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Well, I believe many people are looking for laptops, notebooks or even turning to an alternative, tablets.

Polys have so many choices that sometimes you would not think about getting one outside. Comparing features from outside shops and Polys, the laptops sold in school should be cheaper because of the requirements in the notebooks, which is lower.

Processors are important, it determines how fast each program runs. DuoCore is the latest chip in processors. AMD and Intel have DuoCore processors. Duo means double, which also means less heat generated, which ultimately means faster processors. DuoCore meaning double in heatloss, double in processor speed. A 1.8Ghz DuoCore processors is supposingly to be 3.6Ghz. But of course, we don’t expect that much from a laptop. AMD for games and Intel for work, that’s what is known outside. Make your choices wisely.

Ram are the second thing people look at. Ram determines how many programs can be run at the same time. More ram the better right? That’s quite true. Other than the power consumption which will be higher, there’s nothing wrong in getting more rams. Rams are not cheap and different from desktop rams which is standard. Remember to check if the ram is compatible before buying in and putting it into the notebook.BTW, processors cannot be upgraded like RAMs.

Graphic cards are the third thing people look at when purchasing a notebook. Since you are getting a notebook for school, you shouldn’t be too concerned about the graphics. Graphics cards are less likely to go below 128mb nowadays. Graphic cards speed such as 224 or 384mb can be achieved by adding 128+64+32 and so on. So, don’t worry about the graphics if you have turned over a new leaf and not play games.

Storage. Most people will get an external hard disk in case their laptop runs out of space to store information. If not, the biggest capacity 2.5″ hard disk available and affordable is 180GB. Which should be enough for 3 years. Don’t upgrade as you need it. Prepare some GBs in case. Thumb drives should be enough since the capacity is getting bigger. Losing information in portable hard disk is also common. Moving around, shaking around, swinging, dropping, magnetising, all will risk losing information on the HDD. Why? Simple because it’s a Hard Disk. Writing information on discs in a box. Thumb drives uses flash memory which stores information as bytes and doesn’t magnetise anything in it to store information. Thumb drives are safer but lower in capacity, Hard disk have high capacity but risk losing information.

Weight. Lighter the better. Too light and you will realise there is no DVD/CD drives. To reduce weight on a laptop, you can buy one with a exchangeable modular bay, or one without a CD/DVD drive. Either way will reduce weight. And don’t be too stupid to ask the salesman if there’s a wide, big, laptop lighter than 1.5kg. Size does affect the weight. Please don’t get a toughbook unless you want to be phyiscally tougher. It weights somewhere between 2-4kg.

Platforms. XP, Vista, Mac. Which one does your school ask you to use? XP would be cheaper since it will be outdated soon. Vista risks unstability, uncompatibility and unfamiliarity. It’s time to get used to it. Mac usually costs a lot, so don’t try to bargain much as it would not make big difference. If it does, then check the software and hardware in the Macbook again. The older it is, the cheaper it gets. There IS Linux platforms in some laptops.

Tablet or notebook. Finally, the difference between a tablet and a notebook. Strangely, tablets cost more than notebooks, other than the HP TX1005AU or TX1000AU which I’m owning. For mine, it costs S$2300 which I know, is the first tablet below S$2899. I’m not comparing to schools. This cannot be purchased in any school.
Tablet have LCD screen which can turn 360 in either one or two directions. Fujitsu, HP, Compaq, Acer, and some other brands all have tablets.

Tablets are pen enabled platforms which allows touch-screen and drawing directly on the Liquid Crystal Screens which again have a limited lifespan. So…touch screen or not, is up to you.

I know laptops and tablets are expensive, so it’s wise to check the specs offered by shops outside and inside schools. It’s always too late to sell a laptop/ tablet once opened and realised not up to standard.

Also have warranties, backup, hotlines ready, virus scans in your arsenal to fight off any problems you might face. Installing softwares might also risk your computer to viruses and trojans and bugs. Update often and try not to get pirated Windows Vista, cause it will not have Windows Update.

For the rest of the softwares, I guess you could get pirated ones unless you’re too rich.