Laptop for home use. What is worth paying extra for

As much as Steve Jobs would like it, we do not live in the post-computer era. Laptops are still an important part of our lives - so we can work at home, in a cafe, on an airplane, in a sauna, in steam. However, manufacturing companies are constantly increasing speed, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand all this variety of inches, cores, frequencies and kilograms. In this regard, the highly respected hipster publication The Verge has prepared a colorful guide for choosing the right laptop for you.

We present here the Russian adaptation of this material, which is also suitable for young Russian startups. Surely some of you will find the text to be the embodiment of obviousness, but do not rush to announce your superiority over those who do not understand hardware - it is better to share your wisdom in the comments, because we must have missed something interesting and important.

The “iron” sphere changes every month, and it is difficult to make any universal choice. This article will help you find the right laptop for you. Or, at least, you will know where to poke in the preferences settings on Yandex.Market and what is a GeForce or Core i5.

How to use this guide

You can constantly drive a Toyota or buy furniture from Ikea, but you can't buy a laptop based on a brand alone. The quality varies from model to model - it doesn't matter what logo is on the lid. It is also worth paying attention to the cost, because starting from a certain price category, the quality decreases very much.

For greater objectivity, we have identified several categories of users, where you can trace some gradation - from those who only surf and read mail, to those who want to run "Crisis" at maximum speed. Instead of scrolling down and looking for yourself, try to read the whole thing - this will help you structure your knowledge about the world of laptops and understand that there is something else besides a powerful graphics card in a gaming laptop.

The conversation will mostly be about hardware, but you will have to choose an operating system as well. If you are not a red-eyed Linuxoid, then there are few options - Windows or Mac OS X. And there is no wrong choice here - Windows is well configured, Mac OS X looks nice, both have a lot of useful applications and drivers. Users from almost all of our categories can afford a Macbook, and a PC is definitely for everyone. So it's very convenient to start with the choice of OS, but this is more a matter of religious preference - in any case, you can't go wrong.

So, it is very important to understand what type of user you are.

1. I want to be a startup

Look at any laptop in the store - does it look like a quality product or like a piece of junk?

If you browse pages, write letters, sometimes fill in cells in Excel spreadsheets, then even the minimum equipment will serve you for several years. However, there are a few important things to focus on.

The trick is to find a laptop that isn't expensive, but isn't cheap either. It is very easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. Look at any laptop in the store - does it look like a quality product or like a piece of junk? Will you be able to use this keyboard and touchpad for two or three years? Material and details are less important here than build quality and design - the outside points to the inside, that is, if the manufacturer hacks from the outside, then he does it everywhere.

Intel Atom processors help cut power consumption and improve battery life on devices like the HP Envy X2. But even despite the well-known brand, these processors are not as powerful as we would like - and if you do not particularly need performance, then consider purchasing a tablet.

As for the more powerful Intel Core line, look for the letters Y and U at the end of the chip model number. These series allow you to increase performance in jerks, due to which the system heats up much less, which is very good for those laptops that are too thin for the built-in cooler. Of course, you have to sacrifice performance, but the Haswell series is on the way, which, moreover, involves a serious increase in battery life from a single charge.

Manufacturers always list the maximum possible battery life, but always count on at least 70% of what is claimed, or even less. This doesn't always work - for example, the new Macbook Air is capable of running even longer than the advertised 12 hours.

Many thin and light laptops like the Toshiba Kirabook (marketers coined the term “ultrabook”, but don’t bother yourself with all sorts of one-day neologisms) replace the usual hard drive with an SSD, which works noticeably faster, and is also assembled monolithically, that is, it is not afraid of shaking and falling . Flash memory is still quite expensive, so for the sake of speed, you will have to sacrifice volumes. But the difference is obvious - laptops with SSD start up and work much faster. In some laptops, SSD and HDD are combined - files are stored on the hard disk, and the flash disk is used as a kind of cache. In any case, you can always buy an external HDD and store "heavy" files there.

The keyboard backlight is not available on all models, but it will definitely be a serious trump card, especially if you have to work on a night plane or an evening park - who knows where your travels will take you. Since we are choosing a compact laptop here, the screen will be clearly less than 17 inches - it would be logical to look for a laptop with a video output for connecting an external monitor. An HDMI port would be a good option for Windows laptops, but Macbook owners have had the dubious pleasure of looking for accessories for a Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort port. Look for as versatile options as possible - when a manufacturer clings to its own standard, cables and adapters are unreasonably expensive.

