DC Technologies

Have you ever felt like a salesperson was trying to fool you into buying something that you really didn’t need? It can be frustrating when you don’t know all the facts and you’re shopping for an item like a laptop, which isn’t cheap.
You’re about to discover the 10 things that every salesperson hopes you don’t know when you’re shopping for a laptop. Armed with this information you can be confident that you will only buy the necessary features and you’ll avoid spending money on things you will never use.

I’ve created a quick list for you with the important details on these features. Print it out or have it open on the your screen while you’re shopping so you can just refer back to it when you need it. If you’re in a hurry, you can go there now by clicking here: Summarized Quick List
First, your laptop must have the features that best fit your lifestyle and budget. I’ve given my recommendations on each feature below and a recommended laptop list at the end so you can decide what fits you best.The Recommended Laptops List, at the bottom of this post, will come in handy for those that are doing research before they buy. I did the research for you and I’m even giving you a free bonus (also at the bottom).

Ok, let’s get started.

1. System Memory (RAM Memory): Starting with system memory is significant because it greatly influences a laptop’s performance. System memory, also known as RAM, is measured in Gigabytes (GB). Imagine having the ability to expand your own short term memory. You would have the ability to think of more topics simultaneously and work on several things at the same time. You wouldn’t forget what you were about to do because you could focus on several things without stopping to think.
   RAM has the same function, the more RAM, the faster your laptop will perform. For example, you can be in a chat conversation, while downloading music, while browsing the web and your laptop wouldn’t have to slow down and  “think” for every task.
   Now, there is a limitation you need to know.
   Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac come in two versions, 32bit and 64bit. For a simple yet thorough explanation of what 32 bit and 64 bit means and the difference between the two, check out the post: 64bit Versus 32bit Explained
   Simply put, 64bit is faster than 32bit, but it’s important to note that the 32bit version of Windows cannot recognize or use more than 4GB (4 Gigabytes) of RAM regardless of how many memory chips you install.
   How do you know what version of Windows you’re buying?
   If it’s the 64 bit version, it will say “x64 Edition” or “64-bit Edition“ in the description.
   For example: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.
   If it doesn’t say 64bit or x64 somewhere, then you’re getting the 32bit version (they don’t put 32bit in the description; it’s implied).

   My recommendation: I recommend Windows 64bit, with as much RAM memory as your budget allows for, ideally between 4 and 8 Gigabytes of RAM memory, but more RAM memory is always better.
   
   

2. CPU: The CPU (central processing unit) is a chip inside the laptop which is considered the brain of the computer, it’s where the “thinking” (processing) happens. There are two brands of CPU to consider, Intel or AMD. How do you know what you’re buying? It will say Intel or AMD in the description and it’s easy to spot.
   
   Let’s analyze part of a description you would see for a laptop:

   Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.00GHz, 2M L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)

• Intel: CPU Manufacturer.
  
• Core 2 Duo: First, a Core is a CPU, so Core 2 Duo means two CPUs (brains) in one chip. There’s more about this below, see letter a.
  
• T7250: Model Number
  
• 2.00GHz: 2.00 Gigahertz - refers to the speed at which the CPU “thinks”, more details below, see b.
  
• 800MHz FSB: 800 Megahertz Front Side Bus - Since you don’t get many choices with FSB, the details are not all that important. I do want you to know that the higher the number of MHz, the more responsive the computer.
  

IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE CPU Type Options:
First of all, letter b above refers to the type of CPU and when you start shopping for a laptop, you will see different CPU types like Core 2 Duo, Duo Core, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme etc.
So what’s all this core business about anyway?

• Core 2 Duo: A “core” is a CPU. Dual Core and Core 2 Duo are 2 CPU’s in one chip, so ultimately you get double the “brains” or double the processing power in one chip.
  
• Dual core - 2 CPU’s in one chip, but it’s older technology and the slowest of the “2 CPU’s in one” group. It’s a budget solution for Core 2 duos.
  
