How to Choose the Right Laptop

Which is the right laptop for me? Many have asked if not pondered about this question, and I’m confident to say that this article will help you atleaat know what you want for/from a laptop. Laptop vary per user but lucky for us there are more types of laptops than varied users. I’d break users into the following three categories:

1. Low Power User – Home User/Student
2. Moderate Power User -Student/Gamer/CAD
3. High Power User – *CAD users/Gamer

*Computer Aided Design

Lets be real few users fall under the high power users (I’m thinking core i7 here), but I may be wrong, I’ll justify myself anyway. What are laptops used for, Media (movies, pictures & music)….that’s why windows has 3 libraries for MEDIA. Another use is Document editing & viewing (docs & PDFs). This is then followed by miscellaneous programs which are now work & user dependent. Amongst my friends in campus, 13 out of 38 actively play games on their laptop which translates to 34% amongst the ideal age group for gaming & the amongst most informed about computers as they do Computer related courses. That’s as high as it can get and can be considered an anomaly, so few laptop users are gamers, so unless your profession requires it the rest of us are moderate to low power users. For me the cap for moderate is the average core i5 processor.

Now that we know what we NEED in a laptop ain’t core i7 we’ve saved alot (money) from that knowledge.

As this is 254tech we are primarily concerned with local market. So two main things Kenyans should look out for when acquiring a laptop are:

~Specs
~Manufacturer

Lets delve deeper into those two points & break them down further.

Specs (aka Specifications)
These are the hardware components of the comp. Commonly sought after specs are:

1. Screen Size – Depends on user
2. Processor – Depends on Cost RAM – 4GB and above is GREAT!
3. Ports – 4 USB, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, 1 ETHERNET, MMC/SD
4. Graphics – Only necessary for gamers & they know to pick nVidia over ATI.

Manufacturer
This must have been a shocker as few consider this, but its vital. This can be subdivided into 3 key points:

1. Support – Good brands locally are HP, DELL, TOSHIBA, IBM…..
2. Warranty – do they have warranty centres locally?
3. Parts, spares & accessories – Are they easily available?

This can be underrated at time but we Kenyans are a loyal breed, so when we get a HP & it serves us OK to well, we’ll die with that brand for generation s to come.

So that handles the ‘what to look for’ part, onto some advice.

As I wrote in a previous article that batteries for laptops last UPTO 4 years, and laptops are the same…4 years of GOOD service before it starts becoming problematic if it hasn’t reached there yet.

So when picking a laptop I advise you to buy a midranged laptop and that in Kenya ranges from 45,000 (core i3) to 65,000 (core i5)

If you know of someone flying in from the States, you’re better off importing than buying a machine locally as abroad (USA) you have more variety & cost is lower for higher specs as the tablet/smartphone world has thrown the laptop market into disarray.

Remember Never pick Cost over Quality…you’ll always pay for that mistake.

Buy a laptop from a respectable place…I prefer along Kimathi Road and its very close environs.

Buy a laptop with Windows pre-installed.

Buy a laptop for tomorrow… look at the futuristic trends… like the extinction of DVD drives, the high uptake of the HDMI port, USB 3.0, etc

Though my above points seems to contradict my earlier statement about core i7’s, truth is…you don’t need more than a Core i5 laptop (even for the future) unless you render stuff or are a RIDICULOUSLY heavy gamer….

That’s all for now….I hope I made it easier for you to pick a laptop. While buying a laptop there’s never a WRONG choice but there are always BETTER choices, ensure you get the best value for your money. Hit us up on the Comment section below for any queries on this matter.

Mac vs. PC

The age old debate, Apple Fan boys vs. The Rest, Jobs vs Gates…which is better?
I’m here to give you a couple of facts that’ll help you see which side you fall on or prefer.

Why go Mac?