Some laptop models have a mobile communication chip, but this is a rare and expensive thing. It's always easier to find a Wi-Fi point somewhere or stick to your phone as a modem, or even buy a 3G whistle.

3. I want to watch movies

Sometimes a laptop is more than just a laptop. It can serve as a digital entertainment center by combining TV, music center and media player

Sometimes a laptop is more than just a laptop. It can serve as a digital entertainment center by combining TV, music center and media player. A high resolution screen is definitely needed in this case, but not all 1080p displays are the same. Brightness is good, but try looking from different angles; check for image distortion or color inversion.
Make sure the display is bright enough to ignore the light from the lamps; soft enough not to destroy your eyes at night; that black and white don't look like yellow and grey. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a laptop that honestly displays black - and that's all you need for a good movie night. Glossy or matte screen is a matter of personal preference, glossy looks cooler, but matte will work better outdoors.

Of course, even the best laptop will sound worse than average external speakers, but some laptops definitely sound better than others. The best way to test this is to crank it up to full volume and then play a fast-paced movie trailer and a few songs from various genres. High frequencies will often give off metallic notes, and weak bass will make a stormy movie scene insipid. The built-in subwoofer is usually fine, but don't be fooled by meaningless branding: a Beats Audio sticker is by no means guaranteed to sound amazing. As a rule, the best speakers are located along or on top of the sides of the laptop and are directed towards the user.

Music collections and video collections are not getting smaller, so look for more space - 1 terabyte should be enough for a while.

In this category, you don't need to chase incredible battery life, but you should make sure that the battery does not die right in the middle of a movie that you are about to watch while sitting on the couch. In general, you will come across laptops with a run time of 3-5 hours, cool screens and speakers always take a lot of energy. There are exceptions, but they are few.

4. I want to make movies and music

Find a laptop with at least four cores

If you are seriously involved in video editing or working with sound, then you should pay attention to the speed of the processor and RAM. Find a laptop with at least four cores - for example, an Intel Core processor labeled QM (quad-core), not U (ultra-low voltage) or M (mobile). You'll want at least 8GB of RAM, and 16GB or 32GB will reduce rendering time and allow you to run Photoshop, Premiere, and GarageBand at the same time without much delay.

For full-fledged work with office laptops, you need to make sure that you have a comfortable keyboard close to full-size, with a fairly large disk, a large screen, convenience and the availability of the necessary options for solving your professional tasks.

Therefore, often ordinary laptops for work turn out to be a little heavier, larger and more expensive than conventional models, but they provide sufficiently reliable and powerful features for a comfortable and efficient solution of their work tasks.

What should be the size of the hard drive

This parameter is extremely important for photographers, designers, clip makers and specialists in other areas. When working primarily with office documents, you can limit yourself to the symbolic volume of a hard drive - otherwise it can make the purchase too expensive.

A laptop hard drive for work can be divided into three categories:

• 0-160 GB is enough for full-fledged work with office documents;
• 160–500 - an actual option if you need to work with graphics and video in a small amount, with documents, for storing games, music or videos;
• 500-3000 GB is the essential choice for professional work with various photo and video editing tools, allowing you to store a significant amount of music and videos.

Let's move on to choosing the right RAM

In practice, RAM is no less important than the size of the hard drive. Since it is she who largely determines the overall performance of the laptop. A very important parameter, among other things, for programming tasks, video processing, rendering. The faster the computer will cope with such tasks, the more functions can be solved in a certain period of time. Although, to work with ordinary office documents, a copywriter or journalist can save on RAM.

Optimal cpu frequency

Another important component for comfortable work is the appropriate frequency of the processor, which determines the speed of the equipment. The frequency determines the number of operations performed by the laptop per second, determining the overall speed of the work.

But you should not be guided only by the frequency - it is also important to decide on the manufacturer and other parameters. A higher frequency will be an important parameter only when choosing laptops of the same series. But in any case, laptops with a clock speed below 1.6 GHz are not recommended for work.

Work with a discrete or integrated video card?

The graphics quality on the video directly depends on the video card used by the laptop. If the tasks of working with video and graphics are limited only to watching series on the Internet, then any model will be quite enough. With regard to the video card in this case, there are practically no special requirements.

But the situation will be completely different if the usual work involves more specialized tasks in the office or at home.