• Core 2 Quad - Yep, 4 CPU’s in one chip. It does provide faster performance and, in most cases, it maintains your laptop at a fast speed when working on multiple tasks at once. I don’t recommend it because the increase in price is significant and chances are that you won’t see a benefit in performance unless you are a graphic designer, video editor or gamer. This category of user uses more processing power in the things they do. Most people won’t benefit from having 4 CPU’s, so save your money for other things.
  
• Core 2 Extreme- Another version of the Core 2 quad, faster and even more expensive. It’s definitely not worth going for this model unless your into HEAVY computer gaming, video editing or graphic design.
  
• Intel Atom: Not recommended. Built for netbooks (a mini laptop and the subject of another post). The Atom has not ranked well in most speed/performance tests.
  
• Intel Celeron – Celeron CPUs were designed to keep costs low. Celeron is the low end version of what is available in the market. They come in single and Dual Core models, but if it says Celeron, it’s going to be slower than its non-Celeron version. I don’t recommend Celerons because Celerons were built for budget not performance and for a few dollars more, you can get superior performance.
  
• Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo – I’m including this because it’s showing up in a lot of places but it’s not a different CPU. Centrino is like a “badge” saying that it meets the Intel “Centrino” requirements for what has been put inside your laptop.
  Centrino will run more efficiently, with longer battery life and better wireless performance but the CPU is not faster than the CPU in the non-Centrino model. For example, the speed of a Centrino Core 2 Duo CPU is the same as any other Core 2 Duo CPU that doesn’t say Centrino, but the rest of the stuff inside a Centrino laptop is high quality and more efficient. That’s the main difference, it will have a longer lasting battery, the ability to connect to a wireless network more efficiently and ultimately a higher quality laptop, but not a faster one.
  

My Recommendation: A Centrino Core 2 Duo is your best bet for a CPU – it will give you the best performance at a good price.

If you are into really heavy gaming, video editing or graphic design, then the Core 2 Quad may be a better option if your budget allows, but it’s not a requirement for great performance.

Extra Info: I recommend the Centrino laptops because of the longer lasting battery and better WIFI hardware which provides a more reliable wireless connection to the Internet and less worrying about having to find a plug all the time because the battery is running low. Just look for “Centrino” in the laptop description.

• CPU Speed: Now that you know about CPU types, let’s look at the fourth item on the list above.
  Looking at the description again, you will see:
  Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.00GHz, 2M L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
  The 2.00GHz or 2.00 Gigahertz is the speed at which the laptop’s “brain” processes instructions from you.
  The higher the number of GHz, the better. 2.00GHz is considered a fast CPU, at the time this article was written. If your budget allows, you can look for a higher number like 2.26GHz or more, but unless you will be performing tasks that put an extreme amount of load on your CPU (video editing, 3D gaming, graphic design), there’s no real advantage to getting more than 2.26GHz for now. Your laptop won’t perform any better by getting more than a 2.26GHz CPU if you will mainly be doing things like browsing the web, sending email, working with spreadsheets, using word processing software, using accounting software etc. It would be like buying a Race Car to drive to work and home every day. A huge investment that you will never really benefit from.

My recommendation for the CPU speed: Stay within the 1.8GHz to 2.26GHz range because you will have a fast laptop without spending excessive amounts of money.

3. Hard Drive:This is where you store all your files, photos, music, videos, documents, spreadsheets, applications etc. etc.The size of the Hard Drive is measured in Gigabytes (GB). You need at least 160GB for the Hard Drive. If your budget allows then go for a 250GB, 310GB or more.
The more space you get the better, but don’t get any less than 160GB so you don’t have to worry about upgrading for a while.
Applications that are commonly used like Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) take up a lot of space. Also, software available today are more powerful than before with lots of features, but the tradeoff is that you need more space to handle them.
What I want you to avoid is buying a laptop and, in a few months, you start seeing the dreaded “Out Of Space” or “Low On Virtual Memory” Error messages. That’s why it’s better to get a hard drive with enough space to last a long time before you have to even think about upgrading or worse, having to clean out files you don’t need and uninstalling software you don’t use anymore (very annoying and time consuming).

