Factors to Consider When Buying a PC or Laptop for a College Course

If I am thinking about buying a PC or laptop for academic purposes there are several things to consider before I buy.  First and foremost I want a stylish piece of equipment.  This is by no means the most important thing to think about, but for students it can be as important to have a good looking machine as a high functioning one. 

The second thing I would consider is the ROM.  My laptop will have to have sufficient ROM (Read Only Memory) for it to function efficiently for me.  RAM is responsible for such things as start up, booting and shut down.  It is imperative that these things are executed quickly so as to reduce time spent waiting for my laptop to "get ready" for use, and therefore reduce time wasting. 

Another important thing to look at is RAM, or Random Access Memory.  RAM is extremely important.  RAM makes it possible for programs to run on the laptop.  IF you had a great laptop, with all the best programs on it and great ROM and all you needed for college, but you had no RAM, the whole thing would be completely useless.  RAM allows temporary storage of material when a program is in use.  Basically the computer and its programs run off the RAM.  Of course all computers therefore have RAM, but what you must check for is that the laptop or PC you are going to buy has sufficient RAM to run the programs you need for college.

You may also need a good graphics card.  This is important because there are a lot of videos we have to watch in this course for various modules.  Some things we need to watch have been recorded in high definition.  These videos are time consuming to download or stream.  It helps to have a decent graphics card to help the laptop cope with this.  

Probably the most important thing to look at is the CPU (Central Processing Unit).  The quality of this directly controls the speed of the laptop.  You should buy the fastest one you can afford.  This is important because you need to have a fast machine that can handle a lot of programs being open at the same time.  You might have multiple word programs open, as well as the internet and Photoshop, you need to be able to run and use all this without your machine slowing you down.

Wi-Fi is essential.  Many colleges have wireless internet throughout the campus, and it would be a total waste of money to buy a laptop that wouldn't help you avail of this.  Especially when the computers in the library are usually being used all day by other students, and you can hardly ever seem to find a free one it is very handy to just take out your own laptop with Wi-Fi.

Check out the battery.  Try to find one that is light weight and long lasting like the lithium-ion laptop batteries.  This will enable you to go for longer without having to charge up so you can leave the wires at home and not trip up your fellow students with them!

I hope this information helped you decide what to look for when choosing a laptop.