Buying Budget-Friendly Laptops: Things to Consider
Whether you like it or not, when you have a tight budget, most of the time, you cannot get or purchase laptops with all the best features. Instead, you tend to settle for something else that fits your budget.
For this reason, it is important to know your main purpose for the laptops and the laptop models that are especially suited for that reason. Therefore, here are some things you need to consider when buying budget-friendly laptops.
The most important software which runs on a computer is an operating system. It controls the memory and processes of the computer, including its software and hardware. It also enables you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the language of the computer. A computer is ineffective without an operating system.
You ‘re most likely to have two OSs to choose from ChromeOS or Windows for a budget-friendly laptop. Windows 10 is now common, and it is not advised to have a lower version for file and software compatibility purposes. If you’re using a laptop to support non-heavy content work, it’s best to choose Windows from ChromeOS.
ChromeOS is ideal for students or those whose priorities are content-making tools such as Word processors since they do not need to access many applications or install a lot of software on their devices.
The average for budget-friendly laptops would be 2 GB to 4 GB of RAM. Today, however, some manufacturers are quite generous with their entry-level laptops for offering more than 4 GB. As we know, RAM is responsible for allowing more apps to run in the background without slowing down laptops. The higher the RAM, the faster and smoother laptops can switch from one app to another or run apps simultaneously.
If you don’t need to use a lot of applications or access websites all at the same time, the 4 GB RAM will do. With all the technological advancements these days, it is not recommended to buy laptops with less than 4 GB of RAM. This is unless the cash at hand is not enough to afford a better unit.
The design of keyboards should be considered for students and professionals. This is important especially when writing and typing a large number of documents. Note that a keyboard with slightly submerged keys can help avoid a lot of typographical errors, while the shallow keys are more versatile and can help reduce the strain on your shoulders and arms.
When buying budget-friendly laptops, consider a laptop with a long battery life of at least 6 hours on average. For people with a tight budget, a laptop with a battery life of at least four hours is all right. Fast-charging functionality is also important, especially if you need to use a laptop in school, office, or at home.
For a 14-inch laptop, the standard resolution of 1366p x 768p is decent, as long as it is HD. However, consider purchasing a 15-inch laptop with a higher resolution, preferably 1080p x 1920p. Students and young professionals who don’t need to focus on graphic design and layouts, or video editing, where graphic details are necessary, an HD resolution is quite fine.
What’s important is that the display has features to lower eye strain. It is especially helpful when you need to stare long hours on your laptop screen. Also, if you are planning to use your laptop outdoors, make sure your screen brightness is adjustable. Additionally, it should have anti-glare features.
If you have a presentation or if you need to connect your laptop to a larger monitor from time to time, make sure you have an HDMI port. Thus, you should look carefully at the available ports and terminals, depending on your requirements. Also, the terminals are supposed to be compatible with your other devices.
Besides, for laptops with small storage space, you would have to use external drives, flash drives, and the like, so take into account the USB ports available when buying budget-friendly laptops. Likewise, check that the USB version (2.0 or 3.0) is compatible with other devices and connectors.
The hard disk drive ( HDD) is typically large. HDD has a minimum of 500 GB – large enough to hold your photos, videos, and other media files. Solid-State Drive (SSD) is primarily for speed, as most of your HDD space can also slow down your laptop.
The SSD provides large storage space. Similarly, it speeds up the overall functionality of a laptop, allowing faster data transfer. However, SSDs aren’t as cheap as HDDs. Meanwhile, the Embedded Multimedia Controller (eMMC) is recommended for its power-saving features.
The laptop processor is not included in the list of considerations in this post. Please note that there is always something to sacrifice when purchasing budget-friendly laptops, either the CPU or the GPU. Bear in mind, however, that a mid-range processor does not mean that it is not good enough. It performs well, but not as better as the high-end ones.
The Core i7 is suitable for the price range of PHP 20K and below. However, most chipsets would run around Core i3 or Core i5 for this price. Choose Core i5 or higher as much as possible. The number of cores also influences the performance of your laptop.
Similarly, for this price range, manufacturers offer either dual-core and quad-core processors, but it is better to choose the latter. Likewise, if you rank Pentium, Celeron, and Atom, it is best to go for an Intel Pentium chipset. Moreover, there are still some laptop brands you can choose from to fit your budget of PHP 25K and below. These brands include ASUS, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, and HP.
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Great and informative it will help who want to purchase laptop…
Thanks.
Informative blog, nicely written 👍
Very informative and Helpful for students..