I confess, this post is a bit of a rant and will probably make me sound really old. ‘I remember the good ol’ days’ it begins! My Macbook Air has served me well. But it is getting on a bit. I have had this for over 9 years now. Given that prior to this laptops I had would be good and working well for 3 years before needing to be replaced, I am quite impressed.
This time around, I am not really in a position to opt for another Mac. Nor do I want to. Some of the key software I want is only available on Windows. So I am looking at a Windows laptop. Buying a Windows PC has also been a bit more complicated as at least with Macs, there is only one company making them and they know that every component of every computer they produced works well together. The only thing you really need to decide is your budget and work from that to get the best options you can.
On Windows there are so many different options and combinations of options that it is inevitably more complicated. However, it seems more so in 2023 than before and this is a frustration. In the past, when I bought a Windows PC there were 3 types of processor around. The Intel Pentium, the Intel Celeron and the AMD Athalon. It was known that Pentiums were the best, Athalons were mid range but closing on the Pentiums and Celerons were a budget option. Then the only consideration was processor speed. A high speed meant a better processor. It seems not so simple now. There are multiple different types of processor you can get from i3s, i5s and i7s to AMD Ryzen’s and Intel Atoms. Beyond that there is the CPU speed as before, but also the generation of the chip and the number of cores.
I’ve found this article from Which really helpful – https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/laptops/article/intel-processors-explained-what-is-core-i3-i5-i7-and-pentium-av6235O66IQP
Then, there is memory to consider – RAM. The higher number the better, but then it also pays to bear in mind the type of RAM you are getting. Some computers have more RAM but a lesser type and so it may be better to have less RAM of a better type.
Currently I am looking at these two laptops as being within budget and of seemingly similar spec.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-57
ASUS Vivobook 15 X1500EA
And am some point I will look into this more deeply and make a decision. If you know of any places I can go to get advice on laptop buying in 2023 – please drop it into the comments below.