Of course, in this case, you will have to think about choosing a more modern and productive video card for your working portable equipment.

It should be noted right away that most laptop models today are performed with the corresponding integrated video cards. By working with this design feature, manufacturers can achieve significant savings in energy consumption. The cost of such models is much more affordable, although technical parameters are often not enough to solve absolutely all basic work tasks - including working with office applications, viewing all kinds of video materials, graphics, enjoying games, etc.

Although for standard office work, when using only documents and watching videos from the Internet, this option will be quite enough to save money. A logical choice if you want to save extra money - for this you can turn models with video cards from Intel, they often come built-in.

Discrete cards offer better performance, but you need to be prepared for a higher price. In this case, it would be reasonable to overpay for the purchase, provided that it works with video, graphics, or game lovers.

Battery life - how to decide which option is right for you

If you constantly have to be on the road, on business trips, without the possibility of regularly recharging your laptop, you should definitely take care of buying models with a fairly long battery life, having more capacious batteries that can cope with battery life for at least six hours.

If the work will take place exclusively in the office or at home on the couch not far from the outlet, you can also choose a less hardy laptop to save money.

Varieties of shapes and sizes of laptops for work and home

What connectors does a laptop need

Buying a laptop is usually a responsible and costly step in the life of every person. Therefore, try to find enough time to think over not only work tasks, but also the devices that you will connect in the future. Do you plan to connect a mouse, external hard drive, keyboard, several flash drives to your laptop at the same time? For all this, you need the appropriate ports.

If the work requires connecting an additional monitor, you need to provide the appropriate connector for it.

Additional nuances with the right choice

When working with office applications, a 15-inch screen will be the best option. Because at resolutions on smaller screens, working all day in a text editor or preparing a presentation will be like peering through a mailbox slot - a very tedious, annoying and unpleasant process that will actually get boring quickly.

The laptop is in demand as a portable technique, so it must fully comply with this status. Therefore, make sure how comfortable it will be to take it with you. To do this, the weight of the device should not exceed 2-3 kilograms.

In particular, open and close it several times, making sure that the loop is in good condition.

You should definitely try to type some text, making sure that the keyboard is comfortable enough. Try to read something from the monitor - whether it will be comfortable for the eyes, whether they start to get tired. Run some audio file to check the sound quality from the speakers, whether it is suitable for your tasks. You should also check the presence of an optical drive, if you need it in your work - since it is no longer included in the package of many modern laptops.

Additional purchases for your laptop

Among the useful additional purchases, along with the laptop itself, one can note the choice of a suitable mouse, case or bag, installation discs with software, wipes for cleaning the monitor.

This concludes the key principles of appropriate selection. Otherwise, a work laptop should be selected taking into account your priorities and professional tasks - including the appropriate type of case, design, weight, dimensions, available options or the seller's offer for price or service.

It is impossible to talk about completely universal solutions for all specialists and companies: the choice of equipment is a responsible task, so study the characteristics, compare and make the perfect purchase that will delight you with years of stable and productive service.

How to choose an inexpensive and high-quality laptop

This article is devoted to the difficult issue of choosing the highest quality laptop for the lowest possible money. We will tell you what the characteristics of modern laptops mean, what manufacturers are and much more, what you need to pay attention to when buying a modern laptop. And at the end of the article, we will present specific models that we ourselves recommend for purchase as optimal in terms of price and quality.

As you probably already guessed, this material is most suitable for those who want to buy an inexpensive and high-quality laptop, but get lost in all sorts of technical specifications, terms and other incomprehensible things. Let's agree that the maximum possible price level will be 20 thousand rubles. And by a quality device we mean a relatively reliable, productive laptop that is suitable for everyday tasks: working with office documents, watching videos, listening to music, not too demanding games, programming, non-professional work with graphics, and so on.

What characteristics of laptops you need to pay attention to

Consider the main parameters that you need to rely on when choosing a laptop. The sequence order does not reflect the priority when choosing, it may be completely different for you.

The size. This parameter is usually determined by the screen diagonal and naturally affects the dimensions of the entire laptop. Measured in inches. Now laptop screens are mostly 13-, 14-, 15-, 16- and 17-inch. But there are many models that fall outside this range. For example, the diagonal of netbook screens can be 8, 10, and 12 inches. But in this article we will not touch on the choice of netbooks, since their performance so far leaves much to be desired. Choosing a netbook is a topic for a separate article.

