Purchasing a laptop

[Butterfly]

As'Salaamu alaikum,

My laptop went bad and I was told to buy an new one. I've looked at websites like frys, bestbuy etc. I'm so computer illiterate that I don't know how to compare laptops, processors, memories. This stuff makes no sense to me. Is there anyone on here who can guide me in what to look out for? For a comparison, I was using Gateway NV series (I'll post the model number as soon as I can). For me, it worked well, had no issue with it. I upgraded it to windows 10 when the "try it for free" popup came.

[*charisma*]

Walaikum asalaam

If you don't really have a budget and can splurge, a macbook air is pretty reliable, fast, and no viruses! It doesn't get as annoying as windows with the constant updates and shutdowns mashallah.

Otherwise if you prefer windows and something more budget friendly, Lenovo is quite good in my past experiences.

It helps to know what you use your laptop for most? Is it work/school? Photo editing? gaming? etc..

[Bobbyflay23]

As'Salaamu alaikum,

My laptop went bad and I was told to buy an new one. I've looked at websites like frys, bestbuy etc. I'm so computer illiterate that I don't know how to compare laptops, processors, memories. This stuff makes no sense to me. Is there anyone on here who can guide me in what to look out for? For a comparison, I was using Gateway NV series (I'll post the model number as soon as I can). For me, it worked well, had no issue with it. I upgraded it to windows 10 when the "try it for free" popup came.

Ok well it depends on what you need it for like if it's for school it can be low quality same goes to just for browsing the web but if it's for business or gaming then it's gonna have to be more expensive
Soo for memory(ram) it's the amount of stuff it can handle at ounce like if you where to open up a bunch of tabs on the internet at ounce or a bunch of programs at ounce for say business even if say your playing a game all of the little animals or players in the game that your laptop to simulate soo basically memory is important for every type of thing that you want to do on your laptop for CPU(processers)power it's just gonna make what ever you do faster so like ittl load up web pages faster for like a graphics card this is really on essincal for gaming and somtimes business it's actually not even mandatory to be inside the laptop all it really is is kinda like extra ram not really but like if you want to watch a 4K movie or like your playing a video game and it's super detailed or if your on a business program and building a model of somthing it can be more detailed sooo yea and with storage(hardrive or ssd )it's basically how much stuff you can store on it and there's also faster storage so like how fast ittl load up things inside it's storage a ssd i believe is the fastest hardrive that will load things up quickest all ittl basically do is make loading bars quicker when your loading up a program and stuff sooo yea that's all you need to know about the parts so basically if you pay attension to what your gonna use it for you can figure out how quality of a part your gonna need there's also a part called a mother board but I forgot what it does because I havnt dealt with pcs in a while I think it's kinda the center board that like connects all the parts together

[Bobbyflay23]

Also above when I mention the graphics card it's different category then the CPU the CPU is mandatory sooo yea

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[Butterfly]

Thanks bro, that was a lot of info. I mainly going to use it for school work, small business, and browsing.

[Abz2000]

If your issue was due to a windows upgrade then it's likely just an operating system issue, you should easily be able to find a teenager relative who tinkers to reformat the hard disk and install a stable version of windows for you and download hardware drivers or use a driverpack.
I can still remember buying a dell inspron 6400 off a local shop attendant a few years back who came to my stall and insisted on selling it to me due to a viral infection for £50 despite my advice that it would be like new after a fresh format and install, apparently someone had mistakenly told him it could never be fully repaired, I think i sold it for around £150 within a few days.

Also if your data is important and hasn't been backed up, you might want having your hard disk removed from your laptop and installed in a usb hard disk case/caddy (if you can't use a live boot disc environment to back it up).

Ask someone who tinkers or check how to remove and install it on youtube.

[Simple_Person]

Well so far much has been said already.

As you will not really be a heavy gamer, you do not need a "dedicated"-graphics card. Also about whole virus stuff, well i myself am a Linux user and i also have no problems with it. Not a big fan of Mac's as much is restricted. Do remember a Mac-book doesn't work the same as Windows, so you need to adjust a bit to it if you never have worked with it.

