Laptop Basics

Before choosing your college laptop, you should make sure you have a general knowledge of the parts of a laptop. Basically, all laptops have the same major components:

1. Processor
2. Hard Drive
3. RAM (Memory)

Now, before you get overwhelmed thinking about all of the Ghz, GB and any other acronyms you don't understand, here is a really simple guide to understanding these sometimes-confusing attributes.

Processor

These can vary from 2.0Ghz all the way to 3.0Ghz, but anywhere in between should be fine. If you are planning on using your computer for games, graphical applications, or any sort of rendering applications, stick to the higher end of processors. If you are just using your college laptop for word processing and email, you should be fine with 2.2Ghz or above.

Hard Drive

This is where I see a lot of people wasting their money. What are you planning on storing on your computer? Your hard drive stores your music, movies, documents, etc. If you only plan on storing music and documents on your computer, and you don't have over 5000 songs, anywhere from 200GB and up will be just fine. If you plan on having a ton of movies, TV shows, and music, stick with 500GB or above. Another option is to stick with a small hard drive (150GB to 200GB) and purchase an external hard drive to keep all of your media in. They are generally cheaper and provide more space then an internal hard drive.

RAM (Memory)

RAM is often confused with the hard drive, because "memory" is sometimes used interchangeably to describe them both. Memory has a pretty short range of options. Mid-Range laptops generally come in 2 GB, 4GB, or 8GB models. If you are a gamer, definitely go for the 8GB, and make sure your graphics card can handle your favorite games. If you are just one of those email, internet, and AIM kind of people, stick with the 2GB or 4GB. Try to spring for the 4GB, as this will have a pretty visible effect on performance.

Okay, so I know what some of you are thinking:

"What about the display, graphics cards, sound cards, etc?"

These components are very specific to certain people's needs. Gamers need good graphics cards, music producers need good sound cards, and communications majors may need big displays for editing video. The average user can get away will getting sub-par components as long as they pay attention to the big three (Processor, Hard Drive, RAM). Tailoring these specs to your needs will save you time and money in the long run.