Here are a few more tips on how to choose a travel laptop:
For “road warriors” who find it essential and convenient to use a laptop on the move, durability is quite an important factor when it comes to your purchase – either that or a durable laptop case which for some reason are all very expensive.
The heavier the laptop is, usually the less equipped it will be to survive drops and the like. If durability is absolutely required, a laptop to consider might be the Panasonic ToughBook, which is built basically like an armoured vehicle, and while it’s expensive and has unremarkable specs, it could prove invaluable – it can survive having water poured directly on it and can even withstand being run over by a car practically unscathed.
Battery life is always an issue with many laptops as very few can practically last more than four hours, a figure that rapidly decreases as the battery gets older – the practical lifespan of laptop batteries is often barely one year. It may be worth purchasing a travel battery but these generally occupy a larger space and stick out of the back of the laptop. They can also be expensive and will suffer the same problems with age and frequent use.
The actual brand of laptop is becoming less and less important in recent years as many parts are shared between manufacturers in order to lower cost – a fact that few know. Build quality is still something to look out for though – check for squeaks and rattles when you press the keys and fold the top. Some models of laptop tend to be excessively hot to the touch even on standby. These usually suggest bad system architecture and/or a faulty processor.
A feature that many manufacturers often try to push is the idea of having multimedia controls on the laptop. In my experience, these are often unresponsive, and will probably not work without downloading additional drivers if you ever want to upgrade or downgrade your operating system so are often best avoided. They also drive the price up substantially as well.
Another consideration can be the hardware level and the old tech-shop question which has probably been asked trillions of times – should I choose a laptop with integrated graphics or dedicated graphics? It depends. Are you going to be playing video games or dealing with intensive designing and 3D imaging software? If not, there’s probably no point in choosing a machine with dedicated graphics as they will most probably drain the batteries faster and will increase the bulk and cost of the laptop substantially. As a side note, simpler programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator will usually run sufficiently on a machine with only integrated graphics.
Overall, remember to keep in mind the old warning: “Buy in haste, repent at Leisure!”
Thanks for reading and enjoy your travels!
Photo of traveler at Minneapolis Airport by “Today is a Good Day“
Topic: How to Tuesday |
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Tags: business, packing
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