To put things into perspective:

• 160GB is equal to 163,840 megabytes (a megabyte is a measure of memory. Just trying to be thorough for those that already knew that!).
  
• The average size of an MP3 music file is 6 megabytes.
  
• Microsoft Office alone can take up to 2 Gigabytes (about 2000 megabytes).
  
• Other software you install will vary in size, but everything combined will add up. Not to mention emails and attachments people send you, photos and movies from your camera etc. All these things add up so you want to be prepared.
  

My recommendation: No less than 160GB. If your budget allows for more space, then go for it. The more Gigabytes the better, just don’t get less than 160GB.

4. Optical Drive – Simply speaking, this is your CD and/or DVD player. The standard drive today has the ability to play a CD and/or DVD disc, but also to record (burn) one. The most common and most useful type of drive for your laptop is a DVD player/DVD writer combo. These drives can play DVD’s, record (burn) DVD’s and play and burn CD’s as well, so it takes care of all your needs in this area.

• CD ROM – ROM means “Read-Only-Memory” which means it could only read (play) CD’s but does not write (record) to them (this type of drive is rarely seen today).
• DVD ROM- the ROM means that it only plays DVDs, but does not write (record) to them.
• CD RW – the RW means that it could Read and Write CDs – a blank CD holds 640 megabytes. • DVD RW – the RW means that it could Read and Write DVD’s – DVD’s hold 4.7 gigabytes (about 4,700 megabytes).
• DL DVD RW – the DL means Dual Layer which means it has two layers of storage. A blank DL DVD can store about double the capacity of a regular DVD, 8.5gigabytes. It also reads and burns CDs
• Blu-Ray – Plays High Definition (HD) playback for movies.
• Blu-Ray Writer – Creates (burns) and plays Blu-Ray Discs which can hold up to 25 gigabytes, but most Blu-Ray Writers can also read and burn CDs and DVDs so it can handle all aspects of your disc needs.

My recommendation: Make sure your laptop has a DVD Reader and Writer. In the description it will be written as DVD+/- RW. This will allow you to play DVD movies, listen to music CDs, install software (which can come on CD or DVD), and create (burn) both CDs and DVDs (when it says DVD +/- RW, it’s implied that it will play and burn CDs as well). This will keep your costs low because Blu-Ray is still priced at a level which does not justify buying it.

5. Display/Screen Size:
Most people like to have a large display, but the larger the display, the heavier the laptop and the higher the price. Screen sizes range from 11″ all the way to up to 20″.

My recommendation: If you plan on taking your laptop with you frequently then stay between 13.3″ to 14.1″. This will give you a nice size screen without adding too much weight to your laptop.
If you plan on watching movies on your laptop once in a while, then you should look for something a little bigger like 15.4″.
If your laptop stays home most of the time or you watch movies frequently, then you would benefit from an even larger screen. This is a personal choice, but now you have the facts.

6. Operating System - Mac or Windows? This is another personal choice. If you are accustomed to using Windows, then I don’t advise you to buy a Mac because there is a learning curve which might frustrate you. Both Mac and Windows do the same thing - give you access to the software installed and files saved in your laptop but they are very different in the way they look, where things are located, performance etc. If you’re accustomed to Windows then it will be a new experience working with a Mac. If you are ok with learning your way around a Mac, then I do recommend it.
Also, most people will tell you that you can run Windows on a Mac (if you have never heard this, then let me be the first to tell you).
*Facts to know - this is only true if:

• You purchase software called VMware Fusion. This is software that allows you to simply double click an icon and run Microsoft Windows inside a window or full screen, which is very cool, but then you start wondering why you spent your money on a Mac if you are mainly running Windows?
• Another possibility which can be combined with VM Fusion is that you get a program called Boot Camp which is included with new Mac Computers/Laptops running Leopard (the new version of the Mac operating system).
  *If you don’t know what Leopard is, it’s the equivalent of saying Windows Vista for a PC.
  Boot Camp allows you to install Windows and, when you turn your computer on, it will ask if you want to run Windows or Mac. Boot Camp doesn’t allow you to run both Mac and Windows at the same time as VMware Fusion does, you have to actually reboot your laptop and select Windows or Mac.