The size must be selected based on your personal preferences. Not always a larger laptop is heavier than a less bulky one. Everything is not so clear here.

The weight. If you often take a laptop with you, then try to determine for yourself what weight will be most convenient for you. And keep in mind that lifting a couple of times 3 kg and wearing them all the time is not the same thing. The mass of modern laptops is approximately 2-3 kilograms.

Screen. Here everything is strictly individual. It is best to evaluate the quality of the screen before buying in person. It is necessary to check the viewing angles, which should be acceptable at least horizontally (that is, when looking at the screen from the side, the picture should not be greatly distorted or fade). Good vertical viewing angles are usually only a dream. Also note that now the most common screens with an aspect ratio of 16:9, that is, stretched horizontally. It has already become an unspoken standard, like the surface of the screen. Now it is glossy, so that in sunny weather you can easily see your own reflection on a laptop screen against a black background.

A very important characteristic of the screen is its resolution. The larger it is, the smaller the image that the laptop shows, but the better it is. Again, to make your eyes comfortable, it is better to look at the icons and labels in Windows itself before buying and evaluate how comfortable this resolution is. In text documents and when working on the Internet, the font size is adjustable. The most common screen size is 15.6 inches. And the most common resolution for it is 1366x768 pixels. We will focus on these parameters when choosing a laptop.

CPU. This is the "heart" of the laptop. The speed and comfort of work directly depends on the processor. They are produced by two large companies - Intel and AMD. Which of these manufacturers is preferable is the subject of much debate. We recommend choosing Intel, as these processors are the most common, they are easier to navigate and, of course, they are quite high quality. Modern Intel processors are labeled as i3, i5, i7. The higher the index, the more efficient the model. But, as practice has shown, the younger model i3 is quite enough for everyday tasks. You can determine which processor is in the laptop by the logo. Usually it is glued below the keyboard.

Intel Core i3 logo

Video card. She is responsible for graphic drawing on the screen. It can be built into the motherboard (the motherboard is the circuit that houses all the internal elements of the laptop) or discrete. The latter option is preferable if you plan on playing games. However, the option with a built-in video card is considered more reliable. As they say, the fewer nodes in the device, the simpler it is. And in the budget segment, frankly, you rarely see a discrete graphics card. However, we will try to offer you such models.

ATI Logo

Discrete graphics cards are offered by two major manufacturers: AMD (ATI) and nVidia. At the moment, the boards of these two companies are quite reliable, so there is no need to talk about the superiority of one company over the other.

nvidia logo

Integrated video cards in laptops with Intel processors are supplied by the same manufacturer - Intel.

Operating system. This is the main program in your laptop from which all other applications will run. We recommend that you have Windows Home Basic or higher (Home Premium) installed. Avoid Windows Starter, Linux and DOS. Because installing a new operating system on a laptop is not as easy as on a regular computer, it has its own specifics. You can find out which OS should be installed on a particular laptop by looking at its bottom. It usually has an appropriate sticker attached to it, which confirms the licensed version of Windows. And in order to find out what exactly is installed in fact on the laptop, you need to find the “Computer” icon (on the desktop or in the Start folder) when you turn it on, right-click on it and select the “Properties” menu. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to do this in a store, since the initial boot of a new laptop is usually a long process, taking about 30-60 minutes.

This is what the desktop looks like in Windows 7

Battery life. This is how long your laptop will last without recharging from the mains. Typically, models with integrated graphics work autonomously much longer. Standard time - from 1.5 hours and more. Almost all modern laptop models meet this requirement.

Laptop manufacturer. Everything is simple here. Proven from the best side are the devices of firms, (Hewlett-Packard),. In general, it is better to refuse to buy devices from other manufacturers.

What should you pay least attention to?

The amount of RAM. Modern laptops have on board from 2 GB (gigabytes) of RAM, which is quite enough for comfortable work. Although it, as they say, does not happen much.

The amount of memory on the hard drive. Again, if the laptop has at least 120 GB of hard drive space, this will be enough. But again it is worth making a note that the more this volume, the better.

Producing country. The reality is that there is no such thing as "Japanese quality" or "European assembly" anymore. Large manufacturing companies have learned to assemble high-quality components and entire laptops in Chinese factories using quality control (ISO). Moreover, a model made, for example, in Hungary, in terms of build quality, may turn out to be worse than some copies made in China. Thus, there is no direct correspondence between the country of manufacture and the quality of this very manufacture. However, you can and should pay attention to the manufacturer.

