How to Get the Most Out
of a Laptop Review

A laptop review can be a valuable tool in the buying process. The trick is in knowing how to use it.

Here is how to get the most out of laptop and notebook reviews:

• First, you'll need to know how a typical review is constructed.
• Second, you'll need to extract the information that is valuable to you.
• Third, you'll need to apply that information to come up with your ideal purchase.

Anatomy of a laptop review...

• basic laptop specs - while not always consistent, this may include such standard information such as processor type and speed, amount of RAM memory, hard disk capacity, and display screen size.

• summary description - usually consisting of flashy buzz words, this is usually not more than a catch phrase designed to hook you into reading the review of the laptop.

• description - this is the meat of the review, with a lot of detail about features that you either don't understand, or will never use.

Before you even look at any reviews, you need to know what your minimum requirements are. Knowing your minimum requirements for a laptop purchase is the key to using a review to your best advantage.

How to use the parts of a laptop review...

• summary - there usually isn't much here for you that you can't get from the specs, but one of the buzz words might help you to know if you should go further. For example, the word wireless or the term Wi-Fi might indicate that you are on the right track.

• specs - if you're reading reviews for laptops that don't meet your needs, what's the point? For each required spec, ensure that you have a match (or better). If one of the required specs does not match, then this laptop isn't for you. Skip the rest of the review.

• description - to save time, skim the rest of the review as it usually is mostly fluff. What you want to look for are any negative points raised. The last paragraph or two may have a more useful summary than the summary, so you'll want to look there as well!

What about price? I see people making this mistake all the time. Price is not important if the computer you choose does not do the job.

Let's face it, even if you buy the lowest price laptop on the market, you're still going to have to pay the going rate for whatever you buy. The lowest price doesn't help you if the system doesn't work for you.

As long as you follow the guidelines, however, you'll know that you've chosen a laptop that meets your needs. This makes it impossible to overbuy or underbuy. Using a laptop review the right way will guarantee a successful purchase of the correct system.