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3 Most Important Things to Consider when Buying a Laptop

The idea of working remotely from anywhere is very appealing, especially if you've ever had a job when it feels like you're chained to the desk. Working wirelessly is increasing becoming possible due to the number of wifi hotspots that are springing up everywhere, and also thanks to the availability of mobile internet at an affordable cost. But what are the important things to consider when looking to buy a suitable computer? Here are just a few taken from my own personal experience.

1. Size

The size of your laptop is vitally important. My first laptop was a bit of a tank, carrying it anywhere required a few trips to the gym in advance to build up the muscles, and I'd normally end up all hot and bothered - not very professional when you're on your way to an important meeting! So for my next laptop I took the other extreme, buying the smallest laptop I could find. This was great, except I found the screen just too small to work on effectively for any length of time. So the balance between the 2 is very important. I now have a 13inch MacBook and it's absolutely perfect! Ok you wouldn't want to work on it all day, every day, but for writing emails and the occasional bit of web surfing while out and about it does the job.

2. Battery Life

Access to power is another important consideration. Power outlets can be hard to find when you're out and about, and buying and carrying spare batteries can be both expensive and a bit annoying. So consider the length of time your battery will last between charges; the longer
the better. At the moment I've found good laptops tend to last 3 hours, so aim for that. Again Macs generally have good battery life, although this often depends what you're using your computer for. Watching a DVD for example will use a lot more power than browsing the web.

3. Cool factor

When out about about in public you don't want to be embarrised by your laptop! Even if you're not a vein person, remember your computer tells people a lot about you and your business. So if you go to a meeting with a laptop from the 90's you're perhaps not giving the best impression of being a business that stays ahead of the times. Again a MacBook sets you up perfectly as they're both cool to look at and really functional.

They are the singularly most important laptop specific things to consider. Of course as with any computer system you have to consider things like processor/RAM/Hard drive/CDR/DVD player. Basically the more you get, the more you pay.

Which laptop would I recommend?

Well if you haven't guess already, the MacBook is my personal favourite. It's small, sexy, last a long time and is fun to use. If you're a PC user like myself you'll have a little bit of learning to do along the way, but fundamentally Macs are very similar to PCs, especially Vista PCs but so much cooler.