Recommending and Selecting a New Laptop for Yourself or a Member
Prerequisites: Knowledge of PC Hardware
Difficulty Level: Member • Nerd • Platypus
Estimated Time: 1 hour
Expected Outcome: Decide on the Perfect Fit Laptop for a Member or Yourself
Tools Required: Internet Browser
Steps to Perform
- Find the Use Case of the Laptop (If Macbook or iMac user just whichever is current and in their budget, stick with what they know).
- Just Emails and Office? Minimum to Recommend is an i5 no older than 2 Generations, or Ryzen 5/AMD Equivalent, 16GB of RAM, and 500GB SSD (No HDD, if Budget is tight can consider 8GB of RAM).
- Screen Size Preference? (If bad eye sight consider 17in, but that may be too bulky).
- Data Entry? Maybe one with a Number pad
- Giving Presentations or Connecting to an extra Monitor at home/work? May need HDMI Port or Dock/Port Replicator
- Gaming? May Need Higher End CPU and a Dedicated GPU (Keep Current Gen if Within Budget)
- Video Editing, Photo Editing, or CAD Software Use? May Need Higher End CPU and a Dedicated GPU
- Decide on Budget
- Once the use case is decided if it is anything that is heavy work like gaming, CAD, Creation, etc. (Things that say Higher End GPU/CPU) we will use Amazon, Newegg, Bestbuy, and Staples to look at different Laptops/Computers within their budget and recommend the best one at their budget. (Best GPU try to stay with Nvidia, CPU, RAM, and Storage depending on Use Case)
- If they have "No Budget" Send them Laptops at 3 different price points $800~ $1400~ $2000~ and explain the Differences and see what they think.
- If the use case is fairly light like emails, office applications, etc. use Amazon, Newegg, Bestbuy, and Staples to look at different Laptops/Computers within their budget and recommend the best one at their budget that meets all requirements.
- If their budget seems a bit high for the use case recommend a cheaper laptop that meets the minimum requirements above.