Today the computer industry has come up with some successful ways of making buyers think they can upgrade their computer by purchasing a new one. The most important consideration when buy a new or refurbished laptop is knowing what you really need. Screen size, battery life, speed, graphics, number of USB ports, important connections like HDMI or Display port and weight are all important. Let’s first look at speed. Some users are satisfied with an average speed computer and others like their computer to be responsive or FAST! The hard drive, ram and processor are the three things that need to be looked at when judging speed. For years the hard drive was the weak link in computers with a fast processor and plenty of ram. With the addition of solid state hard drives this problem is no longer an issue.
The solid state hard drive is now the most important component when it comes to super charging your computer. If for example you are using an older computer, even the early i series Intel processor you will gain between three to five times the speed that you have with an older mechanical hard drive. If you don’t know much about a solid state hard drive please refer to one of my earlier posts about solid state hard drives. As an example if you have identical computers, one with eight gigs of ram and a mechanical hard drive and the other with four gigs of ram with an SSD, the solid state computer will be much faster with only half the ram. So for just talking about speed the solid state hard drive is the best investment you can make.
The processor has more to do with graphics and the amount of tasks that you may want to do at the same time. A dual core processor can basically do two tasks at a time. A quad core processor can do two tasks much faster at the same time. Not all dual core and quad core processors are the same. We could spend all day talking about processors but generally speaking in a dual core processor you want to see a number like 2.6 to 3.0 gigahertz. Gigahertz is just a measurement of the speed of a processor. You should look for 2.5 to 3.1 Ghz in a quad core processor. It is important to mention that laptop (mobile processors) and desktop processors vary somewhat. This is because with a laptop running on the battery alone will last longer with a lower voltage processor. Because of this there is sometimes a trade off between sacrificing some speed for using less power from the laptop battery. To sell more new computers Intel has come up with a great marketing tool. With every new processor they give it a generation number. For example an Intel i5 first generation was the first i5 processor. As of this writing they are up to eight generations.
So what does this mean to the average user? Many people think that the newest generation is the best. It is more important to know what exactly you are getting with each generation. To me I think the most important i series generation is the third generation. The third generation Intel processor gives you 3.0 speed USB ports and decent graphics. If you were to need to download some large files from the internet or another computer the 3.0 ports are 10 times as fast as the 2.0 ports. So a task that might take 8 hours with 2.0 USB ports will take 80 minutes with the 3.0 ports. In all of these examples I am talking about the average user and not a gamer. They make special very expensive gaming laptops for gamers. After the third generation you may pick up a few minor advantages but they are not very noticeable.
Ram or (random access memory) does play an important part when doing some tasks. Photo editing, auto cad and the person who likes to keep thirty tabs open while downloading a movie are doing what is called (Ram intensive tasks.) Most users can do about anything with 8 Gigs of ram. If you are doing something that takes over 16 gigs of ram you are either gaming or rendering high resolution photos.
There are many schools of thought when it comes to what is important to have on a computer and which is more important. I find as a technician that most computers that have come out in the last few years are junk! I don’t mean that the technology is bad, I am talking about the construction. Most new laptops are put together with plastic screws that screw into a plastic threaded hole. If a laptop is dropped and a hinge screw is busted you need to buy the whole top of the computer.
If money is no object or you like to have the newest technology there is no end to the options you can buy. If you want a well made computer that is fast, rugged and able to do almost anything you ask it to do you don’t need to spend a lot of money. I sell forth and fifth generation laptops with solid state hard drives for under $200. I would rather have a five year old Honda than a new Yugo. If you have any comments or questions about computers please feel free to contact me
larry@computerdoctorboise.com