50 shopping mistakes to avoid this Diwali (Laptop)

50 shopping mistakes to avoid this Diwali (LAPTOPS)

• Touch Screen laptops are a mixed bag

Touchscreen laptops can be fun, they surely add a new dimension to the way you interact with the PC. But, not all touchscreens are the same in terms of quality,uniformity and response. In our testing experience we have come across quite a few touchscreen laptops with inconsistent touch-response and a whole pile of other issues; all because of an el-cheapo digitizer. Apart from the touch response, you also should be aware of the importance and real world usage of a touch screen for your work environment. If touchscreen is just a “nice to have” feature, we’d suggest you think twice before paying a premium for a touchscreen laptop. Touchscreen adds marginally to the weight, reduces battery life and can be expensive to replace in case of accident.

• Calling something an “ultrabook” doesn’t mean that it’s an “ultrabook”

Vendors are playing tricks on consumers by launching heavy, clunky laptops under the ultrabook umbrella. For something to qualify as an ultrabook, make sure it weighs less than 1.8kg, is running an Intel ULV processor (usually, the processor will have the suffix, U). More importantly, the laptop needs to be slim. Really slim.

• Touchpads: Size isn’t everything. Accuracy is.

Unfortunately, the size of the touch pad does not guarantee a good, responsive experience. In fact, buggy implementation (especially drivers) can cause serious problems (read: an erratic pointer), especially when it comes to multi-touch gestures. Make sure you try the touchpad before purchase; play a game of solitaire, browse the web, see if you can scroll comfortably and so on.

• SSDs vs HDDs? SSDs win. Hands down

Given a choice between a 500GB hard disk drive or a 128GB SSD, we’d suggest you blindly choose the SSD option. The reason for this is simple, SSDs are more sturdy and more secure (TRIM) and will dramatically boost your battery life. External HDDs are cheap and numerous, cloud storage and streaming also mean that you don’t need to lug around that much data anymore.

• Slim and sexy with a catch

The current gen slim and light laptops and ultrabooks come with a promise of minimal compromise on performance, and technically they do offer a truck load of performance and battery efficiency for their size and weight. The reduction in price does come at a price though. Slimmer, compact machines end-up cutting down on the cooling system by reducing the fan size and the heat sink area, putting more pressure on fewer components. The end result can be a laptop that will scald your legs or annoy the hell out of you with a noisy fan. Of course, some laptops are better designed than others, but you’ll need to check for yourself before you pick one up. Your lap and ears will thank you.

• Check for upgradability

Laptops are usually quite limited when it comes to their hardware, a side-effect of their form factor. Regardless, it’s always good when you have the option to upgrade at a later date. Either in the form of an extra RAM slot or even an extra HDD bay.

• Just because you have a GPU doesn’t mean that you can game

The fact that a gaming laptop needs a good GPU is a given, but you must remember that there are other factors to consider as well. A laptop that’s too slim and/or not well-ventilated will overheat, a native resolution that’s too high will ruin your game and the lack of an SSD will teach you the virtues of patience.

• Windows 8 laptops, better try before you buy

The new Windows 8 UI has so far managed to create more foes than fans, and there is a good reason behind that accomplishment. The new UI is more suited for touchscreens and a tablet experience rather than for desktop/workstation use. If you have been blindly upgrading to subsequent versions of Windows, Windows 8 will hardly make you feel at home. The learning curve can be steep. Beware.

• Power users, choose non-reflective screens to avoid eye strain

The move towards reflective, glossy laptop screens by the industry has more to do with covering up crappy TN panels with reflective glass than to hide the low contrast and poor color fidelity. Glossy screens induce reflections and glare that adds strain on your eyes during prolonged use. Apart from the strain, glossy screens suffer from poor visibility in brightly lit and outdoor work environments. Non- reflective, matte screens offer better panel brightness and are easier on the eyes. Of course, many screens, notably those on the MacBooks, come with anti-glare coatings.

• The right resolution

Picking the right resolution for a laptop is tricky business. A lower resolution screen means less load on the GPU and improved battery life, but the trade-off is a (comparatively) blurry display. For smaller screens, below 13”, this is fine. Higher-resolutions work best on larger screens.

• No amount of sorcery can make a laptop sound as good as a home theatre, don’t believe those fancy stickers

Laptops claim “Dolby” surround sound, some of them even manage to integrate “woofers” underneath the chassis. All that razzmatazz seldom translates to good quality sound, though, honestly speaking, Dolby certified speakers are generally better than the average speakers, though.