Laptop Buyer’s Guide: How to choose the right one

Step-by-step guide to pick the best laptop or notebook

March 25, 2023, 07:27 AM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- March 25, 2023, 07:27 AM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- March 25, 2023, 08:01 AM

Laptop Buyer’s Guide: How to choose the right one

Laptop (Representational Image: Unsplash)

With all the options out there, buying a laptop may feel like a daunting task. There are several top brands producing standard laptops, and several reputed brands are offering various options under a similar budget range. There are also huge options considering the latest features, specifications and technologies. Factors like display, processor, RAM, storage, graphics card, battery life, etc may often become overwhelming for a first-time buyer. But that shouldn’t stop one from buying the perfect laptop. Here’s how to buy the best laptop.

What to Consider Before Buying a Laptop?

Several factors determine whether a laptop is a good purchase or not. And it all starts with whether you actually need one in the first place.

Do You Need a Laptop?

This might sound like a weird question given the point is to find the best laptop. But more often than not, most people buy a laptop for portability. If the portability factor is taken out of the equation, a PC would be a better choice at any price point compared to a laptop.

So if most of the work related to a computer is stationary, that is there is not much need to move around with the computer, then it is better to consider a PC over a laptop. But if portability is necessary, then yes, there is no alternative to a laptop.

What’s the Purpose of the Laptop?

This is another important aspect to consider as it will greatly impact the subsequent points. What will the laptop be used for? Some people need it for casual office work, students might need it for academics. Others use laptops for creative work like video editing. Some even consider laptops for gaming.

Each of these aspects caters to a different niche and can come with different specs. Price will also differ based on the spec requirement. So it's important to identify the potential use case before purchasing a laptop.

Laptop (Representational Image: Unsplash)

Price Range or Budget

The budget should be in line with the purpose of the laptop. There is no predefined limit to what can be done on which laptop. It’s a general concept that low to mid-tier laptops will be perfect for office and academics. Mid-tier to higher laptops for creative works and top-of-the-line specs for gaming.

A high-end laptop can support all of these but it will also have a hefty price tag. So what’s a general estimate? A 35 to 50K BDT laptop should be fine for casual office work, media consumption, and academics. For creative works, the budget should range between 50 to 100K BDT. As for gaming, there aren’t any suitable options below 100K.

Again if gaming is the priority, it's better to look at PC options as it is possible to get a far better spec built in 100K than a laptop could possibly offer.

Brand of the Laptop

The laptops currently available in the market are quite capable. From a brand perspective, all of them offer unique value propositions. So there is no clear choice here. Still, it is possible to break the brands into three categories – tier A, tier B, and Apple.

Apple is a different subclass because of its OS and price. Prices of Apple laptops range from 100K to 250K depending on the model. They are the perfect work laptop for any budget but there are limitations too as there are little to no gaming options on Apple laptops. If office work, creative work, and academics are the sole intention, and the budget is around 100K, an Apple M1 laptop will be a better choice than anything.

As for tier A, established brands like HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and Dell fall under this category. These are tried and tested brands that have a long reputation.

As for tier B, there are Chinese brands like Chuwi, Xiaomi, ilife, and Telcast. These brands make relatively cheaper laptops compared to the A-tier options. But the models are mostly limited to low to mid-range specs.

Laptop (Representational Image: Freepik)

Processor

The processor of the laptop will also depend on the use case and budget of the user. Office work and academics aren’t usually processor-intensive work, so a lower processor would often suffice. But for creative works or gaming, users will need a high-end processor. It's also the main factor that determines the price of any laptop.

Currently, there are two main processors out there – AMD and Intel. Intel has more range and generations of processors compared to AMD. As a rule of thumb, if the user needs more processing power, it is better to go with the latest generation from Intel.

RAM

The size of RAM depends on the processor requirements of the user. Again as a rule of thumb, users should at least opt for 4 GB of RAM for basic purposes. But for more processor-heavy tasks, it is recommended to go for at least 8 GB of RAM. Anything more would be a bonus. For gaming as well, the minimum requirement is 8 GB for basic games. For more demanding options it might range from 16 to 32 GB RAM.

Storage

There are mainly two types of storage options available on a laptop – HDD and SSD. Hard Disk Drives or HDDs are comparatively slower and cheaper than Solid State Drive. For basic tasks, a 256GB SSD or 500GB HDD should be sufficient, but for more storage-intensive tasks like video editing, look for a 1TB HDD or 512GB SSD.

Laptop (Representational Image: Unsplash)

Graphics Card

For casual office work or academics, users won’t need a dedicated graphics card on a laptop. The integrated graphics card should suffice. But for creative works like video editing, rendering, and gaming, a dedicated graphics card would be required. There are several options like the GTX and RTX from Nvidia as well as AMD. Choose one that best fits the budget and performance requirements.

Portability or Size

At the very beginning, it was mentioned that the laptop holds the exclusive upper hand over the PC simply because of portability. Speaking of portability, laptops come in all sorts of different sizes.

The size is typically measured with the display size. A user can find a 13-inch laptop going all the way up to 17 or 20 inches. Needless to say, a 13-inch laptop is more compact than a 17-inch one. So if high portability is a requirement, then it is better to go for a smaller laptop. For gamers, the options aren’t that many as almost all gaming laptops are large and bulky.

Battery

The battery is another aspect to consider before purchasing a laptop. For a daily outdoor driver, a laptop should have at least 8 hours of backup. Anything more would be better. When it comes to battery, Apple laptops eclipses most windows options out in the market with almost 18 hours of battery life.

Laptop (Representational Image: Unsplash)

Final Words

Choosing a laptop is not easy. What’s important is to determine the needs and use case first before purchasing one. It will help to narrow down the options based on price and budget. And as for the specs, make sure they align well with the processing needs. So far we have discussed the key factor to consider before buying a laptop. Hope it helps!