Buying a Laptop
- Monday, April 26, 2004Twice this past weekend I was asked for advise about buying a laptop. Clearly people are interested in portable computing. So I thought I'd write up some notes about the topic.
First, don't buy a laptop unless you really need to. Not only are they more expensive to buy, they're much more expensive to fix. Oh, I'm sure yours won't break. Right. I'll keep my fingers crossed that your $2,500 laptop is still working in 2 years. Frankly, it's just about impossible to get a laptop repaired, or to get part replaced. Each laptop model is unique, and so there's not a ton of extra parts hanging around that just anyone can swap in.
Next, just like your house and your car, don't buy the most expensive thing you can afford. You're just going to get ripped off. Pick what's most important, and then make get the cheapest model that has it. For example, if size and weight are most important to you, make sure you get that. If you won't be lugging it around everyday, but you want to play video games, get something more high end.
Even the cheapest laptops are great for email, internet, and writing papers. Dell is selling this machine for $700 bucks! At the low end, it's still better than my 2 year old high-end desktop. And for that price, you'll have money left over to get a new one in 3 years.
See Also:
How to Buy a New Computer
posted by Kevin Watts | 
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