Laptop recommendation

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Laptops are now the standard for anyone who needs to take their work with them.

Below we explain the specifications of laptops to allow you to make the rlght choice.

Processor
Laptop mainly use Intel processors, others use AMD. Mainstream laptops now use dual core processors, this means there are actual 2 processors. Top models come with quad core processors. Celeron and Pentium are the single core Intel processors from the past. To compare processor speed:  3.3 GHZ is top, above 2.3 GHz is high quality, for professional use a 2.1 GHZ processor would be the minimum. Intel Core I3 is very suitable for a standard laptop, Core I5 and Core I7 are the more powerful alternatives.

Memory
The more memory your laptop has, the faster it can run. Top laptops come with 8 GB RAM, 4 GB RAM is the minimum and the standard for a professional laptop.

Hard drive
Hard drive capacity defines how much data can be stored in a laptop: above 600 GB is excellent, the top laptops can store more 1 TB. Budget laptops have a hard drive with less than 300 GB capacity.  In fact most users store less than 150 GB. To illustrate, 1000 pictures are less than 5 GB, a movie is less than 2 GB.

Screen size
Size of screen is measured diagonally in inch. Choice will depend on comfort. Smaller laptops are easy to carry, laptops with a larger screen and keyboard are more comfortable to use.  Any laptop with 15” or larger screen is not fun to travel around with, a 17 inch screen laptop is designed to be a desktop replacement and to stay there.

Resolution
Standard professional laptops have a 1366 horizontal x 768 vertical pixels screen resolution, higher definition 1900 x 1200 screens are popular with gamers.

Battery
Battery life: for a budget laptop 5-6 hours is average, for an excellent battery life look at 7-8 hours.

Weight
Standard laptops weigh around 2.5 kg, for travelers ultrabooks of max 1.5 kg or tablets will be most comfortable.

Software
It is advised to buy a laptops installed with an operating system, Windows or Apple Mac OS X Lion. In a typical business environment Windows is the standard, Apple laptops may have compatibility problems with documents and programs.

Touch screen
Many laptops now come with touchscreens; fixed, rotatable or even removable. A touchscreen can make navigating in Windows 8 very fast and is great for occasional use, for instance for scrolling. The downsides are that your screen gets coated with fingerprints, the tip your finger points less accurate than a mouse arrow, and holding your arm up gets very tiring.

Other features
Every laptop includes Wi-Fi now. At least 3 USB Ports, a webcam, SD card slot and an Ethernet port are required. Normal users won't need more than the standard integrated graphic card, only gamers will look for dedicated graphics.  You will need to check the optical drive if you want to play CD or DVDs.

Price
Economically, Windows laptops come at any price, Apple MacBooks are expensive for the general office use.  Macbooks are easy to for personal use and for professionals in design and graphics.

Conclusion
To conclude, in general consumers tend to buy too much laptop, but today the medium priced models often give a very good performance. Cost and design are therefore now an important part of the decision making.