Complete Systems Design Information Technology Solutions

December 8, 2008

People often ask me about what notebook to buy for the Holidays so I’ve created this notebook buying guide to assist.

If you read my post about buying a PC I will repeat many of the same ideas.   Notebooks and PCs share most of the architecture, but as parts must be much smaller for laptops, typically the parts are more expensive than and not as quick so a $3,000 notebook probably won’t be as fast as a $1,500 PC.  You have to ask yourself do you really need a laptop for travel or just because you think they look nice.   If you are willing to pay twice as much to get something that performs nearly as fast as a PC then the notebook is an acceptable choice.

You have to choose what is THE most important feature on your new laptop: price, size/weight, performance.   You can’t have it all.  If I was looking for a cheap but well built laptop I would go Dell.  If I was looking for an extremely light laptop I’d go with the Sony TT.  If I wanted a good mixture of very light but fast, I would go with the Sony Z.   If performance was more important the weight, I might go with a Dell XPS laptop or a Sony AW.  Lenovo offers some very good choices.

Most major hardware vendors, Dell, HP, etc will custom make your PC so you don’t need to buy things you don’t want and so you can concentrate on features you do want.   Some people will say my recommendations is overkill but since I spend most of the time answering questions like – “I just bought my notebook computer, why is it so slow?” or “My laptop is only 6 months old, why can’t it play this game?”  or “Why can’t I burn CDs and DVDs, this is a brand new notebook”.   Just because a notebook is new, doesn’t mean it can do everything.   You can buy a pair of scissors for $10- that doesn’t mean they are suited to mow your lawn.     Most people tend to think I’ll only use this for browsing the web and then soon find themselves using their computer for a great deal of things.

To be clear, the ads you see in your Sunday paper for your local electronics/appliance store are typically selling vastly underpowered systems with trial software which expires in 60 days and software is not cheap – so you may say to yourself but it is only $800 for a new laptop at this store – yes and a bicycle is much cheaper than a Honda Accord.

• Operating System - I still prefer XP for performance over Vista however Vista is improving.  If I was to go Vista and I was planning on playing cutting edge games or doing a lot of video or picture editing and creation I would go Vista 64 which allows you to access more than 4 gigs of memory.  However if you want fast, a PC is the way to go. Now let’s get to the hardware.

• CPU – I’d recommend a Core 2 2.4 GHz of faster from fastest to slowest T9600 T9500 P9500 T9400 T9300 P8600 T8300 P8400 (core 2’s are much faster than the old core duos) there are older models with similar clock speeds but not the same performance, energy efficiency or features so I would make sure it has one the T or P models I specifically listed here.

• Memory – 2 GIGs for most people as a minimum, 4 or more GIGs for people playing cutting edge games, video editing, picture editing.

• Video Card – I would recommend a MINIMUM of a 256 MB memory card for anyone.   I’d recommend a 512MB memory card for most people.   For gamers, I’d recommend a fast video card such as an nVidia 9800M or 8800M, 9700M, ATI 4850 or 3870.

• Hard Drives – I would recommend a 200 GIG, 16 MB cache, 7200 RPM hard drive for most.  If you plan on doing a lot of video editing, or storing your movies and music on the hard drive you may want larger.   Remember, a hard drive typically slows down once it is even half full so plan for future growth.   I also recommend a second hard drive or external hard drive to backup your critical data.   Synctoy is a free program from Microsoft that lets you select folders you want to copy to a second location.  You can get an SSD (solid state drive) for extremely good performance however currently they typically don’t offer the storage capacity and the price is prohibitive.

• Keyboard and Mouse – Many people want super small laptops and find the keyboard is too small to type quickly so for most a laptop with a 13 or larger screen typically provides the real estate for a keyboard for people with big hands.  Some prefer the center nipple to move the mouse some a touchpad at the front.   You may wish to consider an external mouse if you are taking your laptop on a business trip where you can use the surface area once you are off the plane.

• Screens/Monitors – Don’t skimp on the monitor.   If you have your back to a window, I would avoid reflective ones. Often a unit will come with a choice of screens, I’d typically recommend the best since the price difference is typically minimal.   If you have poor eyesight you may wish to consider skipping the 11” models and go for a 13” screen. 

• Floppy – I don’t really recommend the floppy any more unless you need to access your old floppy discs.  For most a usb/thumb/flash drive is a great way to store a great deal more portable data and it is significantly faster and more reliable (as long as you remember to eject in Windows before physically removing the drive).

• Optical Drives – I’d recommend at least one DVD burner.  It is convenient for backing up data or your video collection.  You can get a BluRay player but unless you travel a lot and already have a vast collection of BR discs, I'd probably just get the DVD player/burner.

• Speakers – I prefer headphones as I don’t want to disturb others and it is more enveloping if you are playing a game but if not you can buy some good quality speakers for a low price.  For headphones, I’d recommend Sennheisers as they are well made and extremely comfortable.   For speakers just about any vendor will sell some desktop speakers and a powered sub for between $40-$60.

• Software – chances are you want Office 2007 and some antivirus/firewall such as Symantec or McAfee.  Most people don’t need Office Professional which includes Access; you can probably save money by getting one of the other versions.  Microsoft Works is NOT the same as Microsoft Office.   If you do find yourself buying PC at a local store you’ll probably find yourself getting very upset in about 60 days (if not sooner) when the trial version of office which is included expires. If you have a student in the house, the student pricing is significantly better, typically at the student store such as your university store if it isn’t offered from your computer vendor.

• Warranty –I do however highly recommend accidental coverage if you buy a laptop. It is very easy to drop a PC if you travel with it a lot or even move it around your home. I typically go with the standard warranty for PCs unless you live with people who might throw liquids into the PC or try to juggle it in which case accidental damage is recommended.   Replacing a keyboard is typically cheaper than extended warranties for PCs. 

• Accessories – if you don’t feel like going to your hardware store, I would highly recommend a good surge suppressor such as a Belkin, Triplite or APC.   Typically only $20 more.  I’d also recommend a Bluetooth or wireless mouse.

You can always call a rep to get the unit if you can’t find what you are looking for online.   You can typically get coupon codes and links to deals by going to fatwallet.com .   You typically get free shipping and other discounts just by asking.

To improve the performance of your new laptop, I would remove the unnecessary software which starts at boot up.   You may find that a support program, trial music software, trial finance software boots at start up.   You can go to Start, control panel, add or remove programs.

Your grand total for a GOOD notebook will probably be between $2000-$5000.   Chances are you will have this at least 3 or 4 years so you might as well configure it right instead of cursing it within the first few months and throwing it out within 2 years regretting your purchase throughout the time you own it.