Next Month Is Laptop Replacement Time and I Don’t Know What to Buy

April 21st, 2011

In a world of tablets a laptop is almost a stranger
I am a writer and my best friend is my laptop. I use a tablet too, but for writing in places like coffee shops, only a laptop will do. I find that I have to change my laptop every 2 years to stay up with the technology, and it’s always in the Merry Month of May.

Tablets
While tablets are important, they don’t fully replace laptops, at least not yet. There remains huge value in the portable, clamshell-shaped computer with a physical keyboard, lots of ports, plenty of storage and more horsepower than tablets offer. So, here is WSJ’s Walt Mossberg’s annual spring laptop buyers’ guide, a basic cheat sheet to the most important factors in the shopping process.

Apple
Apple will soon roll out a new Macintosh operating system, called Lion, which displays programs as if they were tablet apps, and it already has an iPad-like app store for the Mac. Microsoft is working on a version of Windows, likely to appear next year, which fuses tablet and PC concepts. This software will run on some current computers, but new hardware, more tailored to these systems, will be coming.

Tablets vs. Laptops
Laptops still win for intensive work like creating long documents, or doing anything that requires precision and benefits from a physical keyboard. They also are more compatible with printers and external disks. If you can’t wait, or don’t want a tablet, you’ll find relatively little has changed in laptop-land in the past six months or so. Here’s a rundown of what you should look for in a laptop.

Windows vs. Mac
As always, capable Windows 7 laptops cost less and offer much more variety than Mac laptops. The latter start at $999, while a few basic, full-size Windows machines can be had for $300. Decently equipped Windows models are in the $500-to-$800 range. Apple refuses to make tiny netbooks, leaving that dwindling category to the Windows guys. But Apple laptops combine sleekness, durability and strong battery life with well-regarded customer service. Macs can run Windows, at extra cost, if you need to use a program that is Windows-only, and they come with better built-in software. Finally, Mac users generally needn’t worry about malicious software, since it’s nearly all designed to run on Windows.

Memory
I recommend 4 gigabytes of memory, or RAM, on a new Windows computer, though a Mac will perform well on 2 gigabytes, unless you’re designing complex graphics. A new Windows machine should be labeled “64-bit” for best performance.

Processors
The newest, and most advertised, chips in consumer laptops are Intel’s i3, i5, and i7 Core models. But a PC with chips from rival AMD, which usually cost less, or older Intel dual-core chips, will do fine for most users.

Hard Disks
A 320 gigabyte hard disk should be the minimum on most PCs, though 250 gigabytes are fine for many average users. Solid-state disks, which lack moving parts and use flash memory, are costlier but faster and use less power. However, they usually have less capacity. As more data are stored online, huge amounts of local storage will be less crucial.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 2:31 am and is filed under Economy, Employment, Finance, Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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