Computer technology has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few decades. Common personal computers are exponentially more powerful than they were at the turn of the century. This means if you have not bought a personal computer in a while, you may be under the impression that your needs require a much more powerful machine than they really do.

What You Should Know Before You Buy a Cheap Laptop

The truth is unless you plan on playing graphically intensive games, doing graphic design, or video editing, you may end up paying too much for a computer that you never end up taking full advantage of. Below, we will help you determine which specs to consider to get the best bang for your buck when buying your next laptop.

Ease of Use

If you have a desktop and you want to complement it with a laptop that you can use on-the-go, then you must find one that’s simple to use. The perfect choice would be one with an interface similar to your desktop PC. And that’s particularly crucial if you have no time or patience to learn how a new interface works over time.

Budget

Laptops come in different price ranges, and the ones with sophisticated features will cost a premium. But you can get really quality laptops under 300, 500 and 1000 dollars. It all depends on your budget.

Keyboard Quality

If you type a lot, then you want a laptop with a comfortable keyboard. An ideal keyboard has a proper layout of full-sized keys. It’s also possible to find relatively affordable laptops with backlit keys, so it’s possible to use them in low-lit environments.

Battery Life

It doesn’t matter if you use the laptop near a power outlet or away from home. The battery for a new laptop should last a couple of hours so you can use it away from the power source.

Operating System

There are three most popular laptop operating systems – Windows OS, Mac OS, and Chrome OS. Chrome OS is increasing in popularity by the day as we’re seeing more laptops incorporating it.

Laptops that run on Mac OS come at a premium, but you can get a few cheap, high-quality options. For the Windows laptops, you have a sea-full of budget laptop options to choose from. The Chrome OS has made the competition in offering affordable laptops more intense in that you’ll find dirt cheap but quality units out there.

But unlike the Mac OS and Windows OS laptops, machines powered by Chrome OS are slightly restrictive regarding how much you can do. On the bright side, Chromebooks are pretty solid and secure, just like the Mac OS laptops.

Storage Type and Capacity

For a long time, Hard Disk Drive (HDD) has been the top laptop file storage media. If you save lots of media data, then a laptop with 500GB or 1TB capacity will be your best bet. Today more and more laptops feature Solid State Drives instead of HDD. If you can find an SSD machine at your budget, then by all means, go for it.

Design/Form

As technology advances, we’ve experienced immense development in laptop designs. Traditional laptops have screens that fold towards the keyboard. Some now feature touchscreens. Now, there are laptops whose touchscreen turns all the way around to assume the shape of a tablet, popularly known as 2-in-1 laptops.

Wireless Connectivity

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity are basic components of a laptop. 802:11ax (WiFi 6) is the latest and fastest Wi-Fi standard.. Some laptops also come with Ethernet jacks for wired internet connectivity.

Ports

It will be a major blunder if you ignore USB ports and HDMI ports. Your next laptop should have USB 3.0 or USB Type C, at least 3 of them. An HDMI port is integral for video output between the laptop and your TV.

Display Size

The laptop size and display size the same. The screen size should be large enough for optimal comfort when working but not too large to hurt portability. About 12 inches is okay, but 13-14 inches strike a balance between portability and usability.

Wrapping Up

Powerful laptops aren’t necessarily the high-priced ones. If on a budget, there are really good offers that perform exceptionally well you can find right here. We know you’ll get a great laptop capable of withstanding every task you throw at it.