Below, we have listed five laptop models that pass as excellent value for money. Please note that laptop specifications may vary within the same model. Be careful when choosing!

Samsung R540(Core i3 370M 2400MHz / 15.6" / 1366x768 / 3072MB / 320GB / DVD-RW / Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / Win 7 HB).

Samsung R540

The R540 is a rather reliable and stylish laptop, which is ideal for the role of the so-called "workhorse" for relatively little money. You can pick up a bundle with a discrete graphics card, but this, of course, will cost a little more.

ASUS laptops have always been renowned for their reliability, and this model is no exception. There is a choice of many configurations for every taste.

Average price: 18,000 rubles.

Toshiba SATELLITE C660-1FH(Core i3 380M 2530MHz / 15.6" / 1366x768 / 3072MB / 320GB / DVD-RW / Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / Win 7 HP).

Toshiba Sattelite C660-1FH

A good model that pleases with its design, manufacturing materials, operating system (Windows 7 Home Premium) and ATI discrete graphics.

Average price: 18,000 rubles.

Acer ASPIRE 5750G(Core i3 / 15.6" / 1366x768 / 3072MB / 500GB / DVD-RW / NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M / Win 7 HB).

Acer Aspire 5750G

Acer laptops are good because you can choose models with more successful characteristics than for the same money from other first-tier manufacturers. However, it is believed that the degree of reliability of Acer laptops is slightly lower than that of the same competitors. It is also worth noting that in recent years the quality of the devices of this company has been improving. So we can safely recommend these laptops for purchase.

HP PAVILION g6-1160er(Core i3 / 15.6" / 1366x768 / 3072MB / 500GB / DVD-RW / ATI Radeon HD 6470M / Win 7 HB).

HP PAVILION g6-1160er

Hewlett-Packard laptops are often associated with the corporate segment. However, this company has successful and fairly reliable models for ordinary users. So, for example, the above model, which has just appeared on sale, may well be considered a reasonable choice in terms of price and quality.

conclusions

Today it is quite possible to buy a reliable, high-quality laptop for everyday tasks for a reasonable price. While following our guidelines, keep in mind that laptops can vary greatly in performance within the same model. We hope that thanks to this article, choosing a good and inexpensive laptop will now be easy for you.

How to choose a laptop to meet all your requirements? Or just not to make a mistake in choosing in terms of price-quality ratio?

Notebook- a self-sufficient computer and a mistake in choosing will be more painful than choosing a separate component for a home computer.

With the help of this guide, you will learn all the necessary characteristics that you should pay attention to when choosing a laptop. Also, this article will help you not to overpay money for functions you do not need, and possibly tell you what you can safely save on in your case.

Laptop is selected for different purposes. Of particular priority: long battery life, home computer replacement(or as a second computer), for multimedia(movies, music) or just All In One*.

* all in one

Laptop for work and travel , should combine such characteristics as: working hours on battery, low heat dissipation, good display, strong structure and wear resistance, compact size, advanced communication opportunities.

Laptop as a replacement for a home computer and for stationary use, it should have such characteristics as: a large display, a variety of communication ports, a comfortable keyboard, a good processor and video card, a capacious hard drive and a lot of RAM.

Laptop for multimedia tasks - should combine such things as: a large and high-quality display, a productive processor (for playing movies in HD), a good sound system and a capacious hard drive.

AllIn One – quite rare specimens that combine all the characteristics from these categories, thanks to competent power management and overall thoughtfulness of the design of the laptop. Often have a video subsystem of two video cards(built-in and discrete), which allows you to greatly increase the laptop battery life. These laptops are equipped with processors that have advanced technologies to reduce power consumption when running on battery power. As a rule, they have rechargeable batteries with b about more sections and increased capacity.

All-in-one notebook by Asus:

High-quality display, advanced communication options (including a variety of ports), high-quality finishing materials, interesting design, a well-thought-out system for removing hot air - all this also applies to this class of laptops.

The only disadvantage of such versatility is their price. Not everyone is ready to part with so much money if most of the opportunities will not be used.

Let's start with manufacturers.

Notebook manufacturers .

It is the manufacturer that determines the quality of the installed components and the durability of the laptop. Even if they are identical in content. After all, it is the manufacturer who thinks through everything, from the cooling system to the quality of the display and BIOS firmware.

