Your Guide to Buying a New Laptop

With the support for Windows 10 ending on the 14th of October this year, a lot of people are going to need a new computer.

But choosing what new computer to buy and understanding the technical jargon can be daunting.

So, we thought this would be a perfect time to write a guide to help you feel confident choosing your new machine!

Processor (CPU)

The processor, or ‘central processing unit’ (CPU for short) is the brain of a computer.

Processors have a speed, measured in ‘gigahertz’ (GHz). Simply put, the higher the GHz, the faster the processor and therefore the computer, will be.

But this isn’t the end of the story. Because processors also have cores. Each core is like a separate processor, and as they say; two heads are better than one!

The more cores a processor has, the faster the computer will be. In-fact, the number of cores a processor has is more important than its speed measured in GHz.

There are two main manufacturers of processors; Intel and AMD, and both make a range of different models.

Below is a rough guide to these and what we would recommend they are used for:

Intel Celeron and Pentium: 

Light home use, such as browsing the internet and sending and receiving e-mails.

Intel Core i3 / Ultra 3 and AMD Ryzen 3: 

Home and office work.

Intel Core i5 / Ultra 5 and AMD Ryzen 5: 

Home entertainment and photo editing.

Intel Core i7 / Ultra 7 and AMD Ryzen 7: 

Gaming and video editing.

Intel Core i9 / Ultra 9 and AMD Ryzen 9: 

Gaming.

Memory (RAM)

Confusingly memory is not where computers save and store their data!

Memory is often abbreviated to RAM, which stands for Random Access Memory.

RAM is your computer’s short-term memory, it’s where it keeps everything it’s currently working on as RAM is much, much faster than the computer’s long-term memory.

RAM is measured in ‘gigabytes’ (GB). The more RAM you have, the faster your computer will generally be. But that doesn’t always mean that you need lots of it.

Unlike the processor, RAM is only used when it’s needed. You could spend a lot of money on a powerful computer with lots of RAM and if you only use it to browse the internet and read your e-mail much of that memory will just be sitting idle!

Conversely however, if you don’t have enough RAM, your computer will feel slow and sluggish.

You may see an additional three letters with a number where RAM is mentioned such as DDR4 or DDR3. These are the generation of RAM. The higher the number at the end, the newer the RAM technology is. So DDR5 would be better than DDR4.

Below is a rough guide to how much RAM we would recommend based on your desired usage:

4GB: 

Light home use, such as browsing the internet and sending and receiving e-mails.

8GB: 

Home entertainment, office work and photo editing.

16GB and above:

Gaming and video editing.

Storage (SSD)

This IS where your computer saves and stores all your data!

Old computers used to use mechanical hard disk drives (HDD) with moving parts, which were big and could store lots of data, but were very slow.

New computers use solid state drives (SSD) with no moving parts. These are much, much faster than the old mechanical hard disk drives, but tend to be smaller and able to store less data.

Like RAM, storage is measured in ‘gigabytes’ (GB), and put simply, the bigger the SSD is in your new computer, the more data; documents, pictures, music etc. you will be able to store on it.

Below is a rough guide to how much storage space we would recommend based on what you would like to store on your new laptop:

Less than 128GB: 

We would strongly recommend that you do not buy any computer with less than 128GB of storage space.

128GB: 

Documents and some photos.

256GB: 

Documents and more photos.

512GB: 

Documents, photos, music and some videos.

1TB: 

Documents, photos, music, videos and some games.

1TB and above: 

Documents, photos, music, videos and games.

The Screen

For most of us there are only two important factors to consider when choosing a laptop screen: size and resolution.

Screen Size

Laptop screens, like televisions, are measured diagonally from corner to corner in inches.

The standard and most common size of screen on a laptop is 15.6”. But larger and smaller laptop screens are available.

Laptops with smaller screens are smaller and lighter and therefore are more portable, and they also tend to have a better battery life. But the drawback is that a smaller screen may be harder to see and read if your eyesight isn’t good.

Laptops with larger screens are bigger and heavier and are therefore less portable, and they tend to have shorter battery lives than laptops with smaller screens. But a larger screen is easier to see and to read and can be better for work and entertainment.

Screen Resolution

Computer displays are made up of a grid of pixels. Depending on the screen you are using right now and your eyesight, you may be able to look closely enough to see them!

Screen resolution is just a measurement of how many pixels make up the display. For example, a laptop with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 has a display made up of a grid of 1,920 pixels across and 1,080 pixels down.

The higher the resolution of a laptop screen (the more pixels there are in the grid) the sharper the image on the screen will be!

There isn’t much more to choosing and buying a new laptop!

Following our guide will give you a solid understanding of the most important things that you need to know to feel confident selecting and buying your new laptop computer.

Don’t forget that we’re always available for help and advice before AND after you’ve bought your new computer!