I\u2019ve been thinking lately about all the advice I give out and that I should write some of it down. I know it\u2019s a bit late for Black Friday, but there are those of us that haven\u2019t yet bought their first gift. So, here goes! I hope this helps.<\/p>\n
PC Laptops:\u00a0Unless you want an Ultrabook that\u2019ll boot in less than 7 seconds, try to spend less than $500. Intel processors help gauge the overall speed. An i3 is low end. An i5 is medium (most common and recommended) and an i7 is fast (usually in +$1000 notebooks). However, if you found a laptop (I use notebook and laptop interchangeably) for under $200, then it doesn\u2019t matter what it\u2019s got, it\u2019s a good deal. However, stay away from Netbooks (see next item). Windows 7 or 8 should be 64-bit versions, not 32-bit. 4Gb RAM is good, more is better. At least a 200Gb hard drive. If it has an SSD drive instead, then 96Gb or more. Screen size is important. It can\u2019t be changed later. Avoid 17\u2033 screens if you plan on carrying the laptop around as they\u2019re pretty heavy. Also, consider a hybrid (see below).<\/p>\n
Netbooks: I would avoid these. Although they were popular, they\u2019re very slow, the screen is small and they don\u2019t have\u00a0a built-in DVD or CD drive. They are usually based on the Intel Atom processor \u2013 which is ok for tablets, but not for a Netbook running Windows 7. Also, they\u2019re 32-bit and not 64-bit and are generally made of more plastic than metal. You can do better. Find\u00a0a full size laptop on sale or clearance.<\/p>\n
Hybrids: This is a new genre. Since the arrival late this year of Windows 8, touch screens are becoming the norm. Although you can get a touch screen on a laptop, it\u2019s not very useful. Imagine sitting with a laptop in your lap and pushing the screen. Awkward. However, hybrids are a cross between a laptop and a tablet. They can convert to both with a built-in keyboard. Avoid hybrids running Windows 8 RT or Intel Atom processors. You want the full Windows 8 or Windows 8 Professional and at least an Intel i5 processor.<\/p>\n
Ultrabooks \u2122: This new category was introduced by Intel. An ultrabook has to meet specific requirements to be called an Ultrabook as the designation is trademarked by Intel. One of the requirements is that they boot Windows in 7 seconds or less. So, they\u2019re fast. But, they\u2019re also thin and light. This translates to $1000-2000. But, for those that want speed, its worth it. Ultrabooks can be found in hybrid forms too. So, you get laptop, tablet and speed all in one \u2013 for a price.<\/p>\n
Thanks for listening. I hope this helped. I\u2019ll write more about other technologies. Please comment or offer suggestions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been thinking lately about all the advice I give out and that I should write some of it down. I know it\u2019s a bit late for Black Friday, but there are those of us that haven\u2019t yet bought their first gift. So, here goes! I hope this helps. PC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-personal","category-slates-for-work"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gH3K-7d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericstechblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}