{"id":2071,"date":"2021-08-27T14:59:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T12:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteriedeportable.com\/guides-et-conseils\/tips-for-choosing-your-first-laptop\/"},"modified":"2021-08-27T14:59:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T12:59:22","slug":"tips-for-choosing-your-first-laptop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/tips-for-choosing-your-first-laptop\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for choosing your first laptop"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you don\u2019t know much about computer hardware, buying your first laptop<\/strong> raises lots of questions. How can I find my way around all the models on the market? Which criteria should I prioritise when choosing my computer? Is my budget enough for a device that really meets my needs? Here are some tips that can help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Identify your needs\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First and foremost, be clear about how you will use your future laptop. Knowing what you want to do with it \u2013 work, study, gaming\u2026<\/strong> \u2013 will help you invest in the right model. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, you can choose between these five types of laptops:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Standard laptop<\/strong>: suitable for study, office tasks, browsing the internet, social media, storing and watching multimedia files.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Ultrabook<\/strong>: a very light, ultra-thin laptop. Its ergonomic, compact design is ideal if you need to travel with your work tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Gaming laptop<\/strong>: this computer is configured specifically for games. Its RAM, processing power and graphics performance also suit people who work with image and video editing.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Touchscreen laptop<\/strong>: its touchscreen allows the user to access apps and different functions with a simple tap. This model can be suitable for children who are just starting out with computers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 2\u2011in\u20111 hybrid laptop<\/strong>: this machine sits halfway between a tablet and a laptop with a keyboard. It can be suitable for mobile professionals, students and those who use their device mainly for music and video.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Identify the key features of a laptop<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    When buying your first laptop<\/strong>, you can use the following features to find the one that best meets your expectations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Battery life\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    An impromptu meeting in a caf\u00e9, sending an urgent email in an airport lounge, browsing the internet on a train\u2026 In these situations, you won\u2019t necessarily have a power socket to hand. So you need a laptop<\/strong> with good battery life. Even if you mainly stay at home, video games and heavy software need powerful batteries<\/strong> if you want to avoid keeping the computer plugged in all the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    When choosing your laptop<\/strong>, it\u2019s a good idea to subtract at least 20%<\/strong> from the battery life stated on the technical sheet. For example, if the claimed battery life is 12 hours, the real battery life will be around 9 hours. Note that if your device can run for 7 to 8 hours on battery<\/strong>, that\u2019s already very good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The screen\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    A larger screen offers better comfort in use and is very pleasant for multimedia. On the other hand, the laptop will be heavier and harder to carry. Conversely, a smaller screen gives you less visual comfort, but the device is easier to transport. Current laptop models<\/strong> generally come with screens from 13 inches to 17 inches<\/strong>. There are also borderless screens, which give you the same screen size while reducing the overall width of the laptop by about 2 cm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Screen resolution is also a key factor. These days, Full HD<\/strong> screens, which offer excellent clarity, are easy to find. You can also get higher resolutions such as Retina<\/strong>, QHD<\/strong> and 4K<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Performance\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    First, look at the RAM<\/strong>, or memory, of the laptop<\/strong>. A configuration with 4 GB of RAM<\/strong> is more than enough for standard use (word processing, web browsing, etc.). But you can choose 16 GB of RAM<\/strong> if you plan to use resource-hungry software. This is the recommended setup for online gaming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Next, take a look at the processor. Its processing power is expressed in Gigahertz (GHz<\/strong>). The higher this is, the more powerful the computer. A higher number of cores also allows the device to handle several tasks simultaneously.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Finally, you should also look at the storage capacity<\/strong> of the device. Ideally, choose a capacity equal to or greater than 512 GB<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Set your budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Obviously, a laptop with advanced features and high-performance components will cost a lot more. But are you really prepared to spend over \u20ac1,400 just for Facebook, YouTube, Excel and Word?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    With a budget of between \u20ac300<\/strong> and \u20ac800<\/strong>, you can get a device with perfectly decent performance. You can even buy a laptop with a 17\u2011inch<\/strong> screen and 512 GB<\/strong> of RAM.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When you don\u2019t know much about computer hardware, buying your first laptop raises lots of questions. How can I find my way around all the models on the market? Which criteria should I prioritise when choosing my computer? Is my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[242],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-laptop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}