Now a days a SSD (type of harddrive) is STRONGLY recommended if you ask me. A SSD type of harddrive is MUCH faster in other words booting up and working on your laptop goes a lot faster. So to translate it in to geek language

Size: around 15 inch is kind of oke. That is not to big but also not to small.
CPU (Processor): A Intel i5 processor is fast enough but not overkill. So that would work well for you. Right now i believe the 6th generation is only available for laptops. The higher the generation the lower the power consumption is and often also faster.
Memory(RAM): Now a days 8 GB would do the job as i assume you do not buy it to last 2 days, but a couple of years at least.
GPU (Graphic card): As i already said no dedicated graphics card is needed. So no AMD or Nvidia graphics card. The built in Intel graphics card is sufficient for the things you want it to do, as it also saves much battery.
Hard-drive: I earlier said a SSD type if it is possible. However they are more expensive and 250 GB at max is enough for you. 120 GB if you ask me you will encounter more problems in the future.
Battery: Now a days many have 4 cell. It is oke, but IF possible 6 would be more of a good deal. This lasts i believe maybe till 6 hours or longer, but again majority of the laptops have 4 cell and that does the job.
Keyboard: Now a days many keyboards have the keys a bit separated from each other to prevent dust getting in to it. Do also be ware of that. As the ones that do not have this, is rather annoying. Also, do you want a dedicated numpad area? Like a old-school keyboard? It is handy if you work or will work with numbers.
Card reader: Many times we also have to deal with sd-cards and a sd-card reader also becomes handy. So also keep that in mind.
Brand laptop: Well what do you want as the OS (Operating System)? Do you want Mac-Os? Do you want Windows? Also with this keep in mind that on Windows more software is available than on Mac-OS. Laptops with Windows you can choose between many different kind of laptops, while Mac you are rather limited. The brands that i DO NOT advice..are Acer, Packard Bell and also Asus. I have a Lenovo and till now does it job very well.
Extra: Remember to have a decent amount of USB (USB 3.0 at least being 1). Also think about VGA or HDMI output to connect it with a projector for presentations. If it only supports HDMI, you can buy a converter (HDMI-->VGA). A DVD-rom/Blue ray is not necessary.

Will you also be using it often for Skype kind of applications? (Camera, good dual microphone for suppressing background noise).

These are a bit the basic things you should keep in mind. Also if you have found some laptops that you maybe want to buy, i would advice you to post at max 3 laptops so we can help you further more with the pros and cons of them.

Keep us updated :). Happy hunting.

[Butterfly]

No brother, the port where I connect the charger is no longer responding. The battery works fine, everything is fine. But to replace that part is just as costly as a laptop around $400. The tech told me it's connected to the motherboard so the whole motherboard needs to be replaced. These are more pricy than pc motherboards + the cost of labor (no less than $100).

Now that I think about it, is there another method to charge a laptop battery?

[Butterfly]

Oh there was more than one reply.

I'll take notes on these different components when I look. InshaAllah

Thank you for your responses.

[Simple_Person]

No brother, the port where I connect the charger is no longer responding. The battery works fine, everything is fine. But to replace that part is just as costly as a laptop around $400. The tech told me it's connected to the motherboard so the whole motherboard needs to be replaced. These are more pricy than pc motherboards + the cost of labor (no less than $100).

Now that I think about it, is there another method to charge a laptop battery?

No, the problem with laptops is that the whole power part of laptops is directly on the motherboard as that tech told you. There is no other way to charge the battery or you must have a similar laptop to put the battery in that one. With a PC it is possible to replace that part as it is more modular.

That you have problems with the power port being broken or something like that, i would also advice you to thinking about the future laptop where this port is located, to prevent this same kind of problem happening again.

[Butterfly]

For reference, my damaged laptop is Gateway NV52L15u.