What to Know Before Buying a Laptop

By an eHow Contributor
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When choosing to purchase a computer, one must account for many variables. Computers are not suited for the same purposes, so buying the wrong one can result in your own dissatisfaction and unhappiness. This guide will show you what you should take into consideration, and what types of computers will best suit your needs.
Do You Even Want a Laptop?
First, you should weigh the pros and cons of purchasing a laptop. Depending on your needs, you actually may want a desktop PC--or even a PDA. Laptops in general share some of the same attributes--they do not perform as well as desktop computers do, are frequently prone to cooling inefficiency, and depending on the brand can suffer from low battery life. Another common attribute of laptops is that they are much more expensive than their desktop counterparts. However, laptops have one huge advantage that cannot be equalled by a desktop computers: mobility. A laptop can be used anywhere, and offers unparalleled convenience.
Choose Your Laptop Manufacturer
The most obvious characteristic of a laptop is whether it is a PC or a Macintosh ("Mac"). Macintoshes are generally more expensive than PCs, but have a reputation for durability and reliability. Although their reputation is usually deserved, this does not mean that a PC is unreliable. Generally, most users will prefer a PC for one reason: third-party software compatibility. The broad majority of software developers produce software that will not initially be compatible with Macintosh computers.
How Will You Use Your Laptop?
There are three broad categories of laptop: the netbook, the personal computing laptop and the high-performance (or gaming) laptop. A netbook is a laptop with very low system specifications, but is generally very cheap. Users looking for something basic to connect to the Internet or check their email with will generally want to purchase a netbook. A personal computing laptop is average in every way, including the price tag. The average user will prefer a computer like this, as it will achieve everything most users could ask for. The high-performance laptop is generally prohibitively expensive, and users would save much more money buying an equitable desktop in terms of specifications. However, it will be able to accomplish just about anything asked of it, and will allow much more portability than it's PC counterpart--great for LAN parties or even the professional gamer.


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