Factors to consider when buying a Pc or Laptop for college

Factors To Consider When Buying A Laptop

When buying a Pc or Laptop for college, there are many factors a student needs to take into account before purchasing. A factor that a student must consider is that a laptop is much easier to bring to college in comparison to a Pc as its portable. Size is a huge factor. The student should consider a screen about 14.1"-15.4", which is a suitable size for college and travelling around with.

When buying a laptop, the student must not be fooled by the look of the laptop. Just because its "cute and pink" does not mean its any good.

Consider the amount of RAM or memory the laptop holds. If you are a multi-tasker get as much RAM as you can. A student in college would want at least 4GB, this would have enough for a students basic work. The student would need to consider what use they would need from their laptop for their course. For instance, in Applied Psychology we use Photoshop which needs a lot of memory. 

The student must also consider the hard drive space. All files on the laptop take space from the hard drive. For basic use, anything around 120GB will be fine. If the person would need more space for photos and videos than look for 300-500GB.

When buying a laptop, the student must be aware that it only comes with trial software. Microsoft Word is a must for a student and they must be bought separately. It is important that the student buying a laptop factors these costs in the overall budget.

The student should also consider the Processor (CPU). The better it is, the faster the laptop will be. The student needs to consider if AMD v. Intel is important to them. Intel processors tend to be energy efficient while AMD are cheaper.

Another factor the student should consider is the typing and mousing. As notebooks are small, it is understandable that the keyboard is small too. Try simple keyboard exercises to see if its suitable. For the mouse there is normally a touch pad or a pointing stick, see which is more preferred.

Another important factor would be the graphics card. This would be needed by students who would be editing videos etc. If this is a part of the course, the person would need an ATI graphics card.

Another factor worth considering is the student should not buy a second hand laptop as you don't know how much longer it will last for, and if it were to break the person could easily spend more money on repairs than what the laptops worth.

Apart from the hardware specifications, it is important to consider the battery life. If you wish to avoid bringing the charger to college, the student should consider batteries that hold at least 3 hour charge. There are plugs around the classes, but it can not be guaranteed that you get a plug. Also, the library is always full, therefore the computers are always full. It is handy to bring your own laptop instead of waiting till somebody leaves.