A very good indicator of the quality of a laptop is if the manufacturer also manufactures motherboards, cooling systems, displays, or possibly other electronic components ( ASUS, MSI , Toshiba, Sony, Samsung and others). In such laptops, in most cases, you can be sure that most of the stuffing and cooling systems are well thought out. It is also worth paying attention to the manufacturer's experience in the production of laptops, but this is not a guarantee of quality. Some manufacturers produce low quality products very consistently.

Also, each manufacturer has its own peculiarities, which are often used in laptops from all price categories. For example: attractive appearance and high-quality display (Sony); not easily soiled, scratch-resistant glossy case (Asus); better reception (Lenovo); not heated keyboard (Asus) and so on.

Display.

If you want to sit at a laptop for more than 2 hours a day, then you should make sure that the laptop uses a high-quality display. This is also worth considering if you are working with graphics or just want high-quality color reproduction and wide viewing angles.

In these cases, you should look towards laptops with matrices. They provide accurate color reproduction and high viewing angles. You can read about the types of matrices in our material:

Now there is a tendency to release displays for laptops only with, when instead of cold cathode lamps, backlighting is used. This allows you to make the top cover of the laptop much thinner and significantly reduces power consumption.

On the one hand, this is significant reduces power consumption, increases the brightness level and makes the laptop cover much thinner. On the other hand, the light from the diodes is more irritates the eyes, due to a light that is more unusual for the eye, and a lower flicker frequency than classical backlighting (cold cathode lamps). However, there are still more pluses and they are much more significant for a mobile device. Therefore, laptops are increasingly used LED display illumination.

Another important factor for the possibility of long work at the laptop, without eye fatigue - matte display. Many often face a choice - matte or glossy.

The only advantage of the glossy display is a sharper picture and slightly more vibrant colors.

Of the minuses - very strong soiled(your prints will be stored for a long time); glare, which all the time make the eyes focus on different points, which certainly leads to faster fatigue; the worst viewing angles(again due to glare); inability to work if behind bright source Sveta.

Hardware or laptop internals.

Availability powerful(multi-core, with high frequency) processor primarily affects: the overall speed of the OS and its interface, video encoding, the speed of working with photos, archiving, painless launch of several applications at the same time, an increase in performance in games and other applications that depend on processor resources. You can read about the choice of processor in our material:

It is also worth noting that in laptops – not used logic sets on Intelatom. If you have looked at just this one, this is. Which, although it will faithfully serve for Internet surfing, office applications and at the same time keep charging for a long time, it is not capable of more (of course, there are exceptions, but they are always very close in price to a full-fledged laptop).

It is always better to take a full-fledged budget laptop than an expensive netbook. After all, even the weakest, full-fledged dual-core processor (the same Celeron CULV 1.2Ghz), will be more powerful than the most powerful 2-core atom with technology Hyper Threading.

If you are going to periodically use your laptop for gaming, encoding music and video, watching high-definition video ( HD), work in photoshop and other graphic programs, then in any case you cannot get by with built-in graphic solutions from Intel (X 3100, Intel GMA****, 4500HD and so on).

For such purposes, it is necessary to have discrete(not built into the chipset, with its own own video memory) from manufacturers such as AMD and NVIDIA. This is a guarantee that your laptop will play without problems. HD-video, have good performance in graphic editors ( photoshop, Flash etc.) and feel good in modern games (depending on the video card model and graphics settings). At least the games of 2 years ago, in any case, will be within his power.

Quantity- primarily affects the speed of simultaneously running applications and the speed of work, OS loading.

Lack of RAM ( RAM) can lead to slow OS operation, "sluggish" execution of "orders" and brakes in games due to constant access to the paging file. As you know, there is never a lot of RAM, but still, if it is not enough for you in the future, its amount can be expanded by simply adding memory modules, if the laptop chipset allows it.

RAM- practically the only component other than the hard drive that can be replaced in a laptop. Sometimes you can change the video card, but for a similar one in terms of characteristics. The laptop processor is rarely replaceable, as it is often soldered directly to the laptop motherboard. Although recently there has been a trend to place processors in mobile sockets, and this is very good.

Pro hard disk capacity and the presence or absence of such things as CD Rom, I think everything is clear and at your personal discretion. The more disk space, the better. In terms of speed characteristics, mobile hard drives differ by a maximum of 10%.

