Three Key Things To Consider When Buying A New Laptop

Buying a new laptop can be confusing, to say the least. Students and their parents have come to me in the past, as the liaison to the Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design, wanting me to tell them exactly which computer brand and model to buy. I purposely withheld from doing this, because no matter what you buy, there is a chance of getting a lemon and I did not want to be held accountable for that decision.

I would instead tell them what areas were most important. There are three key things to consider when you start looking at the specs of potential laptop purchases. These three things are going to provide you with the most bang for your buck.

The bottom line is ... the processor, the video card, and the amount of RAM installed are the most important keys to getting the most bang for the buck when buying a laptop computer.


Processor - determines the overall speed of a laptop. You should try to get the highest processor speed you can afford at the time of purchase. This will provide some longevity to your acquisition. Taking this into account, the difference between a 3.2 GHz and a 3.4 GHz processor may not be worth the extra $100 to $200 wanted by the manufacturer.

Video Card - The video card determines how fast the graphics display on the screen. Today the minimum I would recommend is a 256mb graphics card. An upgrade to 512mb can cost from $250 to $500. Then too, if your needs are not too much into the graphics programs, there are some deals to be had with a 128mb graphics card.

RAM - This is a little different, because what I propose is to purchase your laptop with the minimum amount of RAM, and purchase an upgrade from an online source, such as MacMemory.com, Crucial.com, or NewEgg.com. Memory or RAM is very easy to install, and costs much more to have installed by the company you are buying the computer from, than to purchase and install yourself.

Apart from those three things, the accessibility to support services and the warranty is the fourth most important aspect to buying your laptop. Purchasing an extended warranty, is actually a very good investment, and may pay for itself in the first year.