When looking for a good travel laptop, you begin with the exterior. You should consider the size, do you want a full grown laptop or need more information about netbooks? Size is, of course, a major consideration in a travel laptop but once you peg that down and figure out your rough budget, it’s time to look inside. You may not know (yet) much about the guts of a laptop and the basic components that factor into your user experience and price so we’ll do our best to break them down for you to make sense of it all.
Four Parts You Need To Evaluate
Yes, we know there are other parts in a computer but these are the big ones you’ll likely be looking at and paying for when you go shopping for a new travel laptop.
1. Processor – The primary computing chip, the processor is measured in gigahertz (Ghz). The faster the processor the zippier your programs will be, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run more stuff at once. Most people typing documents and surfing the Internet shouldn’t pay extra to get a fancy processor, you’re not likely to notice the difference unless you’re running intensive applications like Adobe Photoshop.
2. Memory (RAM) – More RAM means you can run more applications and multitask better. Additional memory won’t speed up any existing applications (that’s what the processor is for) and you should shoot for the middle (2-4GB). Don’t spend too little or too much with memory. You can always upgrade or replace memory, which is inexpensive and an easy at-home upgrade for most folks.
3. Hard Drive – This is where all of your files, travel pictures, and other data is stored. Most laptops and now many netbooks offer quite a bit of storage, much more than most travelers will be able to fill up, even if you take tons of pictures. For those of you using RAW mode on your cameras or have gigantic music libraries, look into getting an external drive to store your stuff. Hard drives are growing in storage by the moment while at the same time the price of them is slowly decreasing. It’s a good scenario to be in so get a hard drive as big as you’re willing to spend on it but don’t fret if you end up needing more space. There is much more space out there and external drives aren’t too expensive and hook right up to your laptop – no technical installations needed.
4. Battery Life – Look for a laptop with a good built in battery life (netbooks and Macbook Pros are good bets) but don’t buy an extra one for more capacity. Extra batteries are bulky and heavy – two things you don’t want more of in your backpack. Instead, learn how to extend laptop battery life and make the most out of each charge.
Don’t fret about any one single aspects of any of these components. Most are easily upgradable and now that you know how to evaluate each one, should make your decision much easier. Besides, laptops get more powerful and come down in price everyday. You can find the laptop you need for the price you want if you shop around.
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