Do you think that you might want to buy a laptop soon? If so, you should make sure that you buy the best laptop possible so that you’re able to make the most of it.
Far too often, people will walk into an electronics store and purchase a laptop on a whim without giving it any serious thought. It’s why so many people end up with laptops that aren’t equipped to meet their specific demands.
We’ve created a laptop buying guide that should make it easy for you to find a laptop that you’ll love from the moment you first bring it home. Check it out below and put it to good use as you set out to buy a laptop.
Begin by Coming Up With a Budget for a Laptop
What is your budget going to be when buying a laptop? That’s one of the first things that you’ll want to ask yourself when you’re in the market for a new laptop.
In some instances, you can get away with paying as little as $300 for a decent laptop. But in other cases, you might have to fork over a few thousand dollars to buy a laptop.
Because of this, it’s important to go into buying a laptop with an exact budget in mind. Your budget will give you a much better idea of what you can afford to spend on a laptop prior to shopping around for one.
Think About How Exactly You Plan to Use a Laptop
Once you know how much you can afford to spend on a laptop when buying one, you should spend some time thinking about how exactly you’re going to use it. Are you going to use a laptop to:
- Surf the web while you’re at home?
- Do work while you’re on the clock for your company?
- Play video games with your friends?
Nowadays, you can use a laptop to do just about anything. But you shouldn’t buy one before figuring out how you’ll use it for the most part. This is going to play a big role in which type of laptop you decide to buy in the end.
Find Out About the Different Types of Laptops
One of the reasons why it’s important for you to decide how you plan to use a laptop is because there are so many different types of them available in this day and age. It can be confusing trying to navigate your way through all of them when you don’t know what you’re going to do with a laptop.
Here are just a few of the various types of laptops that you’ll find on the market today:
- Entry-level laptops
- Business laptops
- Gaming laptops
- 2-in-1 laptops
- Workstation laptops
- Ultrabook laptops
If you buy an entry-level laptop for gaming purposes, you might be able to play some games on it. But it’s not going to be capable of keeping up with more advanced games. You’ll want to invest in a gaming laptop instead so that it’s able to meet your needs.
Look for a Laptop That Has the Features You Want
After you know what you plan to do with a laptop when you buy it, you should be able to pick out the type of laptop that you want. From there, you should create a list of the features that you want to find in a laptop so that you can narrow down the options available to you.
You might want a laptop that has a large screen, a fast processor, and a big hard drive. Or you might want one that has a small screen, a thin design, and a tiny hard drive to keep it on the cheaper side.
The good news is that you can purchase a laptop with pretty much any features that you want. But the key will be coming up with a list of features in advance so that you can rule out any laptops that don’t have what you want in them.
Go right here to learn more about the Intel Evo platform, which is something that you should try to look for in a new laptop when buying it.
Make Sure a Laptop Will Be Portable Enough for You
All laptops are going to be portable to some degree. But if you’re going to be on the move with your laptop a lot, there are certain laptops that will be more portable than others.
In this case, you’ll want to take a close look at the dimensions of a laptop. You’ll also want to check to see how heavy that a laptop is. You should be able to find one that will be simple enough to move around without encountering any issues at all.
Don’t get tricked into thinking that laptops that are on the smaller and lighter side can’t deliver superior power and performance, either. It’s amazing to see just how well some of the most portable laptops on the market today can perform compared to larger laptop options.
See What Kinds of Warranties Come With Laptops
When you’re first buying a laptop, you aren’t going to be super concerned with maintaining and repairing it. It’ll be at least a year or two before you have to worry about anything going wrong with a laptop, so it’ll be the furthest thing from your mind.
But there is a decent chance that you might run into some problems with a laptop in the not-too-distant future. And it’ll be nice knowing that laptop repairs will be covered by the warranty that came with your laptop.
At least, it’ll be nice knowing it if your laptop does, in fact, have a warranty on it. You’re going to have to make sure that it does when you purchase a laptop.
Don’t be afraid to compare the warranties that come standard with different laptops. It might be worth spending just a little extra on a laptop that has a great warranty on it versus saving money on a laptop that doesn’t have a good warranty on it at all.
Search for the Right Store to Buy a Laptop From
If you would like to buy a laptop directly from the company that manufactured it, you’re welcome to do it. This might actually be the most economical way to purchase a laptop online in certain cases.
But you shouldn’t feel like you have to buy a laptop in this way. You should also feel free to shop around for a laptop at other stores. This should include both brick-and-mortar stores and online stores.
You might be able to save yourself quite a bit of money simply by purchasing a laptop from one store as opposed to another one. It’s crazy to see the kinds of deals that some stores will run on their laptops in an effort to outwit their competition. You should take full advantage of this to ensure you get a great deal.
Check to See If You Can Find Coupons or Promo Codes for a Laptop
Regardless of where you might buy a laptop from, you should always try to get the best deal possible on it. This will call for you to look around for coupons and/or promo codes that you can use when shopping for a laptop in a store or online.
A coupon or promo code could save you 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, or more on a laptop. You’ll be kicking yourself later if you don’t use a coupon or promo code when buying a laptop and find out what you could have saved on it.
You’re also going to be kicking yourself if you shop for a laptop at the wrong time of the year and end up paying more than you should have to for it. Ideally, you should try to shop for a laptop when there are back-to-school or Black Friday deals to be had.
If you don’t remember anything else from this laptop buying guide, remember this tip. It could potentially save you a boatload of money on a laptop that you’ll love.
This Laptop Buying Guide Should Have You Using a New Laptop in No Time at All
Buying a laptop has become so much more confusing than it used to be. Since there are tons of options available, people aren’t always sure which direction to go in when they purchase a laptop.
You should keep everything that you’ve learned in this laptop buying guide in the back of your mind as you set out to find a laptop. The tips that we’ve provided for you here should have you picking out a new laptop in a hurry so that you can bring it home and begin using it ASAP.
Would you like to get your hands on additional tips that will make it easier to track down the best laptop? Find them by poking around on the rest of our blog.
