How to Buy a Laptop

Monitor Your Web Site?s Uptime for Free Find Local Computer Repair Are You a First Person Shooter N00b? Take Notes at School The Widget Gadget Gizmo Desklet Thingamajig (Chumby!) Buy an iPhone CaseHow to Buy a LaptopOptimus Maximus Keyboard: Horrible Customer Service Shopping for Wii Accessories

I am about to purchase a new laptop, and I have to admit, these are really good arguements for picking out a new machine. But I do have my eye set on a particular machine that I have kept an eye out for months. It has everything I could possibly want. But these tips raise new questions for me now. I don’t think any of them would make my eye stray from this particular sweet machine. I may regret it, but on the other hand since I’m getting exactly what I want, I may be happy for many years. We’ll see.

oh yeah..keyboard, thats why i got a thinkpad.lol i think fujitsu,thinkpad, and macbooks are really nice wid the keyboard

i am a windows user but switching to mac at xmas in 2008 cant wait :)

Would you reccomend the ASUS Eee as a basic laptop for school work?

I have been thinking about buying a laptop, with these tips will hopefully help me make the right choice. Good tips.

the best keyboard of a laptop i think is it from the powerbook 1400 its just super nice

already switched a month ago and im loving it; bought an imac 20″. believe it is damn worth the money. i have vids that are made as a new mac switcher and also i have mac users that i subscribed to and have been very very helpful. check em their channels and learn more. At first, its a learning process but later(depending on how u pick it up) its so so fun. u will never look at a windows os again.

Thx for all info about buying a laptop now when I go to get one I will know

FIRST OFF, DONT BUY ANY RAM UPGRADE FROM APPLE BUT BUY THEIR PRODUCTS; ITS CHEAPER N WORTH THE MONEY. 2ndly, PERSONALY, i look at specs first but MOSTLY i look at BATTERY LIFE (I KNOW THEY LIE THATS Y I RELY ON USER REVIEWS TOO). I find POINTLESS buying a laptop with all best features and yet POOR BATTERY N HEAVY; it’s PORTABILITY that matters on laptops.

i’ve used windows and now for a month now im using mac and i can tell you that windows is not good at multi tasking and imaging and video. Macs are very stable in that platform. I can open several media programs and work on 1 of them whilst others are still open and I manage to work smoothly with no lagging or interruption whatsoever from the programs that are opened and operating in the background

You should also read customer reviews about the laptops you are considering. Before I got my Vaio Sz laptop, I was considering getting an Asus w7s. It looked pretty good and the specs seemed fairly good. However, I came across multiple customer feedback comments and noticed that many complained of overheating issues.
So be sure to read customer feedback before buying one!

My first laptop, WinBook XP from 1994, has an annoying keyboard. It was built on tacts.. meaning each keystroke is super loud.
When buying a Mac, and you’re in college, ask if you can get a student discount on basic things like software. Photoshop CS3 can cost $80 with discount.

Got myself a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz in November 2007 and I love it! By the way Chris, real good stuff on your blog

Cheo

Another Bonus Tip: When buying a laptop (or anything else expensive), use a credit card which extends standard product warranty (unless you are buying extended warranty from the vendor). Also, keep the card until the extended warranty expires. And do not lose the document (warranty card, receipt, credit card statement) which may be necessary if (when) your laptop breaks.

Hey just to let u know if you are big on things like video editing and other multimedia i recommend a sony vaio laptop they are great on power, also the macbooks are a good choose for this also.

Hey Chris Thanks for the help because my sister was thinking of buying a laptop thanks Chris. Chris but what would be your recomended brand?

hay Thank you for the video. I just bought a laptop but it sucks that I saw this video after i bought it. :-( anyway keep it up. See Ya L8ter

My saying is, don’t buy the cheapiest one on display. You will regret it. Keep your options open and don’t be in a hurry to purchase. Take your time, read reviews, go to the store and play around with it. Getting a hands on feel for the Laptop is one of the best things you can do. Pick it up, get a feel for its weight since you will be lugging this thing around, unless this is a desktop replacement. Screen clarity is another one to look at, are you going to be outside with it sitting under a tree or on a bench? I would recommend a pretty high resolution screen. DVD player or DVD Writer is a plus if you can afford it.

