Laptop Guide From BestLaptopz.com

Writing on a blog consumes time but I really like it. Just like most other bloggers, I enjoyed every second of my life on this blog although probably no one really likes this blog. I had difficult moments recently but I always spent some time to write for bestlaptopz.com. However, now is the first time I visit this blog after 2 weeks.

Well, I just want to say that nowadays laptops are becoming more common in people’s life. Now Dell, Apple, and other famous manufacturers are in race to build colorful laptops. Something caught my attention during the first time I saw new Dell vostro advertisement. I saw 5 Dell Vostro notebooks with different colors.

Personalization is important and it even becomes more important. I don’t know what to say but I think “modification” becomes a common thing in the 21^st century. When rich people often buy expensive cars and they modify each of their cars, we (normal people) love to modify our electronic goods such as laptop. It’s not surprising anymore to see a young girl bring her pink laptop with her to school or college. Welcome to the age when colored laptops rule this world! You can find cheap laptop computers on auction websites.

Nobody loves passwords, even if you are a computer specialist. Creating passwords is probably one of the most boring things that I ever done in my life. In internet era, different password for each account is extremely important. This is why creating passwords is very boring. Don’t ask how bored I was when I became an administrator and created passwords for my members.

I still remember that my brother ever created a very unique password which was: “ihavenopassword”. Well, that’s cool and he really proud of it. Maybe he thought this kind of password wouldn’t be noticed by anyone and I guessed so as well! But still, creating passwords is boring because we always needs different passes for all of our accounts, especially if you have accounts in important websites such as PayPal or if you have internet banking accounts, etc.

I will tell you one thing, it’s very necessary to create a personal account in your shared PC with your families. If you are a mom or a dad and you have a 12 year old daughter/boy, you still need to create a password for your personal account. Don’t try to tell anyone about your password because if you do so, there is a chance that your neighbor or whoever “close” to know your password. Of course it’s dangerous because you don’t want your data to be known by many people, don’t you? Yes, you can easily change your password but it’s always safer to keep your password in your own head, not in your children’s head.

I can’t imagine myself living without a laptop. Like it or not, believe it or not, laptop is a part of everyone’s life now. My favorite brand is Sony VAIO. I don’t know, maybe I like VAIO because I have used it since 2002. Well, not all VAIO laptops are good. But I am a kind of person who addicted to VAIO. I don’t know why.

At the moment I want to buy a new laptop to replace my old VAIO. Maybe I’ll try to find another brand. Apple MacBook Air seems good enough and promising but I think I need a cheaper laptop with stronger performance. I don’t really care about weight and design (although most people will consider these two fundamental things). What I care is reliability, performance, and price.  Let’s see…

To choose the best laptop for your needs, the most important thing that you need to consider is the specification. Whether you like it or not, the most important thing from computers is always the specification. Now, let’s see what you really need:

1. Processor: It’s always expensive to buy a new-released processor. However, processor determines the speed of your computer. These days most new laptops use Intel Core 2 Duo as their processor. You don’t need a laptop with processor speed more than 2 GHz for daily works like internet surfing or word processing.

2. Memory: Talking about memory, this is one of the most vital parts inside your laptop. For better gaming experience, of course you need a memory with minimum 1GB RAM. I even think 2GB is a very common memory for gamers. But if you are not a gamer, 512MB is still enough.

3. Hard disk capacity: Well, you need a new laptop with massive data storage. 120 GB hard drive is sufficient but I think for gamers you need at least 200 GB or even more.

4. Graphics Card: Now this can be really important. Newer graphics cards are always more expensive but they are really worth it unless you are not a gamer. If you do not want to play any games, don’t choose any laptop with expensive graphics card. Usually mediocre laptops use Intel GMA X3100

5. Monitor: Another important part. Monitor size and screen resolution are two important things that you need to consider before buying a laptop. Of course hardcore gamers always need bigger monitor size and better screen resolution. For travelers, a laptop with smaller monitor is much needed.

