INFO - Points to note when buying laptop

Based on my recent laptop buying experience, I have derived the following checklist for a person planning to decide on a particular laptop. Hope this is as extensive as it can be.

I request contributions from members to fill missing points and make it complete. @whitestar_999 please consider adding the final checklist to one of the stickies to help any other newcomers.

Points to note when buying laptop:
1. Brand
2. CPU
3. Storage - primary, secondary, type of connector
4. Optical drive
5. Ports - USB, VGA, HDMI, Ethernet
6. Card reader
7. Battery - cells, WHr, replaceable, charging time
8. Charger type, pin - type, location, angle, connector cable - length
9. RAM - expandable, slots, dual channel
10. Display - size, resolution, type, surface finish
11. Webcam
12. Speakers
13. Keyboard - number, backlit
14. Touchpad - integrated or separate mouse keys, backlit numpad
15. Dimensions and weight
16. Software - OS, additional software
17. Warranty - duration, extended
18. Ease of upgrade
19. xxxxxxx
20. Place of physical power button

sling-shot said:
Based on my recent laptop buying experience, I have derived the following checklist for a person planning to decide on a particular laptop. Hope this is as extensive as it can be.

I request contributions from members to fill missing points and make it complete. @whitestar_999 please consider adding the final checklist to one of the stickies to help any other newcomers.

Points to note when buying laptop:
1. Brand
4. Optical drive
12. Speakers
15. Dimensions and weight
20. Place of physical power button

For me, these 5 are irrelevant as I prefer overall value over a brand, use earphones/headphones and have a 17.3", ~2.5kg laptop. Nobody should waste time on slow optical drives anyway.

GPU should be on the top right beside CPU. Screen can have high refresh rates and any added VRR support like freesync without extra cost is always good.

The idea is to cover all possibilities. For eg. I am seriously regretting buying a non-touch model this week when touch based screens would have added much value for teaching online.

So please suggest any points that may make a difference for a random specific person even if not relevant to you.

sling-shot said:
The idea is to cover all possibilities. For eg. I am seriously regretting buying a non-touch model this week when touch based screens would have added much value for teaching online.

So please suggest any points that may make a difference for a random specific person even if not relevant to you.

Buy one of these for online teaching instead of struggling with touch screen :

*www.amazon.in/dp/B078YNBFXG/

Sent from my vivo 1807 using Tapatalk

sling-shot said:
The idea is to cover all possibilities. For eg. I am seriously regretting buying a non-touch model this week when touch based screens would have added much value for teaching online.

So please suggest any points that may make a difference for a random specific person even if not relevant to you.

I bought this Amazon.in: Buy Wacom One by CTL-472/K0-CX Small 6-inch x 3.5-inch Graphic Tablet (Red/Black) Online at Low Prices in India | Wacom Reviews & Ratings wacom is the goto in drawing tablets markets and this is cool for teaching purposes.

For writing it will be a regular whiteboard. Touch is used to admit students to the class and quickly toggling some onscreen buttons.

Just a few more thoughts from my side about some additions to checkpoints...

GPU
WiFi b/g/n/ac
Accuracy of documented specs / support from manufacturer for pre-sales queries
Availability of privacy accessories like screen filters if that matters
Type of headphone/mic port design (some allow standalone Mic, others simply don't)
Audio chip
Firmware features (what it offers, sadly no one knows, not even tech support staff, unless you buy it, it's not documented at all)
Location of USB ports (adjacent, on either sides)

Firmware features - I think no one has mentioned this before and indeed no one talks about it.