Progress in the development of mobile computing devices allows us to regard the laptop not as a portable desktop with a limited set of functions, but as a full-fledged personal computer with high performance. When choosing a laptop, it is worth focusing on a number of important parameters.
Since a laptop is still a portable device, first of all it is necessary to evaluate it in terms of compactness, portability and ability to work without a power source. Secondary factors affecting the choice of a laptop are performance indicators and device functionality. You should also not forget about ergonomics: the user should not experience discomfort when working on the computer.
Portable power supply
Rechargeable batteries confidently hold a charge for 3-4 hours from the moment they are disconnected from the power source. In most cases, this is sufficient, but some users who spend several hours on the road require longer battery life. As a solution to this problem, two options are considered: purchasing an additional battery or purchasing a laptop with a higher grade battery that can hold a charge longer. It should be noted that in the latter case, the weight of the device will increase significantly.
Cooling system
Low-power laptops are not characterized by strong heating, however, under certain operating conditions, ventilation ducts may become blocked. More powerful laptops with discrete graphics should have dual heatsinks with forced water or gas cooling. Also, the problem can be partially solved by purchasing a ventilation stand.
Weight and dimensions
When choosing a laptop, you need to take into account the weight of the device. The so-called ultrabooks have the most optimal weight, but they are very whimsical to operating conditions and have a short battery life. In general, a weight of 3-3.5 kilograms will be quite convenient for using a laptop in the absence of a table. It should be borne in mind that high-performance gaming computers weigh much more than office and multimedia laptops.
Hardware
With a fairly wide selection of laptops, they can be divided into two categories. Laptops with a combined CPU and GPU are lightweight and run slightly hot during operation, but their capabilities are not enough for a full-fledged gaming center or work with arrays of computations. Discrete graphics cards provide much higher performance but are expensive, heavy and power efficient. You also need to choose a laptop with the optimal amount of RAM and hard disk space. Solid-state drives are the best memory storage devices for laptops.
Ergonomics
Using a laptop should be comfortable. The role here is played by the size and type of the display, the location of the keys, and the case cover. Some users will like laptops with an offset touchpad; for many, the presence of a numeric NUM-keyboard is critical. You also need to pay attention to the number and type of connectors for connecting peripheral devices.
