We can help you determing wich laptop suits your needsyou. Because there are a lot of models and brands who deliver laptops and there are many specific needs for the user it should be wise to take some of our advice.
We first build a perfect laptop that fits best to the average user. Then we go a step further by giving you the configurations for a professional laptop, for those who are very demanding. And as last we made a configuration for just a little less budget and hardware.
We already made some
perfect configurations for laptops in 2015 and we see that not much has changed dramatically since then. What changed crucially is the generation of CPU's. Intel has now the 7th generation of i5 and i7 processors on the market. These CPU's are much more efficient in using power and has improved in speed. Also the weigth of the laptops are dramatically downsized. The laptops are also getting thinner and thinner. The disadvantage of that last part is that there's not much space for USB connections. The normal USB connection is in most cases replaced by the thinner micro USB connection like you can find on smart-phones.
Average laptop configuration
Profile: for the global home user who still wants to perform some tasks in an easy manner, listening to music, using office programs and wants to play video games on the laptop.
Cost: between € 500 and € 1.000.
CPU: Intel i5 processor, ideal to perform multiple tasks simultaneously without losing power.
RAM: 6 GB DDR3. This should be more than sufficient to run all your programs without any delay.
Graphics card: An "on board" graphics card that is already integrated on the motherboard is good enough. Do you regularly play video games then you're best off with a graphics card from ATI or Nvidea, 2GB GPU would be more than enough.
Hard Drive: 256 GB SSD Drive. These are the new hard drives of tomorrow. They are less vulnerable because they have no moving elements more, weigh less, make less noise, consume less energy, should not be defragmented and above all they are super fast compared to a traditional hard drive of 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm. Most people that has not much documents and programs has enough space with 256GB Who has many documents should obtain for a capacity of 512 GB.
14" to 15" wide screen: These formats are standard and convenient to carry. The only drawback is that you often do not have a numeric keypad in this kind of small screens. If you do want a numeric keypad or a bigger screen than you better buy a 17" screen, but that makes the price more expensive.
Operating System: Windows 10 (64 bit) home edition, Mac OS X (64 bit). The latest versions of the two most popular operating systems offers you a of maximum safety and speed. If you go for a Windows computer, we recommend you to use a 64-bit version, this versions supports more RAM. To give you an idea: A 32-bit version of Windows, supports only up to 3.2 GB of RAM, even if you have 4GB in your notebook. A 64-bit version can fully use this 4GB, and is much easier to expand, up to 128GB if enough ram slots are present of course.
Professional laptop configuration
Profile: To use in a professional environment for heavy programs such as CAD applications, that requests many power. Also die hard gamers are best off with a more professional computer as games often require a lot of computing power.
Cost: from € 800.
CPU: Intel i7 processor, ideal to perform multiple tasks simultaneously without compromising on power.
RAM: 8 GB to 16 GB DDR3. This should be more than sufficient to make work all your programs without any delay.
Graphics card: An ATI or Nvidea card is an absolute must, 4 to 8 GB GPU is recommended.
Hard disk: As before, it is advisable to place an SSD Drive from 256 to 512 GB, because an old hard disk that has rotating elements, is often the delaying factor on many computers and laptops. A second normal harddisk of 1TB is good if you need to store very large files.
17" wide screen: This format of display certainly offers its advantages. You usually have numeric keypad. This format of screens unfortunately also has its bigger price. They are also slightly more awkward to carry and weight more. Most of the laptops have now an option to delivere 4K configurations.
Blu-Ray and DVD player. Most laptops with a 17” screen comes with a Blu-Ray player. But be aware that many brand downsize the costs by eliminating this peace of hardware.
Operating System: Windows 10 (64 bit) Pro Mac OS X (64 bit). If you are in a network environment than have to use at least the pro version of Windows. This is also the only way to connect the laptop on a dignified manner to the server. 64 bit is a must because it supports more RAM. To give you an idea: A 32-bit version of Windows, supports only up to 3.2 GB of RAM, even if you have 4GB in your notebook. A 64-bit version can fully use this 4GB, and is much easier to expand, up to 128GB if enough ram slots are present of course.
Budget laptop configuration
Profile: for the home user who does not need to use a lot of programs and often only use the laptop to surf the Internet.
Cost: max. € 600.
CPU: Intel i3 processor or lower like an Intel Pentium N or an AMD processor.
RAM: 4 GB DDR3. This should be more than sufficient in order to open some Internet applications.
Graphics card: An "on board" graphics card that is already integrated on the motherboard will do just fine.
Hard Drive: 128 GB SSD drive or a hard disk drive of 5400 rpm with a capacity of 500 GB.
11" to 14" wide screen: Smaller screens make the laptop more mobile and less heavy.
Operating system: Google Chromium OS, Windows 10 (32 bit or 64 bit) home edition, Mac OS X. A 64-bit version will not be needed because it's only overkill. A cheaper alternative to the operating system compared to Windows or Mac OS is the Chromium OS from Google. You can compare this OS with the Android operating system from a smart phone or tablet. You need Internet access all the time because you mainly work with the browser and the available Apps. Many other programs such as Office, can not be install and everything will be saved to a cloud service.
Conclusion
Making these
configurations like we did in 2015 tells us that not much has changed. Of course there are other configurations possible, so if you are not comfortable with these configurations, than the best thing you can do is to let you assist by the professional in the store in order to find your ideal laptop. Hopefully now you know what directions you need to go for the configuration when choosing a new laptop.
