Regardless of all the other
products with staggering discounts on Black Friday, technology
remains the season’s number one seller. This includes a wide
variety of items, of course, everything from desktops to professional
headphones, with hundreds of dollars knocked off their original
selling price. That begs the question, is BlackFriday prime laptop hunting season, or is it
worth spending a little more for a more high-powered machine?
products with staggering discounts on Black Friday, technology
remains the season’s number one seller. This includes a wide
variety of items, of course, everything from desktops to professional
headphones, with hundreds of dollars knocked off their original
selling price. That begs the question, is BlackFriday prime laptop hunting season, or is it
worth spending a little more for a more high-powered machine?
The Best Thing to Buy
DailyFinance lists laptop computers among their best products to buy onBlack Friday, noting that in 2011 more than 60
percent of the featured laptop sales were for machines considered
?Editor’s Choice.? This means that the product was so good and
the price so low, chances are the majority of journalists and tech
geeks reviewing it bought one to call their own. Frontpage items on
Black Friday ads tend to include the best laptop sales, and it’s
rare that there isn?t at least one included as a ?doorbuster.?
percent of the featured laptop sales were for machines considered
?Editor’s Choice.? This means that the product was so good and
the price so low, chances are the majority of journalists and tech
geeks reviewing it bought one to call their own. Frontpage items on
Black Friday ads tend to include the best laptop sales, and it’s
rare that there isn?t at least one included as a ?doorbuster.?
However, this means that you need
to be fully prepared when the day arrives and understand exactly what
kind of machine you need. Whether it’s by make and model or by
performance, there are a couple things to take note of in your quest
for a good Black Friday laptop:
to be fully prepared when the day arrives and understand exactly what
kind of machine you need. Whether it’s by make and model or by
performance, there are a couple things to take note of in your quest
for a good Black Friday laptop:
-
Do you need a specific
screen size to be comfortable? If you?re used to a 17 inch screen
and buy a new laptop featuring a student-standard 14 inch display,
you may find yourself squinting more often than not. -
What kind of processed power
do you need? With Intel and AMD processors ranging in speed all
across the board, from single-core up to quad-core processing, it’s
hard to know exactly what to look for. If you?re in the market for
a gaming machine, more processing power is pretty much always
better, but if you?re buying a unit for a college-bound relative,
a dual-core processor will probably work just fine. -
How good is the battery
life? If you?re looking for a machine that will be good to travel,
make sure it has enough battery life to keep going on long trips.
Ultrabook notebooks include solid-state hard drives, making them run
for longer on less power, but are considerably more expensive. It
would definitely be worth waiting for the best Black Friday laptop
deals in this case. -
Is touch functionality
necessary? Windows 8 was designed for touch devices, but appears on
all Windows-based machines at this point, with or without this
functionality. If you?re comfortable without it, don?t spend
extra just to have it?chances are it will cause more trouble than
not. -
What about peripherals? Are
you going to be plugging in external monitors, multiple USB devices
and other accessories? Take this into account when it comes time to
buy, and always check the number and speed of the USB ports on the
doorbuster you?re working into your budget. (On the other hand,
you could also just invest in a good USB hub. Peripherals go on sale
on Black Friday too!)
There
are plenty of recommendations for what you need to look for in a laptop, on CNet
citing style and weight as two other key features of any laptop
purchase, but no one else can tell you exactly what you need.
are plenty of recommendations for what you need to look for in a laptop, on CNet
citing style and weight as two other key features of any laptop
purchase, but no one else can tell you exactly what you need.
Set Aside Some Cash
Once you?ve figured out what a
laptop should be capable of in order to fit your needs, ask yourself:
How much are you willing to spend on your next processing powerhouse?
Nerd Wallet reports predictions that a budget laptop could have a
price tag under $200, but if you want a more powerful machine you?ll
have to shell out a little extra?to the tune of $700 or so. Don?t
turn your nose up at that price, though; any laptop capable of going
toe to toe with a desktop unit usually runs upward of $1300, making
that one of the steepest discount predictions of the year.
laptop should be capable of in order to fit your needs, ask yourself:
How much are you willing to spend on your next processing powerhouse?
Nerd Wallet reports predictions that a budget laptop could have a
price tag under $200, but if you want a more powerful machine you?ll
have to shell out a little extra?to the tune of $700 or so. Don?t
turn your nose up at that price, though; any laptop capable of going
toe to toe with a desktop unit usually runs upward of $1300, making
that one of the steepest discount predictions of the year.
The fact of the matter is, the
best laptops are never cheaper for the consumer than during the
holiday shopping season. The key is to know what you need and where
to find it, which actually gets easier all the time. Between
retailer-approved leaks and online previews of BlackFriday ads posted to helpful sites like BFAds
in the weeks before Thanksgiving, it’s easy to find all the laptops
and accessories going on sale. After that, it’s time to do the
research and find the one that works best for you. You may not find
the perfect unit this Black Friday, but if you can get something
close, upgradable, easy to use, and on sale for 50 percent of the
original asking price, why would you miss out on the chance? There’s
no better time to get the technology you want at a price you can
afford, so take a little more time saving up for the big day. You?ll
be glad you did.
best laptops are never cheaper for the consumer than during the
holiday shopping season. The key is to know what you need and where
to find it, which actually gets easier all the time. Between
retailer-approved leaks and online previews of BlackFriday ads posted to helpful sites like BFAds
in the weeks before Thanksgiving, it’s easy to find all the laptops
and accessories going on sale. After that, it’s time to do the
research and find the one that works best for you. You may not find
the perfect unit this Black Friday, but if you can get something
close, upgradable, easy to use, and on sale for 50 percent of the
original asking price, why would you miss out on the chance? There’s
no better time to get the technology you want at a price you can
afford, so take a little more time saving up for the big day. You?ll
be glad you did.