Everyone needs a laptop these days, whether it is for college assignments, giving a presentation or for playing GPU-intensive games. Laptops are an essential requirement of today. According to Chron.com, a laptop can last anywhere between 3 to 5 years. Hence, for your laptop to have a long lifespan, it is important to make a good decision while purchasing a new laptop. Different laptops serve different purposes, and hence, choosing the right one for your needs and requirements is essential. Considering laptop jargon can get quite confusing for a first time purchaser, we have created an easy-to-understand buying guide to help you make the right purchase.
- Operating system
This is essentially a matter of preference. There are 3 operating systems you can choose from: Windows OS, Chrome OS and Mac OS. Windows OS and Mac OS are amongst the most popular and versatile systems, while with the release of Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and Google PixelBook, Chrome OS is slowly getting more popular. Chromebook is also one of the most inexpensive laptops available, offering basic functions and high portability along with a good battery life.
- Size
Most laptops come in four size ranges:
11 to 12 inches: Among the smallest and the lightest, they are ultra portable.
13 to 14 inches: If you want a lightweight laptop with high computing power, this is among the best sizes to go for.
15 to 16 inches: Widely popular, offering a large screen with high usability, best suited for professionals and students who have to work on their laptops quite often.
17 to 18 inches: Popular only among gamers or individuals with high workstation level productivity.
- 2-in-1 Laptops
Popularly known as hybrid devices, these laptops can switch between clamshell, tablet, tent or stand modes as per your requirement. HP Spectre x360 is among the best 2-in-1 laptops available in the market. This is the best HP laptop in this price segment that is priced at Rs. 1,21,499, you can purchase this HP laptop on EMI.
- CPU
Intel and AMD offer the best processors in the market today. Widely known as the brains of the computer, the latest offering from Intel includes the 10th Gen CPUs. AMD has unveiled its Ryzen 4000 series known to compete with i5 and i7 processors, which offer better productivity and a long battery life. Both AMD and Intel have been around for decades, and offer mid to high-end processors. For a low cost, iBall laptops with high-end processors fair well in this category. The latest release of the iBall CompBook Aer3, which has a premium dual core processor, comes at a price of Rs. 20,999 and is one of the best options available in the market today.
- Graphics Card
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is mainly of use to gamers or multimedia content creators. Intel’s Iris Plus Graphics series should be fine if you do not fall in the above category. Nvidia is among the top GPU designers, who release high-to-low end models along with AMD. Depending on your usability you can pick a laptop by comparing various GPUs.
