Help Me Choose the Best Laptop or Notebook

I need help with choosing a new laptop, or notebook as our US friends like to call it! As you can imagine, there are hundreds, if not thousands of options available. I’m not fixed on a particular brand of laptop at this stage – I’m finding it hard just to decide on the basic spec at the moment – but I have found this handy tool from Dell useful .. I also found this Dell discount code too .. . So here are my thoughts on what I think would make the best laptop for me and the specifications on the Dell Latitude D530 which seems to be an ideal match.

Processor

Intel seem to be the leaders here and the minimum requirement is Dual Core with at least 2GHz and a fast bus. The Latitude D530 has an Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor which delivers 2.4GHz using a 800MHz bus and has a 4MB Cache.

Microsoft Operating System

I say Microsoft simply because I’m not familiar enough with the others so for me the choice is Windows XP or Windows Vista. I’ve used Windows Vista and whilst I think it’ll become the norm in the near future, I’m familiar with Windows XP and with the forthcoming SP3 release, I’m leaning towards staying with XP at this stage. The Latitude D530 comes with Windows XP Professional edition.

Display

In the past I’ve gone for a big is best approach but this time I’m thinking of focussing on quality and so I’m leaning towards a 14″-15″ monitor or even a screen size of just 13″. The Dell D530 has a 15″ monitor with an enhanced SXGA+ display that provides a rather excellent 1400×1050 screen resolution.

Laptop Memory

I’m torn between 2GB and 4GB. To be perfectly honest, whilst the latter is double the former, I just don’t know if that means it’s twice as good. Thoughts welcome. The Latitude D530 has a perfectly acceptable 2GB, delivered from 2×1024MB, and 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory.

Hard Drive

This one is quite easy for me. I simply don’t need hundreds of GB storage space. What’s much more important for me is the speed of accessing that data. That’s one of the main reason the Latitude D530 looks a good buy for me as it has a 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive, oh and 120 GB storage. So many other laptops have have 5400 rpm or less.

Optical Devices

The D530 has 8x DVD+/-RW Drive, which is probably ok but I’m thinking 16x would be better, but is it necessary if I don’t use that format often?

Battery Power

This has to be a combination of time away from a main power source and low weight. Clearly the greater the battery power, the heavier the battery. A lightweight 4 cell battery is provided with the Latitude D530 so it’s light weight. Other laptops have 4 cells, 6 cells or 9 cells.

Wireless Network

I absolutely must have wireless connectivity. Most laptops come with 802.11 a-g. The Dell D530 also has N wireless network connectivity for an enhanced wireless functionality. I’m told its much better but as I haven’t used it yet I’ll have to take Dell’s word for it. The D530 also has Bluetooth connectivity for even greater ease of networking.

Dell Latitude D530 – Is this the best laptop for me?

So is the Dell Latitude D530 the right laptop for me? Well, it delivers most of what I’m after but the true question is – am I looking at the right things when choosing a new laptop?

Dell Discount Codes

Want some more help? Try the Laptop Buying Guide at Gadget Heaven™

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