What is the ram in a laptop and how much does a laptop need?

Question

im looking to buy a laptop that is fast, and comes with a built in webcam, i dont quite understand what RAM, Harddrive, Memory it needs, or even what that means, my budget is around £400 can anyone suggest what is best for me and please explain, thanks x

Answer 1

Here's pretty much the basic information you need to know.

Hard drive : The size of your hard drive is how much you can store in your computer.  It's kind of like how much a glass or jug can store.  The bigger, the more it stores.  Typical laptop hard drives current are ranging from about 100 GB to 400 GB (though they can be higher or lower).  Hard drives are within your computer and they have a speed which is how fast they spin.  The faster they spin - the faster your computer goes as it reads information quicker (similar to how a CD spins in your drive).  So, depending on what you do, you need different HDs.  If you are just taking some photos and getting on the internet, you do not need a big hard drive.

RAM / Memory : RAM and Memory are one in the same and often used interchangeably so it can get pretty confusing.  RAM stands for Random Access Memory.  Your memory determines how many programs you can run and what you can copy paste.  The bigger the RAM, the more you can do.  So let's say you are running Firefox or a web browser  - that doesn't take up much memory.  A big program like a newer game or Adobe Photoshop will take up a good amount of RAM - like 1 GB at times or more.  Also, if you are copying a huge photo and running a lot of programs, your computer won't be able to remember it.  Again, if you aren't using the laptop for a lot of Photoshop / Illustrator work or games, you don't need a huge amount of RAM.  1-2 GB should do.

Graphics Card:  Your computer also has something called a graphics card - makes all the pictures appear.  This isn't really important probably to you.  Just mentioning it.  They have different amounts of vRAM (video memory essentially).  Don't worry about this - just wanted to mention it.

Some computer suggestions for you:

Dell Inspiron (You can choose your color and for a basic computers Dells are pretty good and pretty cheap - they get a lot of c**p for not being the best - and they aren't - but they run well and are in your price range) http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/produc...

Dell Studio (A little bit better than the Inspiron, does a little more, basic version still in your price range)

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/produc...

HP G50 (HPs are a little higher quality, but this one isn't as cute)

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/...

Asus Eee PC (http://eeepc.asus.com/uk/)

The Eee PCs are tiny little laptops - they are super portable but do not come with a webcam.  They run Linux - not Windows.

Answer 2

get 2GB

with windows vista the computer wont reconise 4GB

So the best bet for money and speed is 2 Gb you cant go wrong

Answer 3

right click on my computer

in the general tab look under computer

Answer 4

I try to use the analogy of a secretary and a filing cabinet to explain this to clients.

The filing cabinet is the hard drive.The harddrive stores the programs and files on your laptop. Go for anything over 100gb. The more the better. For your budget ignore the speed of the hard drive.

The cpu determines how fast the secretary can walk, the ram memory is their capacity to remember things.

The more you ask them to do the more ram that is needed. 2gb should be your minimum. The more ram the more programs you can run simulanteously  (and faster)

You won't have much choice with the speed of the cpu but go for a dual core.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/p...

the above is a good spec for the price. A little over budget but the post sales support from compac (HP) is normally very good. PC world's support is c**p but you wont have to deal with them after buying it. I dont like pc world much but at least you can see the laptop and touch it.

Do not buy advent or emachines. Awfull build quality and support

In general go for large brand. They are less likely to go bust, leaving you without support..