Ever since my laptop was broken beyond repair, I have been borrowing my sister's computer. Now I have a job *happy dance!* and have about $500 set aside to get a replacement. I'd like to get it from Amazon during the Black Friday sales so I can get the most bang for my buck.
The trouble is, as always when it comes to computers, I am not a computer person. You would think computers were tools to be used, not religions to study for the rest of your life. But it seems that no matter how much research I do, I am always just as behind as I was before. If I look up part A, I don't know what it does unless I also look up part B, which can't be understood without studying code X, which is meaningless unless you're familiar with electrical theory Z. Black Friday is 10 days away and I have spent so much time just figuring out what I need, I haven't even gotten to price comparing yet. So, as a fellow fish nerd, I humbly ask you computer nerds to help me out.
I mainly want to use the laptop to browse the internet, process digital photos, write stories or papers, watch movies, and create digital art. I'll be making heavy use of GIMP, which, like Photoshop, eats RAM like candy. From what I have gathered, these are the things I need:
These are the things I'm not sure I need or which ones to get:
And then there are the things I see on the specs list that I have no idea about. Do these matter? (Well, obviously, they do. But are they things I should bother worrying about?)
Once I get the specs out of the way, I think I'll be able to compare actual models myself, but if you know of any good ones that would work for me, do tell.
The trouble is, as always when it comes to computers, I am not a computer person. You would think computers were tools to be used, not religions to study for the rest of your life. But it seems that no matter how much research I do, I am always just as behind as I was before. If I look up part A, I don't know what it does unless I also look up part B, which can't be understood without studying code X, which is meaningless unless you're familiar with electrical theory Z. Black Friday is 10 days away and I have spent so much time just figuring out what I need, I haven't even gotten to price comparing yet. So, as a fellow fish nerd, I humbly ask you computer nerds to help me out.
I mainly want to use the laptop to browse the internet, process digital photos, write stories or papers, watch movies, and create digital art. I'll be making heavy use of GIMP, which, like Photoshop, eats RAM like candy. From what I have gathered, these are the things I need:
- Large memory (1 TB)
- High ram (8-16 GB)
- CPU 2GHz or faster
- Warranty (at least 1 year, preferably including accidental damage)
- Lifetime Microsoft Office (or something to write with that doesn't require a subscription or cost hundreds of dollars to purchase)
These are the things I'm not sure I need or which ones to get:
- Operating system...? Don't even know where to start. Windows 10 sounds good except for the privacy issues and the fact that it's still very new. Linux might as well be a hobby of its own. Not sure what other options I have.
- SSD hard drive
- High-resolution screen (full HD preferred but not required); how do I tell if the color saturation is good?
- Long battery life/replaceable battery, low heat
- Ports for MP3, camera SD memory card, USB, etc.
And then there are the things I see on the specs list that I have no idea about. Do these matter? (Well, obviously, they do. But are they things I should bother worrying about?)
- processor type
- graphics coprocessor
- processor count
- hard drive rotational speed
Once I get the specs out of the way, I think I'll be able to compare actual models myself, but if you know of any good ones that would work for me, do tell.