Getting a laptop that ticks all the boxes, at a price that fits your budget, isn't the easiest thing in the world. But as long as you know what exactly to look for, you should be okayI was
looking to buy a new smartphone in October last year and, at that time, wrote about how unexpectedly complex the selection process has become. This time
around, I’m looking to buy a new laptop for my son, who’ll be going to college
later this year. He happened to drop his laptop 2-3 months ago and one of its
hinges is now broken, along with cracks in the bodywork and a cracked bezel. Repairable,
yes, but repairs will be fairly expensive. Plus, other issues include a non-IPS
LCD display that has very poor viewing angles, and poor battery backup. So, it’s
time for this laptop to go and for us to buy a new one.
My son uses his laptop for many hours every day. Most of his school assignments
are done on the laptop. And since he also runs a small NGO and is heavily
involved with multiple other events and activities, there are online meetings,
video chats, image and video editing work, making presentations, working on
documents, and… you get the drift. The last time we bought a laptop for him –
an Acer Extensa, powered by an Intel Core i3 N305 processor, along with just
8GB of RAM – it turned out to be a mistake. The Acer’s performance levels were quite
okay – no complaints there – but its non-IPS LCD display turned out to be very bad. I had ordered the laptop online, on Amazon, and had no way of knowing in
advance that the display on a 35,000-Rupee laptop could be so bad! I did try to return the laptop right away but Acer wouldn’t accept the return,
saying that they won’t take it back since there was no actual ‘defect’ in it
and that there was no ‘malfunction’ as such. Amazon India couldn’t help with
this either and we were stuck with the damn thing.
The brand. I’d consider HP, Lenovo, Dell and Asus, all of which make reasonably good laptops that are available at around the Rs 40,000 mark, which is my current budget. (Definitely wouldn’t consider Acer products now, since I’ve had a really bad experience with the Extensa’s display.)
The processor. A 12th or 13th generation Intel Core i3 at the very least, but more preferably, an i5 or even an AMD Ryzen 7. The key parameters are, how many cores does the processor have, of which how many are ‘performance’ cores and how many are ‘efficiency’ cores. Most six- or eight-core processors should get the job done.
The amount of RAM and whether or not it’s upgradable. Most i3- or Ryzen 3-powered laptops come fitted with 8GB of RAM but, ideally, you need at least 16GB for Windows 11 machines. Many laptops with more powerful processors, including many i5 and Ryzen 7 machines, do come with 16GB of RAM pre-installed.
Storage. Try to get a machine with at least a 512GB SSD. Many laptops still come with a 256GB SSD, which may not be sufficient in the long run.
Display. This is where one might need to be extra careful. You need a full-HD (or better) IPS LCD with wide viewing angles and if you can get a panel with 120Hz refresh rate (Dell, for one, is offering this at the Rs 38,000 mark), that’s a definite plus. OLED displays are, for the most part, more expensive than IPS LCDs but some manufacturers (like Asus) are offering OLED displays at relatively lower prices, so do look around.
The build quality. If you’re buying from a physical store, this is something you can judge for yourself. Pick up the laptop, see if it feels solid or flimsy. Try using the keyboard and see if it feels good or if there are any squeaks or creaky sounds. Any creaks or squeaks from the hinges when you open lift the lid? Metal body or plastic? Look carefully and you might be able to identify issues with the fit and finish, if there are any. If buying from Amazon or other online stores, read a few reviews of the specific model that you like – there are many well-reputed websites that do proper, in-depth reviews that you can rely on. There are also some good YouTube channels that do laptop reviews very well.
Other elements that would be good to have include a backlit keyboard, a full-HD webcam (720p webcams are what you’ll typically get on budget laptops, but look around and see if you can get a 1080p webcam in a laptop that fits your budget), a good pair of built-in speakers that aren’t too tinny (though audiophiles would probably anyway prefer to get a pair of nice, high-powered Bluetooth speakers that can connect to the laptop wirelessly), a good, responsive touchpad and a full complement of USB, HDMI and other ports for connectivity.
All the things I’ve listed above are available on laptops costing around Rs 40,000 (+/- 10%) but most laptops in this price range only have some combination of these elements, not all. Some that have an excellent display don’t have sufficient RAM or come with a lower-end processor. Some that have a more powerful processor and 16GB of RAM might have an inferior display and below average build quality. And so on. So, identify your key priorities – what are the things you really can’t do without – and choose the machine that best fits your specific requirements. Take your time, do your research, look around, visit consumer forums, read online reviews and/or watch reviews on YouTube and choose wisely.
In the meanwhile, I’ll again fire up Amazon and Flipkart on my trusty old desktop PC and continue my search for the perfect 40,000-Rupee laptop. Dell, Asus, HP and Lenovo, show me the best you’ve got…!
Note to my son: Don't worry about that MacBook Air. Someday, I'll definitely get one of those for you... :-)
So, which new laptop did we finally buy, and why? See here
No comments:
Post a Comment