Screen – Retina Display (laptops) & high def LCDs…need I say more… with a pixel density of near 300ppi (on laptops) very few PC’s will ever be able to match that.
Build quality – All aluminium body, Apple don’t compromise on this, ensuring a beautiful ‘unibody’ design with a fantastic finish. They’re sturdy & pretty, the perfect combination. While PC’s are made from EVERYTHING, from titanium to recycled plastic.
Keyboard & touch pad (laptops) – Most PC manufacturers such as Sony have replicated the design elements of the Mac Keyboard. The keys are comfortably spaced and the back light is just a nifty feature that PC has not yet understood. Their touch pad is unrivalled…its functionality, 3 times that of a PC touch pad.
Quality of devices – As Apple have a limited range of laptops & desktops they can ensure the perfect cohabitation between their OS and Software…this ensures their laptops just work, well, and with little hassle. PC can be made by ANYONE, there are no Set or Universal standards for PC hence quality depends on the manufacturer and the series you picked from that manufacturer.
Streamlined choices = Better Laptops/Desktops – This works in conjunction with the above point. The fewer the variants the easier it is for Apple to press on in hardware and software advances as they have few variants to consider while making changes to hardware and software.
Macs can run Windows, but PCs cannot (legitimately) run Mac OS X.
You buy a new Mac out of lust and a new PC because your old one is crap.

Why go PC?

Cost – they start from a meagre 20,000 KSh and range to 100,000+ while Mac can’t be obtained at 60,000 Ksh or less… This is the greatest strength of PC’s.
Availability – Shops that sell Macs locally can be counted, while PC shops have sprung up everywhere in the city.
User Friendly/Common – Out of the total number of Computer literate Kenyans less than 10% know how to use Mac OS. As we are biased and have grown up in a PC based country, most Kenyans will view PC as easier to use, but in my own opinion Mac is fairly easy to use but if I were to type out a document using Word on either Mac or PC, I’d RUN for PC.
Spares & fixing – Have you ever damaged a Mac or a problem arose with hardware & lived financially to tell the story? I have; the glass protecting an iMac screen shattered during transportation…cost for replacing the protective screen went well above 20,000 Ksh not including the time wasted waiting for the glass (screen) to be imported. PC parts are much cheaper & require less importing.
Better support for accessories, ports & software – From your average mp3 player to your Android phones, PC supports them out of the box or the software to support accessories and plug-ins are easily available. The adapters for Mac as they use proprietary ports or rarely used ports such as Thunderbolt & FireWire are hard to find/locate and are costly.

Which is better is now a conflict of interest. Macs are quality and really good to use, simply functional devices…in short I love Mac, but the overal cost is just too high. What drives me & I think I speak for most Kenyans when I say, we are driven by cost of acquiring and maintenance; Macs are horrible in that sector. PC’s are everywhere, affordable and the accessories & software support is really good.
Again, in my own opinion…..if you love hardware & software seamless functionality Mac is for you….a great device that just works.
If you’re driven by Cost, availability & support….PC is for you. It all boils down to your taste & depth of your pockets.

Laptop Battery Care

Recently my laptop battery begun to fail two years after manufacture, leading me to do some research on what I did wrong. On this quest for knowledge I came across many disproved myths and gained tokens of knowledge which I’ll be sharing with you this day.

Let’s start this article with some ‘bad’ news, all batteries DIE eventually. For laptops, 2-4 years is generally acceptable depending on how frequently you use and charge the battery. Since batteries are used in demanding environmental conditions, manufacturers take a conservative approach and specify the life of most Li-ion (Lithium Ion) batteries between 300 and 500 discharge/charge cycles.  A discharge/charge cycle is commonly defined as only 80% of the available energy/power stored is being delivered and 20% remains in reserve, i.e. Discharge from 100% to 20%. With that data, one can see why even 4 years battery life is too much to ask for from a frequent user.

