Choosing the right laptop

This is a follow-up to the earlier post on selecting the right Intel chip with a broader scope - how do you select the right laptop?

To answer this, the first and foremost question is to understand what your needs are. Normally, you fall under one of these personas (sometimes a mix of two).

Regular 'Joe': You do the normal stuff such as all Internet activities, working with Microsoft Office products (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), watching movies, listening to music.

Artist: You work on the creative side - including graphic and video editing, design, etc.

Gamer: You are a heavy-duty gamer and play 3D games a lot.

Traveler: You are one of the above, but also travel a lot.

Mr. Cool: You want to be cool kid on the block, with fancy gadgets.

Once you've identified who you are, you can now find the right laptop. Here's the match.

Regular 'Joe': Get a Pentium Dual Core or low-end Core 2 Duo (T6400 or equivalent series) laptop, with 2GB - 4GB memory (if 4GB, you need Windows 64-bit edition. 32-bit supports only up to 3GB).

Additions would be a built-in web cam/microphone, 15.6" - 16" screen, 6-cell battery, 250GB - 320GB hard disk, DVD drive (with LightScribe, although not necessary).

This is typically priced at around $500.

Artist: Get either a Mac or a Pentium Core 2 Duo higher end (T9xxx or P series). Mac is normally the preferred option here, given its in-built support for creative applications. Moreover, most artists tend to use Macs and you would be in sync with them.

If going for a Windows system, get a laptop with good L2 Cache (2MB or more) and preferably a dedicated video memory (especially if doing a lot of video editing).

Macs normally cost around $1,200 - $2,000, while the Windows system costs around $800 - $1,000.

Gamer: Get a Pentium Core 2 Duo high-end, with a dedicated video card and at least 3GB RAM. Most low to middle end laptops have a shared video memory that does not suit well for gaming. Also look for the L2 cache capability. You want a laptop with a good L2 Cache (2MB or more) for good performance.

Gaming systems usually cost around $1,000 to $1,400.

Traveler: This is essentially an add-on profile. The key consideration is the weight of the laptop and the battery life. It's better to get a 14.1" or 15.4" screen with a 9-cell battery. 6-cell battery - the default for most laptops, lasts for around 2 to 2.5 hours, while the 9-cell can go up to 3-4 hours. Also 15.4" or less screens weigh at around 5lbs - 6lbs, while the 16" and above laptops weigh at around 6.5lb - 7.5lbs and can be a burden on your back. If you work mainly with Microsoft Office and Internet, you might also want to consider a Netbook.

15.4" and less systems cost anywhere between $400 and $600. Netbooks are roughly priced between $200 - $400.

Mr. Cool: You'd probably want either a Mac or a Netbook.

That said, all the logical reasoning above is typically trumped by your emotional reasoning, which a number of psychologists say, is what determines your final purchasing behavior. If you've made up your mind to get a Mac even if you are not an artist, no matter how much I convince you otherwise, you'll end up buying a Mac. In that case, ignore this post and go and buy a Mac.

The core wars - Pentium dual core or Core 2 Duo

I've been getting some queries from my friends on what I consider to be a good middle-of-the-road laptop purchase. I did some research and came to the following conclusions. Hope this helps you in your next purchase.

Intel hasn't made anyone's life easier by providing a range of processors to choose from (I keep getting reminded of Barry Schwartz's Paradox of Choice). If you are in the market for a decent laptop, you are faced with a number of options. For my scenario, I am limiting my choice to just Intel processors. Within Intel, there are two popular camps - Pentium Dual Core and Pentium Core 2 Duo.

You can read an excellent technical article on the difference between Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo. I have attempted to give a gist of the article along with my impressions here.

Pentium Dual Core: This is a 65nm based chip that is considered as slightly 'old' school, or more accurately 'current' school. This is a very competent chip that has two processors and performs quite well. Being a 65nm chip, it generates a decent amount of heat, but not as much as the previous models.

Pentium Core 2 Duo: This comes in two flavors - 65nm and 45nm (and that's the catch!). The 45nm is considered 'future' generation and generates much less heat and is more powerful with a different architecture.

What the marketing fluff does not tell you is that the 65nm Core 2 Duo chips (T4200/T6400) are 95% similar in performance/architecture as the Pentium Dual Core and hence don't really buy you anything (except for an additional 1MB cache). The 45nm Core 2 Duo chips are T9xxx series or P series chips.

The price is where you'll notice the main difference. Pentium Dual Core systems sell for around $500, Pentium Core 2 Duo 65nm for around $550 - $600, and Pentium Core 2 Duo 45nm for around $800 - $900.

So, now comes the main question - what to choose? I normally answer this by asking for the buyer's need. At the end of the day, that's what determines the selection.

If you are planning to use the laptop for standard use, such as for checking email, using Microsoft Office, browsing the net, and even for some low-medium weight programming, I'd suggest going with a Pentium Dual Core (or the low end Core 2 Duo if the price is same).

On the other hand, if you are a hard-core 3D gamer, work a lot with video editing software, or do a lot of graphic manipulation, then Core 2 Duo higher end would be a better option with its increase cache and lower power consumption.

Hunt for the next tablet

I think the time is getting ripe for a consolidation, with rumors of an iPad from Apple. There have been a lot of super-similar products in the market now around the concept of the old Tablet PC.

• Tablet PC - The age-old giant which has still not caught the fancy and for some reason hasn't gone down in price as well
• Touch-sensitive phones - iPhone and Blackberry Storm are leading the pack with the way we interact with touch screens
• Netbook - The recent entrant in the notebook market, which for some reason that I cannot imagine, does not have a foldable display OR a touch-sensitive screen
• E-book Reader - An anomaly in evolution, Kindle and Sony are good for one thing - reading books, and that too in black and white.

It doesn't really take too much smartitude to find that all these products revolve around one uber-product - an A4-sized tablet PC with a multi-touch LED-based screen with nice, readable fonts.

Bigger question is, why are other companies waiting for Apple to innovate and take the market in this area and not beating it to the punch themselves?