Journalism can be a challenging field, especially for people who have been trying to become a challenging journalist who uncovers some of the most important cases in the world. If you are a journalist or a journalist student, you would understand the requirement of having certain items in your grasp. As a journalist, you should have a camera, storage devices, and a laptop at hand all the time for sustaining actively in the field. Your job as a journalist will not be just to get interviews but also involves going to uninvited places to collect the proof from the people and publish them to the whole world. If you are trying to purchase a laptop for your studies and journalism-related activities, then there are certain features that you need to look into before buying the laptop. Some of the features like the quality of the processor, the laptop’s strength, and the resolution of the display screen should be taken into account before purchasing the laptop. The world of journalism has developed a lot, and so has the digital media. Particular laptops are specifically designed for such professions and let us now see them in detail.
Products Buying Guide:
Brand
Purchasing a laptop is not just about the quality, but it is also about the laptop brand. You cannot just go into a shop and buy some unknown brand for a low price because you might face some future problems that will not be supported by the brand. You can purchase a laptop from some of the branded companies like Apple, Dell, HP, or Asus. You will be provided excellent support from the people in the service center to retrieve your data in case of any failure or issues safely. As a journalist, you will be saving some of the most confidential information on your laptop, which needs proper protection. So using a perfect branded laptop will allow you to save the information securely and present them in front of your colleagues without worrying about the quality of the laptop you are carrying.
Budget
The next important feature that you need to take into account while purchasing a laptop is its budget. Some of the budding journalists might have a tight budget, which prevents them from getting a costlier laptop, but they need to purchase a laptop with all the features that support their journalism profession. So if you are looking forward to buying a laptop that has a good processor, a comfortable keyboard, a clear display, and the ability to store data safely without any damage, then you need to fix a budget of at least 60000(915$) to 70000(950$) rupees. Anything less than this will not be suitable for your requirements.
Quality
As a journalist, you will be carrying your laptop everywhere. If you are a home-based job worker or writing a blog, then the laptop’s sturdiness will not matter. But if you are a journalist who continually visits some of the problematic sites like riots and war zones, you need to purchase a laptop with sturdy quality. The journalists who have been continuously covering news reports in war zones have their laptops customized for a particular case so that they won’t be broken. You can customize your laptop later on, but while purchasing one, make sure that it is made up of a high-quality exterior so that the internal parts of the laptop, including the drive, will be protected safely. Companies like Dell have introduced specific laptop designs called the ‘Rugged extreme’ laptops. These laptops have a strong exterior that prevents them from accidents and suitable for travelers and journalists.
Portability
The next essential qualification for a journalist’s laptop is its ability to be carried everywhere. So the laptop you are purchasing must be thin and lightweight so that you can place it anywhere and carry them all around without considering it as a luggage. Buying a laptop for a smaller size will be more useful for you. So try to go for smaller screen sizes to fit in all types of bags. The laptop’s look also has significant importance because, as a journalist, you might have the requirement to use the laptop in public and present your proof to the people in higher places. So in such situations having a stylish laptop with easy portability will allow you to carry them everywhere with confidence.
Keyboard
As a reporter, you will be required to write many content and reports that involve a lot of typing. So the keyboard of the laptop you are using should be of high quality with a right feather technology that allows you to easily access all the controls without extending your hand or moving it away from the position. The keyboard combined with the Touchpad should be of high quality and designed according to the QWERTY model. The keyboard’s quality is more important because it will prevent you from getting finger cramps and allow you to work continuously for several hours. Having a backlit keyboard will allow you to type easily, even in low light environments.
Touch screen or not
Having a touch screen Technology-based laptop can be useful for your profession but remember, most of the touchscreen laptops are sensitive to damages. Having a sensitive laptop will be a disadvantage at times, especially if you are a hardcore reporter. As a journalist, you can go for a non-touchscreen technology that will be suitable for your profession, but if you are a blog writer or a home journalist, you can choose a laptop with touch screen technology. They are most simple for typing the data and creating a report within minutes.
Battery life
You should know very well that you will spend most of your time outdoors as a reporter. Searching for a plug point in the middle of the investigation will be disturbing. Having a laptop with a good battery life lasting for at least 10 hours with fast charging capabilities will be more suitable for your requirements. Carrying the charger everywhere will prevent you from moving freely, so try to purchase a laptop with a charging capacity of 60W – 65W. So within half an hour, nearly 50 percent of the battery will be charged, effectively allowing you to enjoy a charger free day.
Processor
The processor is an essential requirement while purchasing a laptop. It is responsible for processing the input and producing output. Having a good quality processor will allow you to enjoy the software’s fast response with clear results. Even though the Intel Core i3 processors will be sufficient for your requirements, it is always better to have an advanced future model. Try to purchase a laptop with intel core i5 processors that will support you while typing data and uploading the images and videos at a faster rate. You can also edit your recordings quickly using the most advanced video editors in this processor and export them faster. So as a journalist, you can provide the breaking news first before any other colleague.
Screen size and quality
As a part of journalism, you will have the requirement to type a lot of data on your laptop. Having a clear screen will allow you to analyze the data and send them to the editor on time. It’s not just about the written data. You will also have some footage and images that need to be analyzed before publishing them. So having a proper screen is essential for analyzing your data. So before purchasing a laptop, make sure that you have a suitable screen according to your requirement. The size of the screenplays an essential role while purchasing. As a journalist, you will have the requirement to carry your laptop everywhere. Buying a laptop with a normal or small-sized screen will provide proper portability for your laptop. You can place them in any bag and carry them around. Choosing a 14 inches screen or something less than that will be suitable for your requirement. But if you prefer a large screen than the comfort, you can go up to 15 inches but choosing a 17-inch screen will not be suitable for your profession. The next important concept is the resolution. Since the size of the screen you are choosing is small, the details that appear on the screen should be of high quality with proper clarity. This condition will allow you to understand even the minute details and analyze them. So purchasing a laptop with a satisfactory resolution of at least 1080 p is essential. