– Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake of robertoblake dot com geeking out with you today trying to help you buy an awesome laptop. So, as many of you know, I actually have a new laptop that Dell sent over to put in to review. But we’re not really talking about that today, we’re talking about laptops in a much more general way. I’m going to give you some quick advice for buying a new laptop and making an informed buying decision so you can get the laptop that best fits your needs. So, before we even get in to, like, Mac versus PC, the thing you need to do is really figure out what you need to use this laptop for, whether you’re a student, whether you’re doing productivity work, whether you’re a designer or video editor, photographer, a gamer, your needs are going to be different. But one of the first things you’ve gotta figure out is your budget. Budget is going to be the key to what you can get.
Here’s some basic things to think about when you’re budgeting for a laptop. Again, think about how you’re gonna use it. The main components of a laptop are the processor, you’re gonna have to likely decide between an i5 and an i7. The i7’s more powerful, the i5 is cheaper. You’re going to have to decide whether you want to have a solid state drive. That’s one of the new flash based drives that’s a lot quieter, it’s not as noisy, doesn’t have the spinning rotation, so it’s going to last longer, be quieter and it’s going to be a lot faster but it’s also going to be a lot more expensive. The other thing is, it might let you have a smaller, lighter, thinner laptop, so that could affect the form factor, the appearance, how beautiful the laptop is. So, again, you’re gonna get what you pay for where that kind of thing is concerned. RAM is probably one of the most important things you can think about when you’re buying a laptop because it’s going to really determine how many of the applications you can use and how quickly they’re going to run.
I actually don’t buy laptops with less than 8 gigs of RAM for the most part, even if I’m buying a travel laptop, something like an ultrabook. I still try to steer toward 8 gigs of RAM. If you go to that route, in the Mac product line, it’s going to be really expensive for you. So, unless you’re really committed to the Mac Ecosystem, I would consider looking at a cheaper Windows option if budget’s a problem for you. The grapics is another thing. Most of you, you don’t need graphics to do anything really, even if you’re doing video editing like I do on the YouTube channel. I’ve done every kind of video editing you can think of, except for, like, 3D modeling and high end visual effects, and I can get by with an integrated graphics card instead of dedicated one.
So, the GPU is not a dealbreaker if you’re doing PhotoShop, After Effects, Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier, for the most part. Even if you’re doing color grading, you don’t have to go there. It does make things faster and better, but it’s also very expensive. If you’re doing gaming and you want to do the best resolution, you want to do the best settings, then, yeah, you’ll need a better video card for that, but again it will cost you more, so, just keep those things in mind. For the casual, everyday person, video card, you can get 4K video out of a great display like the Dell XPS 13 without a dedicated video card. The onboard video cards have come so far that even Mac is using them in the entry level Mac Book Pro models as well as the Mac Book itself and the Mac Book Air model. So, just keep those kinds of things in mind when you’re buying, you can save a ton of money. Because I do photography and video, I like to have USB ports, I like to have SD card slots.
Depending on what your budget is and what type of laptop, you get, you might actually have to sacrifice some of those things. The Mac Book, for example, only has a USB C port so that’s going to be very limiting for you, especially since you might have to spend more money on adapters and things that are compatible with it. The Mac Book Air product line still uses USB 2.0, in some cases USB in the newer stuff, so that’s something to keep in mind.
But, newer laptops from competitors are using everything from Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0, so those might be things that actually matter depending on what your work and your setup is. My main tips for buying a new laptop, my main tips here are really think about your budget, think about the user experience you need, think about the operating system that you need, are you more comfortable with Windows or Mac, and are you willing to pay for it.
Getting a refurbished laptop is really good, depending on what brand you get and as long as you’re getting it from a reputable place. I prefer to get my stuff from Amazon because of their 30-day money back guarantee and the fact that Amazon shipping is really fast. There’s also the fact that I can look at the reviews from other buyers, so those things make me more comfortable when I’m making a buying decision and I provide links to my recommended laptops in the description below for just about every budget and every situation. From travel laptops to gaming to productivity to everyday work to budget solutions, especially if you’re a student. So make sure you’re checking that out. Anyway, I hope this video gave you some quick tips that help you figure out what laptop you need. I’ll have a much more comprehensive, long video talking about this, so make sure you stay tuned to the channel to get that.
If you have questions, leave those in the comments section I’ll try and answer as many of them as I can, so that you guys can buy the right laptop for your needs. Anyway, like this video if you like it. Don’t forget to subscribe and check out the other awesome content on the channel. As always, you guys, thanks so much for watching and geeking out with me as I give you some quick tips on buying a new laptop..