Five Things to Consider First When Buying a Laptop on a Budget

While laptops don’t carry the inflated price tags of even a few years ago, not everyone has a budget that allows for the latest and greatest technology in a pint-sized package. Buying a laptop on a budget involves weighing needs versus wants. While you can’t have it all, you can certainly make sure that you have all the things that you really need...

If you break down the major components of a laptop, there are five main areas to consider: size (which includes physical dimensions, weight, and battery life, since these aspects generally correlate to each other), the screen, the GPU, the CPU, and the RAM. The specifics of these five components will vary depending upon the individual needs of the shopper: by taking each one separately, it’s possible to create a laptop design that fits almost any budget.

Size

Size is a great place to start when buying a budget-conscious laptop. Once you narrow down this factor, it limits the field of choices and helps you come to a conclusion much more quickly. Laptop size is a very personal choice, and this preference varies greatly even within common interests; some busy travelers happily lug around 12-pound desktop replacements, while others could never take more than a 4-pound notebook with them. This decision should be fairly simple, but it’s important to keep in mind how size relates to cost: in general, ultra-light laptops - those under 4 pounds – will carry a premium. You pay for the convenience of that portability. The most affordably priced laptops are in the 6-8 pound range; these are not optimized for light weight, nor are they intending to have the power of a desktop. This size range is the most affordable, and it should certainly be considered first by anyone shopping on a budget.

Screen

The screen size ties in closely with the overall size of the laptop, so it should be considered concurrently. How much screen real estate do you need for daily tasks? This depends entirely upon your preferences, but if you are buying a laptop on a budget, you may not have too much of a choice. The 6-8 pound value-priced notebooks generally come with a fairly standard (but not overly small) 15-inch screen. These screens generally have a standard aspect ratio (like that of a television), rather than the increasingly popular widescreen format (like that of a movie theater screen). The good news is that you can generally expand your viewing area by simply using a larger external monitor. If your budget is constrained because this laptop will be a supplement to your current desktop computer, you probably have a very nice monitor on your desk already; but if not, you can certainly add one at a later date when money isn’t as tight. While an external screen does not help you when you are out and about, it certainly offers you more flexibility.

GPU

The GPU, or graphics processing unit, is simply the video card – the part responsible for rendering the graphics. You really have two choices in a laptop – shared or dedicated. These two types of cards are used in specific circumstances, but unfortunately, you need to make a decision you can live with on this component. This is one area that usually can’t be upgraded after purchase.

Dedicated graphics cards carry their own RAM (thinking power), whereas shared graphics cards actually share the RAM of the computer. Of course, a dedicated GPU performs far better that its shared counterpart, but they are also generally out of the price range that a budget shopper would consider. This is important because a laptop with a shared GPU will have a much harder time running current video games and demanding software such as AutoCAD (if it can render them at all). The GPU can be a deal breaker for some because once you decide on a certain component; you can’t go back at a later date. A good rule of thumb: If you intend to play current video games (such as World of Warcraft or Counterstrike), you should either consider upping your budget to include a dedicated GPU, or go with a cheaper desktop alternative until you can afford a higher end laptop. However, if you are like most budget laptop shoppers who will use their laptop to surf the web, do word processing, and perform other normal day-to-day tasks, a shared GPU will do just fine and will fit into a small budget perfectly.

CPU

It’s easy to fall into the trap that you need to buy the latest technology because the moment you buy it, it becomes outdated. While this is actually true to a certain extent, when it comes to the CPU (or central processing unit), you don’t need to feel that you are behind the times for considering a processor that is a few steps behind the latest version. It’s easy to quickly access the pricing for the top 4 or 5 processors because of the system-builders that most laptop retailers use. Simply check out the processors that are available and choose something in the middle, and most importantly, something that fits your budget. Do not break the bank on the CPU. This is one area where you can really save some money without feeling like you are missing something when you use your laptop on a daily basis.

RAM

The final main component to consider when buying a laptop on a budget is the RAM, or random access memory. Fortunately, this is also one area where you could have a bit of control after the purchase is made. The RAM acts as the brain cells for the laptop. It allows you to be working on multiple things at one time without experiencing bothersome slow down. Your standard budget-conscious laptop will probably carry 512MB of RAM right out of the box. For today’s computing, this number is rather low. However, if you are shopping without much money to spend, go with the 512 because you should be able to add to this at a later date. There are several online retailers that sell notebook memory, or you can even simply go to your local box store to buy the upgrade and have it installed. Just because you are shopping on a budget doesn’t mean that you won’t have the money to upgrade your laptop later. The RAM and the screen size are the two areas that you can make up for a bit after purchase, so it makes sense to make compromises there so you can make sure you get the size, GPU, and CPU that you need. Make sure to check with your laptop retailer prior to purchase to make sure you can upgrade the memory of your new laptop.

Buying a laptop on a budget is much easier than it used to be, not only because there are far more options, but also because the technology found in those options is getting cheaper as well. To further aid the budget-conscious shopper, most online retailers have adopted the use of system-builders. These pages allow you to configure each component independently to create a budget-friendly laptop quickly and easily. Shoppers can upgrade and downgrade items like the CPU to gauge the effect of each change on the overall price: it’s easy to make compromises when there are so many choices, and it’s so easy to see those choices in many different configurations.

Buying a laptop on a budget doesn’t mean that you need to spend your hard-earned cash on something that you don’t love, but it does mean that you need to carefully weigh what your needs are and what you are willing to make up for after purchase. While the latest and greatest technology is amazing, the somewhat-recent-and-now-much-cheaper technology is still really, really good. The most important thing to do is to take your time and do your research before making a purchase. Even if you have a small budget, it’s still a lot of money to spend! If you make a well-informed decision, you’ll find that your budget laptop will serve you well far into the future.

Best,

Laura Alter
NotebookForums.com