Laptop Comparison

Anyone who is interested in making a new laptop purchase should really consider the idea of comparing a few machines before they put down their hard earned money. The reason for this is simple: you want to buy a computer that best fits your needs, so that you are not spending your money needlessly on features that you don't really need or want. Therefore, it makes sense to compare the laptops to each other so that you better understand the feature sets. Let's take a look at some of the key areas that you are going to want to look at when looking for a good deal on a used laptop for sale.

It used to be that when you went to purchase a laptop, you really did not have a lot of choices when it came to the size of the machine. They were all pretty much right around 15 inches or so. Today, that is not the case, and you can get very small netbooks that can easily fit into a purse, or you can get a 17 inch monster that can pretty much replace any desktop computer. This physical form factor really should be your first consideration when you go to compare laptops and try to narrow things down. How big of a machine do you really want? How often are you going to be carrying it around? If you are basically going to park your laptop at home then you might go with a bigger screen. If you are going to be taking your machine on the road with you every single day, then you might want something a bit lighter.

Here is a hint that most people do not realize until they have experienced it in real life: it is all about the weight. We look at the size of the computer and generally we compare that, but in fact the biggest factor in terms of portability is the weight of the machine. Once you have experienced something at about 3 pounds or lighter it is very hard to go back to a heavier machine. Luckily, the machines seem to be getting lighter and lighter over the years, and the recent bumper crop of netbooks that have flooded the market all seem to come in at about 2 pounds. It is easy to look at the 17 inch desktop replacement model and see all the features and say that we want that machine, but it is another thing entirely to lug it around and have all that extra weight to deal with.

Operating system is another key feature that is going to be a huge factor for many people, but this is such a personal preference that not much can be said about it. Most people are going to opt for a Windows machine, but there are also Macs and Linux machines out there now. Many of the new netbooks have a cheaper version that comes with Linux on it. Just make sure if you buy a cheaper netbook that has Linux that you will not one day need to run software that is only available on Windows.

Like I said earlier many people end up buying too big of a machine for their purposes because they are swayed by the hardware specifications of the computer. When buying a laptop it is almost never necessary to look for speed in the processor. Really what you want is a processor that is optimized for effeciency, not speed. Low heat and low power requirements are much more important in a laptop. These days, most machines are using some flavor of the Intel Atom processor, and AMD has a competing chip that is good as well. Unless you are buying a desktop replacement machine, the processor should not be a huge factor in your choice if you are thinking about finding a used laptop for sale.

Price is going to be a huge issue for many people, and will actually segment a lot of the buying decision for you.  If you are willing to spend over 500 dollars on a machine then that will really open up your choices for you.  The market has changed quite a bit over the last decade in terms of price.  It used to be that you had to spend at least a thousand or so on a laptop.  Now the market is probably made up of about 90 percent machines costing under 600 dollars.  Probably half of all laptops these days cost less than 400 dollars.  This assumes of course that you are including netbooks in your comparison.

It is a good idea to start with netbooks and see if they are suitable for your needs.  Go to an electronics superstore and test out a few of their machines.  They will have display models that are turned on.  Type up a few paragraphs on each machine and see if you can actually do real work on a netbook.  If you can, then you should consider that whole class of machine as a starting point for your comparisons.  The reason for this is because netbooks have a lot of advantages over traditional laptops: they are lighter, cheaper, more mobile, and generally have longer battery run times.  And the biggest factor of course is that most netbooks run right around 300 dollars. 

So test out the machines and figure out what you really need in a laptop.  This will help narrow down your buying decision and help you get the machine you really need.