My recommendation: I love my Mac and I have my Mac and my Windows based laptop sitting side by side in my office. Mac is amazing and if you’re in the least bit curious and don’t mind learning something new, then go for the Mac. It’s very fast, can run multiple applications at the same time, efficiently and RARELY crashes. Now, I also like Windows and, if precautions are taken, WIndows runs well. More importantly, the Windows operating system is more familiar for many people.
In summary, if you are familiar with Windows and are not interested in changing, then stick with what feels familiar and get a Windows based laptop.
If you have been wanting to find out more about the Mac and can adjust to the change in the look, feel, location of things and the different software then I definitely recommend getting a Mac.

7. Wireless Network – For your laptop to connect wirelessly to your home or office wireless network or WIFI networks in public places like hotels, restaurants, airports, Starbucks etc. - you need to have wireless capabilities built in.
What you need to look for in the list of features is “802.11n wireless networking capability“. Some laptops will say 802.11g.
Imagine the difference between the g and the n being that the g is like driving on the street and n is the same as driving on the highway. The n flows faster and has more range than g.

Now, to impress your friends here’s some more information about wireless g and n networks:

• If your laptop has a wireless n card built in and it tries to get on a wireless n network (highway) then it will move at the n speed.
• If your laptop has a wireless n card built in and it tries to get on a wireless g network or (the street) then your laptop will slow down to the g speed limit and you will be browsing the web at the slower g speed.
  
• If your laptop has a wireless g card and it tries to get on a wireless n network (highway) then the n network will slow down to the g speed limit because a wireless g laptop is only built to drive or connect to a g network, it cannot go any faster than the g speed.
  
• This all happens behind the scenes, you will only notice when you browse the Internet because of the speed you will be moving. In summary, n is faster, can connect at n speeds and g speeds, but g can only connect at g speeds.

My recommendation: Wireless N, just to be sure you are always working at the fastest speed when connecting to a network and/or the Internet. Most laptops will include a wireless N card.

8. Bluetooth Option: You will usually be offered the upgrade of adding Bluetooth to your laptop. Bluetooth is not just for cell phones! Adding Bluetooth to your laptop will give you the ability to use your cell phone’s Bluetooth headset as a microphone and earpiece, wirelessly synchronize your mobile phone with your laptop (if your phone has Bluetooth) and connect to a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. With Bluetooth built into your laptop, you can do all these things without any additional equipment.

My recommendation: It’s a “nice to have” feature. Knowing what you can do with it, I’ll leave this one up to you!

9. Graphics Card: This is what connects to your screen on the inside of your laptop. There are two possible types of graphics cards. One comes with its own memory and the other needs to share the RAM memory with the laptop. If your video card has its own memory, it doesn’t have to use your laptop’s RAM memory (remember RAM memory from number 1 above?). You will only benefit from your video card having it’s own memory if you do things like edit video, play 3D games, graphic design and watch high resolution movies. These types of activities require a lot of memory and, when your video card has its own memory, it won’t use your laptop’s memory and won’t slow your laptop down.
How do you know if the video card is built to use your laptops memory or if it has its own (dedicated) memory?
It typically will say something like “Discrete Video Memory” or “dedicated graphics card” when the video card has its own memory.