6. Ports: Try to find a laptop with minimum three USB ports because you will need it in long run. A FireWire port is also needed. If you can find a laptop with an eSATA port, it would be much better. But usually a laptop with eSATA port is more expensive than normal laptops.

In overall: I want to say that specification is always more important than strong brand name and casing design. Some laptops can be really expensive because they look beautiful despite their specification are not good enough. Everything depends on your preferable style but I believe specification is always more important.

As I predicted earlier, Apple has started the “war” when they released the MacBook Air in January. The world was astonished by how thin and how light MacBook Air is and of course Apple’s competitors do not want to be left behind. Lenovo launched ThinkPad X300, Toshiba launched Portege R500-11J, and Sony even launched VAIO VGN-SZ791N. All these laptops are designed to steal people’s attention. Who is the winner? Let’s compare all of them

MacBook Air

BestLaptopz.com already made an article about MacBook Air. Probably you want to read it here. Just to remind you, MacBook Air is thinner than its competitors with thickness only 0.16”. However, MacBook Air is expensive (more than $1,700) and its specification is low compared to the new Sony VAIO. Maybe the only reason why people would like to buy this laptop is its cool and thin design.

ThinkPad X300

How about ThinkPad X300? Find the review here. ThinkPad X300 is not as thin as MacBook Air but the performance is better. Despite it’s very expensive, but X300 offers many extra features like GPS tracking and mapping software. The only thing that I hate from ThinkPad X300 is the price tag.

Portege R500-11J

Toshiba claimed this product is thinner than MacBook Air. Well, Portege R500-11J and 11I is not better than MacBook Air. Yes, it’s a little bit better if we compare both laptops from their specification but Portege R500-11J is still too expensive for normal people. You might want to read the article here.

VAIO VGN-SZ791N

We believe VGN-SZ791N is the best ultraportable laptop so far. Can you imagine a light laptop with battery life more than 5 hours and very good specification? VGN-SZ791N even can be included into one of the gaming laptops. With huge memory, fast processor speed, and broadband internet access, VGN-SZ791N has just made a history for ultraportable laptops. Read the article here

The bottomline: From these 4 laptops, I choose VAIO VGN-SZ791N despite the price is not cheap. How about you?

In the first years of 21^st century, laptop was not even considered as an option to play heavy games. I remember that almost no one played Warcraft 3 in their laptop, most people played it in PC. But only three-four years after Blizzard launched Warcraft 3, people now are searching for gaming laptops. Yes, thanks to the technology, now laptop has all the ability to play the latest PC games.

I see people love to play new games like HALO 3 or Call of Duty 4 through their laptops. Well, laptop is much more popular than PC nowadays. Beside the mobility of this machine, laptop now has high-tech graphics card and huge memory. You can get this kind of laptop for cheap price although it’s still more expensive than PC. Usually a gaming laptop is bought to play online games such as World of Warcraft. That’s the current trend.

Well, not all gaming laptops can fulfill your desire. Some gaming laptops are just too expensive while the others are not good enough. Even if these gaming laptops are created by famous manufacturers like Dell or Asus, some brands are “overrated” and “overpriced”. Your main concern should be on the laptop’s processor, memory, the graphics card, and of course the battery. Test these four parts before you buy a laptop so you’ll be able to describe how good this laptop is.

For gaming, the most important aspect of course is the memory. 2 GB Ram is your minimum requirement because these days technology grows so fast. What can you expect from a 1 GM Ram memory? Graphics card and processor speed are also two important aspects. Don’t forget that you must find a laptop with long battery life.

Laptops trend is growing. Although the growing trend is slow, but it consistently grows. Last year (2007) the demand for new laptops was three times higher than in 2004. Can you imagine what will happen in the near future? Laptops are not luxurious things now, they are basic needs.