The number one thing I would look for in a Laptop would be the processor and ram, make sure it is powerful enough for your needs. If you game, go as high as you can go, if your a student, go mid range and make sure you have atleast 1 or 2GB of ram. Hard Drive space is a must for Students, since you will be saving your homework all the time.

These are great tips. I wish I would of had this when I was buying my laptop. I think its a good idea to buy a laptop thats going to be very sturdy, You don’t want it to break or fall apart when your at a meeting or walking around the house with it. I also think that getting a laptop with a reaised keyboard would be a little bit better. Another note to point out, Try to find a laptop that has really good battery life so your not always leaving plugged in. Don’t always leave your battery plugged in one your laptop, take it out and leave it charging without the battery so you can save battery life.

Make sure the laptop you want has everything you want, don’t skimp out on features, don’t pay for a laptop that has nothing you want. Don’t miss out on what you really want.

Buy a laptop that has the specs you want. Make sure it has everything you want in it.

Snakeyes

No, I’m going to have to disagree. Not EVERYONE wants to take their laptop everywhere with them. Some may want it for space issues, or just want one to show off. It’s really a matter of opinion and their needs. Your paragraph doesn’t really make sense and finally don’t talk in caps, its annoying, rude, and makes it hard for everyone to read.

I wish I had a Mac. It’s pretty difficult when you’re young to ask your parents for 1,000 or something dollars to buy a laptop when you have a working desktop. Can’t wait till I’m older and have a job so I can buy a Mac. I do multitasking quite a lot like when I’m on the internet, listening to music, watching videos, and talking to friends. Oh and for some of the people that say Macs are so expensive, when you add all the software and hardware upgrades you get the price of a Mac.

By the way this response was to mykeman, I accidentally forgot to click reply on his comment.

Thanks a lot Chris. I am printing this out so once I get rid of this Sony Vaio that has been damaged a lot and probably won’t last long I will use your great tips to make my computer shopping probing easier. This computer is really having problems and Best Buy doesn’t want to do anything. All the problems I had was in my warranty period and well they said that the warranty did not cover this problem blah blah blah. So thanks again.

If you are good at checking out the internet, software doesn’t have to cost so much. As a matter of fact, I paid for only 2 different programs (SWiSHmax and Magix). You can find the freebie equivalent for almost everything. There’s Open Office (like MS Office), Audacity (free sound editor), and Gimp (image editor) for starters.

pirillo videos ftw !!! :)

I agree that some PCs are very bad at multi-tasking, i had an old packard bell that wouldnt do it for ****, but i find it has a lot to do with the choice of hardware.

Im not going to pretend that windows is a brilliant operating system. What it does give you is choice, in this case the choice to select any component you chose and of course there are bad decisions.

I love Apple laptops, I even have a macbook pro, and i agree with Chris when he says, you are crazy if you buy RAM from Apple. I just bought 2 2GB of RAM for 100, while, if I bought it from Apple, it would have cost me 1000!!! 900 difference!!!

battery chargers. Laptop - Lifehacker No laptop lasts forever, but many live long lives through upgrades or replacements. Those life-extenders can easily fall apart, however, if there’s a stuck …How to Buy a Laptop ~ Chris PirilloHutchinson encyclopedia article about laptop. laptop. Information about laptop in the Hutchinson encyclopedia. laptop computer, laptops, laptop computers, … Laptops & Notebooks - Reviews and Price Comparisons – from PC Magazine

Very informative and to the point. Nice to see, compared to all the garbage out here on the Internet. Good show and good point on the overheating, which can be a big problem.

my next laptop will be a Dell tablet PC. They’re too cool.

why do mac-praising posts have lots of thumbs up most of the time, even if they’re not helpful at all?

Have fun with tha battery!

I plan to have fun with the touch screen, not the battery ;)

ya, I like the new thin apple notebook

I don’t think you get my point…

I think I do, but it’s a free country and anybody can decide what to buy, and I want a tablet pc :)

I have an iBook G3 500Mhz, I use it evrry day!

Nice Movie Guys - hes a legend! auctionswatch.info

BUY HP

In my experience; ALWAYS do your research beforehand. This involves not only reading official reviews but also forums, blogs, etc to ensure that there are no frequently recurring problems with particular models.