to replace a desktop? Am I enjoying to the joys of video and 3D modeling myself or I surf the web and send emails? Am I a player or an inveterate supporter of design?
Which format & for what purpose?
One class ships laptops based on their footprint in three categories. The "ultra-portable" First of all, generally meet the machines whose diagonal screen displays a less than or equal to 12 inches, and weighing less than 2 kg. They are intended, of course, to followers of mobility, who are considering moving or almost daily with their working environment. Initially reserved for professionals, the ultra-portable seduce now that the general public appreciates the opportunity to work or watch a movie in good conditions without all of a large briefcase.If the first ultra-portable now trades below a thousand dollars, this segment remains the flagship of manufacturers who combine edge technology for the machines ... Much less affordable.
Then there are "portable", the bulk of the market, with computers varying in size from 13 to 17 inches.They typically weighing between 2.5 and 4 kilograms autonomy over two hours and satisfactory performances, it is no longer necessary to sacrifice for miniaturisation. Here, the supply is bloated. Once the size of your dreams determined, it will do more than adjust the level of equipment and the quality of finishing that fit your budget. The player will leave such a machine equipped with a dedicated graphics card and a fast hard drive, while the professional will perhaps seek technology dedicated to the protection of personal data.
With screen sizes ranging from 17 today and 21 inches, "transportable" notebooks have the name, as some accuse machines until seven or eight kilograms on the scale.Of course it is possible to move with such computers, just as it can be fastened office tower on the back ... But it is difficult to talk about mobility. Having to replace a PC or fixed to take place in a chat room, these machines generally have a high level of equipment, for example, it is not uncommon to find configurations with a pair of hard drives mounted RAID .
CPU, graphics card, hard disk ... The key elements
Unlike a PC fixed, it is always possible to open and edit, a laptop must be understood as a whole. While it is possible to increase the storage capacity or upgrade to a new hard drive faster, but it generally keeps her laptop in the original condition. Therefore, both directly target the configuration that suits us.
As for the processors, the trend is clear to the Core 2 Duo Intel, present in all manufacturers at the expense of AMD solutions which are confined to machines entry level. If we take care not to be moving towards a product now obsolete as a Celeron, the processor is only rarely the limiting factor on a laptop, unless you have a fairly pushed usage of the machine. In terms of memory, there are few manufacturers who still offer machines with only 512 MB. The gigabyte became the standard, and more and more computers now boarded 2 GB default. Simply put, it is quite possible to be content with 1 gigabyte use, but the presence of a 2nd Gb brings a comfort that is not superfluous in good number of cases, particularly when practice to use multiple applications simultaneously. The manufacturers incorporate increasingly 3, or 4 GB of RAM on their high-end chassis.
Most of the machines for entry and mid-range boarded an integrated graphics chipset on the motherboard.Quite capable of handling 2D displays and multimedia, these controllers are proving absolutely unable to run a new video game in decent conditions or take charge decompression flow high definition. For those put off by the game, the question does not arise, but for others, it will consider purchasing a machine equipped with a dedicated graphics card, logically signed nVidia or ATI.
Now, almost all the machines are equipped with a WiFi wireless connectivity, and even Bluetooth, as well as a memory card reader, a TV output or USB 2.0 ports. Unless you are using a particular card format, these criteria should therefore not specifically taken into account in choosing a machine. In contrast, hard disk performance can be important. In order not to encumber the autonomy of their machines - and reduce costs, manufacturers often opt for hard disks 4200 revolutions per minute, but that have low flow issue fairly narrow, which can slow down application performance heavy. As a general rule, considering that hard disks 5400 tours offer satisfactory performances, but some may prefer to turn to models 7200 tours.
Autonomy, ease of use, design?
Last criteria, and not least, autonomy, the ease of use and design. Autonomy would depend greatly on the type of machine restraint and your budget.There is a saying that the machines have a transportable self approximately two hours. The laptops, 13 to 17 inches, are most often autonomy between two and four hours. Finally, the ultra-capable laptops are bad but not the best. The machines sold thousand euros merely usually three or four hours of use but in the high-end computers that combine a battery six or nine cell technologies as little taste LED screens, sometimes up to seven or eight hours of real autonomy.
If we can easily agree on the innovative nature of the design of a machine, it is impossible to assess in an objective manner the appearance of a computer. On the other hand, you can stop on comfort, which is particularly relevant to things like the keyboard, touchpad or location of the various ports, or on the quality of the materials used.
These elements are often those who make the difference in the age of choice. Understand that a laptop is not confined to a stack of components that it is sufficient to analyze the performance machine to determine which provides the best value for money. Some manufacturers are able to enter the market of mobile phones, which charged less than Rs. 57000, exhibit characteristics similar techniques to other sold more than Rs. 74100 in a competing firm. These products do not receive a comparable level of finishing and some elements, such as LCD panels, may have been left to chance in order to cut corners.Therefore, a portable as a whole whose parts should not be neglected and they prefer the machine with a harmonious configuration to the one on which a point of detail was put forward at the expense of the rest.
And the guarantee?
Finally, we can not overemphasize advise you inquire of the conditions under which the guarantee applies to the dealer and the manufacturer of the machine you are going to buy.Some, like Asus, for example, a practising systematic guarantee of two years on their laptops.Toshiba has introduced later in 2007 a security breach "screen" for one year, which authorizes the free replacement of a slab in the event of an accident.Some are particularly renowned for the quality of their after-sales service, while in others, return management seriously leaves to be desired. Arguments that could help you stop your final choice once the first selection.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks