Laptops are becoming a common replacement for the bulky and cumbersome desktop computer. A machine powerful enough to "do it all" used to need an entire exclusive piece of furniture to house all its parts. Now the same power can be found in a five pound laptop.

Considerations When Choosing a Laptop for Home

To choose a laptop for home, you must first determine the main goal of that laptop. Is it strictly going to be for office applications and Internet access? Or does it need more juice to play games and edit home movies? Or are you looking for an overall machine that can do everything? Today an all around machine can and will do it all. With the exception of high end gaming, most mass produced laptops will have the power you need for all your computing needs. The first thing you need to determine is what operating system you want. Do you want a Windows-based machine, or do you prefer Macintosh? Mac gives you the security of not really needing to worry about virus attacks, but Windows is far more popular and flexible. More software and hardware is directly compatible with Windows which makes it the best choice for an all around machine. Most brand new laptops will be loaded with the new and improved Windows 7 which is an excellent and stable platform. Windows 7 will give your home based laptop a variety of excellent flexibility features. No matter which operating system you choose, your computer will need enough processing power to do what you want. If you plan to do a lot with graphics and expect all the performance you would get from a desktop, go for the fastest computer you can afford. When it comes to modern computers you get what you pay for in every sense of the word. So if you want your new machine to handle everything you might throw at it, buy the most power you can afford. The best news is that getting what you can afford is not necessarily a sacrifice. Buying a laptop for your home will also allow you to buy the biggest screen you can find and afford. Since there is no need to worry about the constant mobility associated with laptops and notebooks for a machine that will be home most of the time, go for the biggest laptop you can afford. A nice big screen will be appreciated if you are going to spend any amount of time looking at it. A large screen will allow you to watch movies and TV on your laptop. A big screen will use more battery, but since you will be home and near outlets do not worry about that. Brand choice has become less important over the last few years as some smaller companies like Acer and Systemax have made a strong name in the market. But it is still best to stick to the big names for many reasons. Names like HP, Dell, Toshiba and Sony routinely make some of the most outstanding laptops on the market. You will get features and quality with those names and you will get support that you can count on from all of them. In the current market, there is no need to spend thousands on a great laptop for home use. For only a few hundred dollars you can get a very nice all around machine that will do everything most users will ever need. High end gaming machines can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, but they are often more powerful than about 95 percent of all people will ever need.

Source:

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