Only a tiny selection of the seemingly millions of options out there
Buying a laptop is a far more difficult process than putting together a desktop computer for a variety of reasons. With a big desktop, you put in new parts, and in theory, never have to buy another ‘box’ and just keep pouring your money into it so that it always stays up to date as your wallet allows.
Laptops, complete different kettle of fish. Because you are obviously cramming a load of components that would be more at home in a big, air-cooled case, into a very small and compact space, prices tend to go up and specifications go down. But that’s not all, you can’t really change much of the insides of a laptop too easily, apart from perhaps adding more RAM or swapping the Hard Disk. Whilst you can find guides for putting a different processor in certain models, this is risky, warranty voiding business, with things such as graphics cards are simply no go areas in terms of swapping out for a new model.
So, because I’ve been in the market for a new, reasonable priced, but moderately powerful laptop. However, rather than just saying ‘hey this laptop is good’, I’m going to lay out some of the knowledge bombs that I found whilst hunting around trying not to get ripped off. It will be on a component by component basis, as well as some other categories, as to be honest, that’s how you should really approach getting a laptop. This will focus on standard 13″+ laptop’s, as smaller notebooks are very similar in specifications and features.
Our first section is going to focus on the anomaly that is Apple, and their range of Macbook’s. So enjoy!
Note: This guide was researched from the perspective of the UK, not taking into account mainland Europe or North America in terms of choice or cost
Apple
Sleek and minimalist design are the trademarks of the Apple Macbook range
If you wish to buy either a Macbook, Macbook Pro or Macbook Air, then you pretty much should know why you want one. A walled garden of speed and safety is how Mac’s are often described, and despite Steam heading over to Mac, it’s not going to be delivering the same graphics performance as it’s PC counterparts, due to driver and operating system limitations. That’s not to say you should be completely put off, Mac’s are fantastic computers for a particular use, mainly productivity and media development. Whilst a common sight on University campuses, you will need to weigh up the balance of what you are actually going to use a Macbook for. Our resident tech duder Stevie actually got rid of his because it just didn’t do what he needed, so evaluate what you are going to be using one for.
With regards to specifications, whilst it’s not significant, the standard Macbooks come with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a standard NVIDIA graphics card, with a 250GB HDD, with basic improvements to both that and the basic 13″ Macbook Pro models, with slightly more powerful components in the more expensive models. The 15″ Macbook Pro has a variety of Intel processors from the i5 to i7, clocked from 2.4GHZ to 2.66GHZ respectively, but until you start using virtualization, you perhaps won’t be noticing the difference between the i5 and i7. All models use a NVIDIA 330M GPU, with differing levels of RAM allocated to them. The story is pretty much the same with the 17″ version, although it only comes in i5 varieties.
The Macbook Air are far less powerful, conventionally anyway, then the Pro’s, but then you’d probably be picking one of these up for the size of the machine. The come with Intel Core 2 Duo’s, either a 120GB HDD or 128GB Solid State drive, with an NVIDIA Geforce 9400M. Basically, none of the Mac’s are gaming machines, but practically all models will handle all your media and productivity needs very easily. It often comes down to choice. If you are after a machine to ‘design’ things on, from websites to postcards, a Mac would suit you well, and excellent battery life across all models, you mostly get what you pay for with a Mac, with the little ‘Apple Tax’ for the unibody design etc. Other things, such as Wi-Fi, Webcam Bluetooth and their multi-touch touch pad come as standard in the latest models.
Tomorrow: Brands!
[Image: SimplyWireless.in, Apple.com]
If we haven't bored you, here is some more:
Josh Dean
Josh came to Game-Engine after running several other “web destinations” into the ground with constant re-designs and feature sets. After founding a website based about games, which again, suffered the fate of a perfectionist, yet poor, designer, Game Engine was created as a way to channel those energies in the direction of a poor, vunerable website. Afer co-founding Game Engine on a historic moment in intergalatic history, Josh turned his attention to web development yet again, muddled through it, and then started to “write” about what is probably his most normal interest, video games. Now Josh has expanded into poorly recorded screen captures and talking into cameras with painstaking conviction, as well as keeping up playing a lot of video games, then claiming that they are either ‘awesome’ or ‘rubbish’.
