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日本Choosing the Right Laptop in 6 Steps – Buyer’s Guide for 2024
Whether you’re a gamer, a student, or someone who just needs to get work done, we all face the moment when we have to choose from hundreds of laptop models. For some, this can be confusing, and perhaps even stressful. For others, it sounds like a piece of cake—they hop online, order within 2 minutes, and… end up realizing they didn’t make the right choice at all.
So, today, we’re making this video for those of you unsure of what exactly you need or those facing the daunting task of buying a laptop for the first time. We’ll focus on some key considerations you should think about before making a purchase, most of which involve questions you’ll need to ask yourself to come to a conclusion.
Before diving in, open the Laptop Specs system so we can have a look at all offerings:
https://laptopmedia.com/specs/
Contents
Step 1: Budget
Most people have a limited budget and are looking for a laptop within a certain price range. Depending on your budget…you may be able to meet all your needs, or you might have to compromise on something!
We all want to spend $500 and get a laptop that can run the heaviest games on max settings, is quiet, keeps cool, and if possible, is super light with a battery that lasts all day.
But, the truth is, we need to have realistic expectations.
Even with a budget for a super expensive laptop, you’ll find that one model, for example, has better cooling and is made entirely of metal, but for the same price, another has better specs but is made of plastic and doesn’t cool as well.
Then there’s the opposite scenario – some people splurge on a $5000 laptop, only to find a $500 model could have done the job for them, because they don’t really do anything that intensive with it!
So if you have a certain budget, set it in the filters on the left sidebar:
Step 2: Understanding your needs
Understanding your needs and how you’ll use the laptop is crucial.
Will you be gaming, watching movies, or working? Maybe all three! If gaming, how intense are the games? If working, what’s the nature of your work? Simple Excel and PowerPoint, or are you creating music in FL Studio and Studio One, or even doing something more demanding like 3D modeling and rendering?
If it’s just for movies and Microsoft Office, then even a budget laptop can handle your needs without any issues.
If you’re a gamer, you’ll need to look for gaming laptops with specifications that can handle your favorite games. It’s wise to think about the future, as a laptop that’s powerful now might not be able to run new games at maximum settings in 2-3 years.
Also, consider purchasing LaptopMedia’s [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Gaming Laptop as you’ll get a pretty good return on your investment in the form of maximized performance.
🛠️ GPU Modifications: vBIOS, Overclocking, Undervolting
⚙️ Building Fast/Reliable RAID configuration
💻 Hardware upgrade tips for best results
🖼 Display enhancing
💾 OS Optimization for best performance
If you’re looking for a specific usage scenario like Programming, Design, or Gaming, click on its checkbox:
Step 3: Do you need portability?
We talked about power, but remember, a laptop is a portable device. That’s one of the main reasons people choose a laptop over a desktop.
So…do we need an ultra-thin and light laptop to carry around every day, or will it mostly be used at home, moving it from the kitchen to the bedroom and back?
If you need to carry your laptop daily, then maybe avoid large, heavy 17-inch laptops and look for one with good battery life. Check out our Top 50 Laptops with the best Battery Life.
And set an appropriate weight you’re ready to carry with you:
If it’s staying home most of the time, battery life and size may not be as important.
The touchpad is also crucial if you’re always on the move, possibly using it more than a mouse, so choose a laptop with a good touchpad.
Step 4: How much RAM and SSD?
Another important hardware aspect is RAM and SSDs. My recommendation is to avoid laptops with 8GB or less if you’re doing anything more than watching movies and handling Excel sheets. As of 2024, for most demanding applications and games, 16GB is the minimum. Apple’s MacBook laptops, with their new architecture and software optimization, are an exception, performing well on heavier tasks even with 8GB RAM. Still, a 16GB Macbook is much faster than an 8GB one.
Most laptops allow for RAM upgrades. If you’ve settled on one that doesn’t, consider getting more than you need right now to ensure it meets your needs longer.
SSDs and hard drives can also be upgraded in most laptops, and the team at LaptopMedia often posts teardown videos, showing how many SSD slots a laptop has and whether they’re upgradeable.
Check this out: Top M.2 SSDs Performance Rankings
Step 5: Display Size
The size of the laptop is directly related to its display.
So, it’s good to know what display will suit us best.
If we’re buying it for gaming…OKAY! But will we connect it to a larger external monitor, or use the laptop’s screen?
If it’s going to be connected to a big, fancy gaming monitor most of the time, then the laptop’s display resolution and refresh rate shouldn’t worry us much.
If we’re using just the laptop and want to play games, maybe consider the larger 17-inch laptops. Also, think about the resolution you’ll play at and whether you need a high refresh rate display.
High refresh rate displays allow us to see more images per second, making games look much smoother.
Maybe gaming isn’t your thing. If you’re a designer working on Photoshop or video editing, then color accuracy, rather than refresh rate, is what you’ll care about. Getting display profiles for your laptop is a must – they are tailored for your exact panel model, and it’s a one-time purchase, currently. Read more about them here – Meet our next-generation display profiles – “Health-Guard”, “Design and Gaming” and “Office Work”
You can get them from the review page of your laptop, LaptopMedia tests almost every model on the market so chances are that your laptop would be tested as well:
https://laptopmedia.com/review/
Step 6: Other Features
Device ports can also make life easier or more complicated. Before rushing to get a laptop with Thunderbolt, HDMI, many USBs, an SD card reader, etc., think about whether you’ll actually use most of these ports.
Operating system choices are primarily Windows, Linux, and MacOS. My advice for the undecided is to stick with what you’re familiar with, and if you’re considering switching, do so only if it’ll improve or speed up your daily tasks.
Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 4+ and its wide variety of ports on its left side
Then, there are “special features” like specific laptop models offering unusual extras, such as a second screen, a number pad on the touchpad, or the so-called TrackPoint. These “special features” can facilitate your work but usually raise the device’s price, so consider whether they’re necessary for you.
Lenovo ThinkPad T-series is a serious business machine with an old-school TrackPoint
If you’ve narrowed down to a specific model or series, it’s best to watch or read several reviews from different sources. [This applies to everything in life, not just laptops]. ALWAYS get information from multiple places if you want to form your own opinion.
One of those places is LaptopMedia, where you’ll find reviews of a vast number of laptops, detailed battery, display, temperature tests, and performance in popular games. The more important thing here is that they’re testing real retail units from online stores, and not cherry-picked review samples.
Another cool thing I often check on LaptopMedia’s site is the “Top 100 Best Gaming Laptop Deals“. This list is updated daily with the most cost-effective gaming laptops, and the great thing is that almost every one of them has a detailed review with tests, pros, and cons.
After determining needs, budget, hardware, size, operating system, and everything else, it’s time to shop. I hope you found this video helpful and enjoyable. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel, hit the bell icon, and follow us on all social media.
Also, if you think there are other important things to consider when choosing a laptop, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments below. Bye, and see you soon!
Here’s the Laptop Specs System with 300,000+ laptop configurations + prices:
https://laptopmedia.com/specs/