Due to this reason, repairing a laptop is crucial. If you have troubles with your laptop, of course you need to repair it. There are plenty of laptop services out there which can help, but of course it’s better if you can minimize the damage and see what is the cause of the damage. My guides probably can help you:

1. Please check all of your laptop components. If there is some minor damages in your keyboard or motherboard, try to fix it yourself. Minor damages can be harmful in long term. You must also learn how to fix your LCD monitor because a laptop service usually will cost you hundreds of dollars.

2. If you insist with using a laptop repair service, ask them many important questions such as how popular are they and how they could get their clients. Don’t forget to ask them about their techniques when they are fixing your laptop components.

Service Guarantee is important. Because of the competitions, usually laptop services have guarantee if you come back to them. For example, if you ever used one service then you come back to them in 3 months, they will repair your same laptop for free. This is important for you. Find a laptop service with free-service guarantee at least 3 months.

What are your necessities? If you consider PC as one of your main necessities, then it’s pretty normal. If six or seven years ago a laptop can’t be considered as a main necessity (but a luxurious good), then it was also normal. However, today is different from yesterday, and today is also different from the future. A laptop can be considered as a basic need these days due to our lifestyle which often go outside of our home every day.

Laptops or notebooks have gained a great deal of attention in the recent years. In fact, it is probably the most popular hardware if we look into its growing rate. When laptop becomes smaller and cheaper, people think why should they stick on a PC when a laptop can offer many better things? It is an easy thing to be carried and you can connect your laptop anywhere you want, of course it’s different with a PC.

With this growing trend, many computer manufacturers now focus on creating new laptops. When Apple introduced its MacBook Air, Toshiba replied to the competition with its Portege r500-11j (and 11i). This is something good for us because wider choices always mean better price and performance.

The new technologies in laptops are always amazing and keep our mouth open. Who ever imagined earlier that a laptop could play a blue-ray disk? Now you can add this tool in all kinds of new laptops if you have enough extra money. A laptop now is a necessity, not a luxurious good anymore. Thanks to the technology!

There are many thin laptops but only few of them are really “effective”. OK, let’s talk about how these laptops brought to the world. First time computer manufacturers introduced laptops, people agreed that laptops would never replace PC roles. The reasons? Here:

1. Laptops are more expensive than PCs. So they asked themselves, “Why should I buy a laptop if I stay at home?”

2. Laptops are heavy, it’s easier for people to carry the data through an USB if they are outside of their home

Most people made these above reasons more than five years ago but not anymore. Computer manufacturers realized people need something more effective from their products so they created thinner and lighter laptops. This is the reason why we are seeing plenty of thin laptops, because people simply need it.

But ambition is ambition. These famous companies know they need something innovative to beat their competitors so they created a very thin laptop, just for sensation. Laptops like Apple MacBook Air or Toshiba Portege R500-11J are two best examples. Although they are thin, but will people buy them? I think not. These laptops are expensive and people always prefer cheaper notebook when they find it.

Since Q1 2007 (last year), some laptop companies have been producing thin laptops. I don’t know what is happening but they seem to be involved in a race. A race to create the thinnest laptop on Earth. Yep, do you know the story about Apple Macbook Air? Apple claims that their Macbook Air is the thinnest laptop that human ever produced. Well, everyone’s ambition now is to make a laptop as thin as possible.

However, they forget about the cost to make their dream comes true. People who buy thin laptop usually only care about two things, the price and the weight. If they see a cool and extremely thin laptop BUT with expensive price tag on it, I don’t think these people will opt to buy it. This is a difficult issue for laptop manufacturers. To get attention from consumers, they need a balanced laptop (performance, price, and weight).

To choose the right notebook, first you need to ask your own mind about your needs. For businessmen, maybe a cheaper and lightweight laptop is what they need. For office people, maybe something heavier but better is what they need. For gamers, of course the answer is also different. So in the end, don’t become a technology victim. Remember, PS 3 is cool but it is not so popular because many people think PS 3 is just too expensive for a gaming console.