My recommendation: If you are buying your laptop for one or more of the following activities: playing 3D games, graphic design, watching high resolution movies or editing video regularly then you need a laptop with a “discrete” video card which will have its own separate memory.
If you are not planning on doing things like that regularly, then you will be happier with an “integrated” video card because it costs less and you won’t see any gain in performance by having a dedicated graphics card.

10. Ports - The laptop should have several USB ports, at least two but three to four USB ports would be best. Many new laptops also come with a built-in FireWire port which is faster than USB, but not as commonly used. Firewire is typically for an external hard drive or digital camcorder.
My recommendation: This isn’t an upgrade so you won’t have to pay more for ports, but I want to make sure you’re informed!

Although this article clears up the details on what’s important when you’re shopping for your laptop, there are still many laptops on the market today.  Shopping and reading the descriptions takes up a lot of time and can get frustrating!

Don’t worry! I have done the work for you.

Here’s a Summary of My Recommendations For Everything Above Plus An Extra Free Bonus For You (See Below):

1.) System Memory (RAM):Windows 64bit, with as much RAM memory as your budget allows for, ideally between 4 and 8 Gigabytes of RAM memory, but more RAM memory is always better.2.) CPU Type: Centrino Core 2 Duo - best performance at a good price.3.) CPU speed: Between 1.8GHz to 2.26GHz 4.) Hard Drive: The higher the number of Gigabytes, the better. Ideally, between 160GB-310GB. 5.) Optical Drive: DVD Reader and Writer. In the description it will be written as DVD+/- RW.

6.) Display/Screen Size: If you plan on taking your laptop with you frequently then stay between 13.3″ to 14.1″ (nice size screen without too much weight). If you plan on watching movies on your laptop once in a while, then you should look for something a little bigger like 15.4″.7.)Operating System(Mac or Windows):Very personal choice. Mac is more reliable and efficient, but takes some getting used to if you’re moving from Windows and I don’t dislike Windows! 8.) Wireless Network: Wireless N 9.) Bluetooth: Nice to have, handy but not necessary. 10.) Video Card: If you are a Graphic designer,watch a lot of high res movies, gamer, video editor: Discrete Video Memory. Otherwise, Integrated Video Card. 11.)Ports: Minimum 2 ports, ideally between 3-4 ports.

The Top 10 Recommended Laptops For 2009

As an Extra Bonus, I am offering 45 Days of Direct Access to My Computer Support Email Hotline for all your questions concerning your new laptop, FREE! This is a $250 Value!

What Does This mean?

• Any questions you have when your first get your laptop about how to set it up, connect it to the Internet, Setup Your Antivirus software, Connect a Printer or any other questions related to the use of your new laptop, just send me an email.
• Any problems that arise while you’re using your new laptop, send me an email and I will send you the steps on how to fix it.

Think of it as your personal computer support team. If it’s related to your new laptop, the answers to your questions will be a few clicks away.

There are two ways to qualify for this bonus:

1. Purchase one of the laptops from  the Top 10 Recommended Laptops above by clicking on the link to Amazon.com from within the Top 10 Recommended Laptops Slide Show above. OR
   
2. Purchase any laptop from Amazon.com as long as you visit Amazon.com by clicking the Slide Show above or by Clicking Here.

After you purchase, just send  me your invoice number, date of purchase and name. That’s It!

By purchasing your laptop from Amazon.com through any of the links above and sending me your invoice number and name, you will automatically be enrolled in my Computer Support Email Hotline For a Full 45 Days Beginning The Day You Purchase Your New Laptop, At No Cost! No obligation! I don’t want your credit card number, email address or any personal information.

This is a true free bonus without any obligation as long as you have purchased your laptop from Amazon.com after clicking one of the links in this article!

Tips Before You Purchase:
If you buy your laptop online, avoid configuring it with “evaluation software” that will expire 30–90 days later anyway. Anti-virus software makers and some Internet service providers try to push their products this way.
If you buy your laptop at a store, uninstall all evaluation software first, then install Avast Antivirus-Home (free), you can download it from the Avast Website by clicking here.