So what do we need to do to ensure we end up with the most number of years the battery can serve us? Let’s deal with the Major killer of batteries, HEAT….Batteries hate HEAT….. A battery dwelling above 35°C (which is considered elevated temperature) and any increase in such for most Li-ion is detrimental to the battery’s health. Heat related Do’s & Don’ts are:

• Always use your laptop on a hard surface. Laptops are portable and it’s easy to set your laptop on your lap or on your bed and use it at your leisure. That’s one of the benefits but if you want to extend your battery life you have to watch out for overheating your laptop. Clogging the air vents leads to the above elevated temperatures or higher.
• Be careful where you store your laptop. This goes back to the heat issue. Don’t leave your laptop in the car where it can get very hot. Batteries hate heat and your laptop battery will go on strike permanently if you expose it to too much heat.
• Do not keep your laptop battery installed during HEAVY use (i.e. Gaming & rendering) when connected to AC for an extended period of time.

I cannot possibly over emphasize the need to ‘keep it cool’ with your battery.

Other Do’s & Don’ts may be:

1. If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.
2. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
3. For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.
4. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery. When fully charged, you can remove the battery and allow to voltage to revert to a more natural level like relaxing after exercise or use the battery.

Now to disprove myths and answer common questions.

Should I remove the battery when AC is plugged in?

The answer is: YES and NO, it depends on the situation.

Having a battery fully charged and the laptop plugged in is not harmful, because as soon as the charge level reaches 100% the battery stops receiving charging energy and this energy is bypassed directly to the power supply system of the laptop.

However there’s a disadvantage in keeping the battery in its socket when the laptop is plugged in, but only if it’s currently suffering from excessive heating caused by the laptop hardware.

So:

• In a normal usage, if the laptop doesn’t get too hot (CPU and Hard Disk around 40°C to 50°C) the battery can remain in the laptop socket;
• In an intensive usage which leads to a large amount of heat produced (i.e. Games, temperatures above 60°C) the battery should be removed from the socket in order to prevent unwanted heating.

The heat, among the fact that it has 100% of charge, is the great enemy of the lithium battery and not the plug, as many might think so.

Does the long or short full charged storing period affect the battery’s life?

For Lithium based batteries, high charge voltage + high battery temperature = REDUCED LIFE.  Storing the battery at low temperature, but above freezing, is best.  Since you do not want the battery to self-discharge to zero, it is best to store the battery with a partial charge.  If you don’t know how long it will be stored, your safest bet is to do a full charge before storing.  It is not as good as having a partial charge, but an accidental “flat lining” of the battery will render it useless and dangerous to recharge.

Should I fully charge the battery then drain to Zero?

Full battery discharges (until laptop power shutdown, 0%) should be avoided, because this stresses the battery a lot and can even damage it. It’s recommended to perform partial discharges to capacity levels of 20-30% and frequent charges, instead of performing a full discharging followed by a full charging.

Batteries don’t degrade when removed from the laptop?

On the contrary, they still do but at a slower rate. Laptop batteries are usually made with Li-Ion batteries last at most about 4-5 years (shelf life) and have a self-discharge rate of about 1% per day so you need to be sure to charge them at least every 6 months if in storage.

Standby vs. Hibernate mode; which is better?

Standby powers down most hardware (monitor and hard disks) other than RAM where all applications and open files are stored. When you want to use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. Hibernate powers down everything storing all your open applications and files in the non-volatile hard disk.

When you will be away from the computer for an extended time or need to save power, while working, Hibernate is the way to go.

For Microsoft users; to get the most out of your battery, use power plans there are two power plans that come with Windows that are useful for laptops:

• Balanced. This is the plan that most laptops use. It offers full performance and display brightness when you need it and saves power during periods of inactivity.
• Power saver. This plan can help you get the most from a single battery charge. It saves power by reducing system performance and screen brightness.

When does Windows display this sign (Replace battery)?

It’s displayed when your battery has attained less than 40% charge retention from its original capacity.

Do batteries still explode?

Only Lithium Polymer batteries can explode when overcharged, which is a fault with the charge circuitry while Lithium Ion batteries are less susceptible to explosions. Technology has advanced and as long as you buy genuine parts & products, explosion cases are rare.

In the end, there’s no SURE way to use/store your battery, but above are plausible ways of enhancing battery life. Hope this article helps you manage if not understand batteries better.

Written by DGM