Knowing what you need can save money
Laptop makers have found a new and rapidly growing market within their own market- the budget laptop.
The idea of a budget laptop was first thought up by government officials as an attempt to give opportunities to poorer inner city adults and children. These opportunities were previously available to those who could afford the roughly $1,000 minimum price tag.
However, times have changed.
Now there is a growing number of laptops that cost as little as $400, but not all of them work well. Even when shopping for a budget computer, it is important to make sure it has enough power and capabilities.
“The most important things I would look for in any computer are its processor and how much RAM (Random Access Memory) it has,” said Chau Nguyen, a sophomore history major. “Without a decent processor or with little to no RAM, the performance of everything in the computer becomes hindered, no matter how much money you put into it.”
Many people agree with this assessment and offer plenty of good reasons for it.
“Processor speed is the most important because it is so much more expensive to upgrade compared to everything else,” said Alex Seroff, a senior political science major. “If I wanted to upgrade my processor after I had made some extra money, I would have to seriously consider getting an entirely new computer because it wouldn’t be that much more expensive.”
Most budget laptops come with roughly a 1.5 Gigahertz processor and about 2 Gigabytes of RAM. Laptops with these specs usually cost some where between $700 and $900.
However, a company by the name of Asus revolutionized the budget laptop market when they came out with the Asus Eee PC 4G for roughly $400. The laptop is designed to cut down cost (and therefore performance) while still being outfitted with an operating system that can work within its limited capabilities.
Other PC companies have followed Asus’ lead and have started to offer lower cost laptops with an operating system that can work within their constraints. One such competitor is the Everex Cloudbook which is also offered at around $400.
A pretty common problem with low-end laptops is that operating systems today are being made to work with high to average performance laptops. When looking into budget laptops, be sure to address this issue and make sure the low performance laptop has a suitable operating system.
There is an alternative to buying a budget laptop that is not always explored by consumers. “Refurbished computers have a lot of off name brands and usually cost a lot less than new computers with the same specs,” said Christian Rohr, a freshman philosophy major. “They also usually have a lot of factory warranties that last for a long time.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Andrew Nute at Nute@colorado.edu.