A huge plus if a laptop uses a hard drive as a system disk and in addition to it. Either the only SSD large storage. The use of solid state drives significantly increases the speed of loading and operating the OS. Reduced response time, installation of programs and unpacking archives.

Communication possibilities.

Almost every laptop has a module. Exists several standards this wireless connection. The more supported standards, the greater the chance that your laptop will catch almost everywhere in the coverage area. Usually the standards switch themselves, depending on the type of access point equipment.

Existing standards: 802.11a/b/g/i/n. Usually enough b and g standards, but the presence 802.11n adopted in 2009 d welcome.

It's also nice to have on board ( 4G) or 3 G module.

Networks at these frequencies have very large coverage areas, but in any case, you need to have a subscription to them (there is no free cheese). If in your city and your region where you would like to use a laptop - there are no networks Wi—Max or 3G, then you should not buy a laptop with their support (surcharge is about 3-5 tr). And do not despair if these modules are not provided in the laptop. There are a lot of cheap external ones on the market. 3G/4G modems connected via .

When carrying a laptop over a distance of more than 100m, use laptop bags with security framework. They really save laptops in some cases.

That's all. We hope you choose a laptop that meets all your needs.

Rostislav Kuzmin

Good afternoon, dear readers of my blog! Feeling the need for a decent laptop for work, but don't know how to choose? Yes, and the budget let us down a little? Don't get upset in advance! There are a number of models that can cover the needs of a novice user at a reasonable price. Are you surprised? Then sit down more comfortably, I'll tell you how to choose an inexpensive but good laptop.

How to choose the right laptop?

Budget laptop doesn't mean bad. The main thing in choosing a laptop of this kind is to determine for what purposes it will be used most often. Which company doesn't really matter. Size is more important when choosing, because all laptops are portable devices. The acquisition diagonal depends on how often the laptop will leave the house.

The default dimensional grid accepted by manufacturers divides all laptops into the following size groups:

• 8-11 inches - netbooks, i.e. small devices. Who buys them? Fidgets and avid travelers whose life and work is directly connected to the global network.
• 12-13 inches is the most favorite form factor of business people. The screen is already larger than that of netbooks, but the ease of transportation is noticeable. Long business trips are your way of life? I recommend to buy a model of this size group.
• 14-15 inches - the so-called household portable computer. For home use, consumers choose laptops with this diagonal the most. From the screen it is good and convenient to watch a movie, surf the Internet. As extra luggage on the road are somewhat large.
• 17-20 inches - a model range for video content creators, architects, accountants. These people work with large volumes of visual information. A high-quality screen with good characteristics is a necessity for them, not a whim.

Note! The screen cover is matte and glossy. These indicators affect the contrast of the picture. Color reproduction and brightness of colors on a glossy screen will be much better, but a matte screen will save your eyes.

Functional content

Decided on the size? Let's go through the parameters of others to understand which laptop is the best in terms of price-quality ratio.

Pay attention to:

1. Laptop processor. You can expect a quick response to your desires only from a processor with serious performance. Ask yourself the question: are you willing to pay for more speed with standard use? Not? Then a laptop with the maximum number of cores for this price will suit you. You don't really have to choose between Intel and AMD, the second one is much more affordable for the low-cost segment.
2. RAM. You should not focus too much on RAM when choosing an inexpensive laptop. To run the simplest games at minimum settings, you need a high-speed processor with a good clock speed. 4 GB of memory, at the same time, is enough to fit standard laptop programs. In a laptop for home with an AMD processor, 6 GB of memory is enough for simple tasks.
3. HDD. All devices on SSD drives are much faster than on HDD. But the second one is more affordable and the most common among laptops of this class. The answer, I think, is obvious.
4. Video card. The power performance of the video card is extremely important in computers for games. Don't expect good performance from the budget segment. You just won't find them at this price.
5. Peripherals. In any modern laptop, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a camera and a microphone are almost always available. With the spread of flash drives, the DVD-RW drive "sank into oblivion", it is not available in inexpensive laptops by default. I recommend paying attention to a sufficient number of connectors for connecting third-party devices and increasing functionality. That's all!
6. Brand. I strongly do not recommend purchasing an "unnamed" Chinese laptop. Why, you ask? I will answer: you simply will not find spare parts, if necessary. I advise you to choose from inexpensive laptops from well-known manufacturers. They have service centers at every step and concern for reputation, whatever one may say, but present.

