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Pay attention to features you may usually ignore while buying a new laptop, says Sam Grobart. If you’re looking to buy a laptop with Compatible Parts , there is no shortage of sites to help you choose one. Just type “laptop b” into Google, and the search engine will auto-complete with “laptop buying guide.” (Apparently “laptop bacon” is not as popular as I thought). The results of that search, most likely, will tell you to keep track of these things: the processor’s speed, the amount of memory, the brand and the model of graphics card. But for most of us, worrying about such features is a waste of time (with one exception). First off, I want to reiterate – for most of us: If you need a laptop that will let you render 3-D graphics while also managing La Guardia’s air traffic control system, stop reading and come back next week. You can continue to buy laptops the old-fashioned way. For those of you who are still reading, there are a few features that you should worry about that are unlikely to have come up in your search. You want a portable computer to get you online, and to allow you to watch some movies, answer some emails and work on a document, spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation. So here’s a guide to help you figure out what’s worth paying attention to, and what you can skip. Weight: Anything more than 6 pounds is a pain in the shoulder. Any number of laptops with Compatible Parts weigh far less than that (down to around 2 1/2 pounds), so there’s no reason to get anything heavier. Screen size: The smallest displays are about 10 inches, measured diagonally. This is too small. The next step up is around 11 1/2 inches, which is great for a second laptop that you can take traveling. But for most of us, 13 inches is the sweet spot – big enough but still portable enough to be thrown in a bag. Laptops with 15-inch displays are just a bit too big for that, to say nothing of Imax-size 17- and 18-inch models, which are awkwardly huge and at 8 pounds or more, violate our weight rule. Processor: Doesn’t matter. Seriously. Does the laptop you’re looking at have a 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2377M Processor running at 1.4GHz with a 3MB L3 cache? That’s wonderful. Oh wait, it doesn’t? Still wonderful about their Compatible Parts . For regular people, all processors are fine. Don’t get bogged down in the details – and don’t pay more for some optional chip that offers an incremental speed boost. For what you need a laptop to do, it’s fine as is. Battery life: Take a look at this fine print about battery-life specs from Best Buy’s website: “Battery life will vary depending on the product configuration, product model, applications loaded on the product, power management setting of the product, and product features used by the customer.” For more laptop repair helps
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