In today's world technology never stops morphing into new devices with more and more facinating bells and whistles. Never mind what it cost to keep up with the Joneses. The merging of technologies just keeps coming. The mouth waters with each new news release. It seems though the real work horse for getting the real work done in the computing world continues to be a the desktop or a laptop computer.
Update the Old Laptop
Yes you can teach your old laptop to do new tricks? If you are comfortable installing memory modules, hard drives and other peripherals that may be the thing to save a few dollars. Thats a practice at many businesses, especially the small ones. Just do the quick fix and save money. When in comes to laptop or desktop computers usually if you have had it for more than two or three years it's best to jump to a new system.
If you dealing with a personal computer and you can talk someone into making that purchase for you then great. Christmas and birthdays are really good times to be making the pitch for that new screaming CPU. On the other hand if your new computer is for work then unless you are the one making the purchase decision for your organization it might be a bit difficult to get the green light.
Top 5 Basics in Buying New Laptop
Without further adue here are the top five things to evaluate when making your computer purchase:
1. CPU speed and power - Make sure that it's faster than the one you have. Without going into a lot of techno garb, which could bury us all, make whatever effort it takes to determine what CPU your computer has now including it's spees which is usually given in MHz or megahertz. If your computer is a brand name computer then usually somewhere on the case there will be a sticker with the model and serial number. Be sure to make note of those numbers and letters.
2. Harddrive storage - When you decide that you're done for the day and it's time to shutdown your computer this device is what gives you that piece of mind that when you return you can bring your computer up and all of the info that you saved before you shutdown the system will still be there and available to you. For most users any new computer or laptop manufactured in the last year up to now will likely have more than enough space for storage and programs.
3. RAM Memory - This is temporary storage used by the computer when it is actually powered on and being used. When purchasing a new computer it's usually a good idea check the amount of memory that comes installed in the computer and also the maximum amount of memory that you can install in the system. All computers have a limited number of slots available to install additional memory.
4. Screen Size and Type- Staring at a computer screen all day can be tiring to say the least. No mater if your desktop or laptop computer is used for work or if it's used to play games or browse the internet it can be tiring on your eyes. Make sure that the screen has a wide range of resolutions available to you. Te pixel rating can be just as important as that impacts the grainyness of the screen. Refresh ratings can impact the smoothness of video when playing movies or streaming video content.
5. Ports and Devices - Don't be handicapped. Most users will have a cell phone, digital camera or other device that may need to be connected to the computer at one time or another. Make sure you can connect those devices. You may need multiple USB ports, memory slots for the SD and micro SD memory in your smartphone to transfer pictures and other content.
Don't for get WiFi. Laptop users usually will want to have WiFi built-in for network and internet access. A built-in webcam never hurts either. Even if you think you want ever use it, knowing you want have to lug an extra piece of equipment around could mean a lot down the road.