Remember! An inexpensive laptop will last for the next 5-7 years of operation. Further, it will simply become obsolete and will not pull new versions of the software. To watch movies, surf the Internet it will be quite enough, you won’t have to rely on more.

Top budget laptops

• Dell Inspiron 3552-0514. A popular cheap model from a Chinese manufacturer with a well-deserved reputation. Traditionally strong plastic body of the device with a diagonal of 15.6 inches and a glossy TFT TN screen with excellent color reproduction and a good viewing angle. Processor Intel Celeron with a clock frequency of 1600 MHz, integrated video card. Disk capacity 512 GB, RAM 4 GB. In terms of peripheral connection characteristics, it surpassed many competitors in this device. Judge for yourself: DVD-RW optical drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. One Year Traditional Service Warranty + Windows 10 Home. (2 store, 4 store, 6 store— Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 7 store, 8 store, 9 store).
  
• ASUS Intel Celeron N3060. A good machine from a well-known manufacturer, very inexpensive. Convenient 15.6-inch screen on a matrix The heart of the device is an Intel Celeron processor with a frequency of 1600 MHz, an integrated video card. 500 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM. Unlike the previous rating model, there is no optical drive. The rest of the peripheral extension is exactly the same - Wi-Fi + Bluetooth. For ardent fans of Microsoft products, a small warning: the preinstalled operating system of the device is DOS, not Windows (that is, you have the opportunity to put a seven, since a dozen with any program will simply slow down by 2 GB of RAM). It is under warranty for a year.
  
• Asus X751SA. For fans of Asus, for whom there is no question of which manufacturer to choose, the second copy in a row. Slightly more serious storage capacity of 4 GB. The characteristics of the processor are exactly the same - Intel Celeron at a clock frequency of 1600 MHz, the hard disk capacity is 500 GB. The WXGA matrix type is well suited for fans of widescreen presentations, the screen size is 17.3 inches. You can connect with third-party devices using Bluetooth technology. Internet access without problems is provided through a Wi-Fi connection. There is no optical drive slot. Traditional OS Windows 10. A little more price than the previous colleague, but the cost is quite justified.
  
• . A small netbook in blue and white colors will be a great birthday present for a girl or girl! Quite powerful for its price category - Intel Celeron processor at 1600 MHz and 2GB of RAM. The TFT TN matrix and the diagonal of the optimal size, 11.6 inches, are the best fit for ultra-mobile teenagers. You can communicate with friends through social networks in a cafe using free Wi-Fi access, transfer excellent photos via Bluetooth technology. Windows 10 software firmware. Warranty free service in service centers for a period of one year.
  
• . Small netbook for travelers with responsiveness even when multitasking. The quad-core Intel Celeron processor operates at a clock frequency of 2160 MHz, all the necessary files and software content are stored on a 500 GB disk. The amount of RAM is 4 GB. The 10-inch baby will fit perfectly in a travel backpack and will help out during the deadline on the road. The battery holds the claimed 4.5 hours when working with office applications. A distinctive feature is a touch screen display with a screen rotation angle of 300°. The case is made of high-quality dark plastic and leaves virtually no fingerprints.
  
• . It features an individual design with a bold application for the fashion segment. Of course, the case is made of plastic, but the texture and color successfully imitate aluminum. 180° screen swivel, 15.6-inch diagonal, Full HD resolution. The bezels around the screen are somewhat wide, but the Skype camera is securely built in. Excellent ultra-fast SSD drive, but the processor is dual-core. Count on a device with a range of standard features. Sit on the Internet, you won’t particularly play ultra-modern games. For the price, this is a great option for home use. It works quite quietly, it was not noticed in overheating. Battery life is at least 3 hours. ( 2 store, 3 store, 5 store, 6 store).
  
• HP Stream 14-ax005ur(the black). The seventh budget representative of the rating with an original design in an unusual ultramarine color. A distinctive feature of the model is an ultra-efficient processor, which makes it possible to work away from a direct power source. - 10 hours. In addition, the device is very thin and weighs only 1.6 kg. Unfortunately, there is no additional numeric keypad, but the convenient recessed keyboard perfectly veils this shortcoming. The optimal set of necessary outputs for expanding functionality. The 14-inch display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and a glossy finish. The webcam is quite decent, for such a price, it transmits the image very realistically. ( 2 store- the black).