A friend has an upcoming need for a laptop and asked for advice on how to choose. As a teacher, this is her list of likely uses:
- Internet research and use of Google suite
- Presentations for students
- Streaming music/videos
- Typing emails/lesson plans
With minor variants, the functionality is not too much different than the personal usages many of us would have. Unless one is doing heavy graphics processing, manipulating monster spreadsheets or high definition gaming, there are just a few computer specs that are important. There are some nuanced features and quality differences between brands and models, but if you stick with the major brands and stay away from the bottom of the line, you will be all right.
For the moment, looking only at Windows computers, here is what I told her:
Frankly, for what you want to do, almost anything on the market will do. The main thing to consider is how big a screen do you want (12″ – 17″) trading off with size and weight. I recommend going to a store where you can try out the keyboard and get a general feel of a few computers. Those specs to pay attention to are:
- Memory: 16G ideal, 8G ok
- Hard drive: A solid-state drive (SSD) is the best choice these days. Bigger is always better, limited by need and budget. 512G will meet most needs. 1T adds extra room for pictures, videos, etc. If you mainly store documents, then you may be able to get by with 256G.
- Processor: I tend to go with the Intel line of processors, and the i5 model for regular usage. The i3 will work in some cases but will be slower processing. Most people won’t notice the faster processing power of the i7. There are too many variants to mention, but for the most part, getting the rough equivalent in other brands will perform satisfactorily.
- Most other computer specs don’t matter for this kind of processing.
Once you have narrowed down the choices from the above specs choose the computer with the best combination of specs, size, and feel.
If you would like to talk about your specific needs and find out a bit more about the various options, contact me for a phone or in-person consultation. See the pricing menu for an introductory offer.