Lately, the desire to have a laptop computer is on the increase -more like food to the soul is laptop to every young and old-especially literate human on earth. We all want to own a nice looking, powerful yet trendy laptop gone are those days where student confidently carry the old-fashioned laptop all about. Despite the numerous advantages inherent in having a laptop a lot of people does not know what is good for us when it comes to choosing a laptop that suits their lifestyle and business.
An average Nigerian student who owns an HP laptop may not be able to juxtapose between other brand while making the decision to buy the laptop-he or she bought the laptop because majority of their friend owns same brand so they naturally wish to own what their friend or a colleague has bought in the bit to enjoy whatever their colleague were enjoying as a laptop owner.
Here are a few important factors to consider before buying a laptop.
It is imperative to ask yourself, why do i need this laptop?
What is the primary purpose of buying this laptop?
For how many years do I wish to have used this laptop before dashing it out, selling it or consider it obsolete.
UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFICATION OF THE LAPTOP YOU WISH TO BUY.
- CPU: The “brain” of your computer, has what is called a processor and this processor has a huge influence on performance and this has nothing to do with the cost of the laptop. Rather this has to do with the manufacturer’s design, so you check the design if it suits you before buying one.
- SIZE: The size of a laptop varies; we have the mini laptops, the midi the wide and permissible large screen laptops. The size of laptops differs for different purpose, we have laptop as wide as 7inch and some as wide as 15inch, and this should call for a serious observation by the intending laptop buyer. Look closely and see what size of laptop fits your purpose, if mini laptop will be too small then go for a laptop with wider screen, a lot of people who own a mini laptop often regret it because it is very small and compact and may not be good for typing purposes thus rendering the whole essence of the laptop useless. The size of a laptop for an office use and that of a student may not necessarily be the same.
- BATTERY LIFE: Another great aspect that we need to look out for when considering which laptop to buy is the battery life of the said laptop. Brand differs in many aspects majorly because the manufacturer built them to serve different purpose. Thus, it is imperative to understand the extent to which a laptop’s battery will serve it owner in the event of power outage. In an situation where a laptop’s battery life will serve you for 2 hours max at best and another can serve up to 4 hours then the buyer need to know exactly what to go for.
- BRAND INTERGRITY: Another aspect that we need not to neglect is the aspect of the brand’s integrity, recently Samsung mobile launched a particular mobile device which turned out to be a production error as the phone was burning up itself-this in a way has tainted the integrity of Samsung in the heart of some buyers, and in the telecommunication industry where competition is intense such is a big blow and will definitely cost Samsung a huge deal of money to repair the damage if possible and if not possible the damage remains a stain and a major factor to consider when customer sees a Samsung brand in the market. Same applies to Laptop makers, over the years some brand of laptop have come and gone some couldn’t withstand the pressure in the market some were frustrated out because of their substandard or uncompetitive product. Thus, a laptop buyer need to research and see the laptop brands that has stood the test of time, the likes of Apple laptop, HP laptops, Dell laptops, Samsung laptops, IBM laptops and a few others, this is another major factor to consider before finally paying for a brand of laptop.
- GRAPHICS: They say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder; same applies to graphics of a laptop to its buyer. Graphics is a major factor to be highly considered before buying any laptop; the graphics of a laptop majorly has to do with the look of the laptop’s display screen which has to be appealing and not repelling. If a laptop’s screen is not attractive then it may cause its owner some level of shame when in the company of friends and close allies. To cub this, it is crucial to always go for a laptop whose graphics is crystal clear and aligns with the developed graphics of the 21st century or beyond.
- RAM- This is an acronym for Random access memory, this RAM is the second brain of any laptop and the speed and timely delivery of data imputed in the laptop largely depends on the ram, preferably a laptop with 4 gig ram or more is better than a laptop with 1 gig ram, on the average a laptop with 2gig ram will work fine depending on the level of application the user will be running at once, there were times where laptop with 512mb were the commonest they are to be ignored permanently these days. Thus, this is another reason why we should have a fore knowledge of what is essential before buying a laptop so as not to eventually buy what will not justify the cost of purchase.
- COST: Finally, the major determinant factor of what to buy largely depends on the purchasing power of the intending buyer, some products are cost effective while some products are not, thus haven considered the afore mentioned it still boils down to the financial capacity of the prospective buyer, these days-idle funds are not very common thus; one should rather buy a laptop that will serve its purpose and within the proposed and estimated cost. Knowledge of the product will help fine tune the decision of the buyer as to which brand of laptop he or she should finally go for considering the CPU capacity. Understanding the your desire and demands when it comes to laptop will make you perfectly decide maybe to go for a less costly laptop with inferior functions or wait till you have more money to buy a laptop that will cater for your various computer needs.
Thanks.
Written by – Akanni Oluwatobi Peters
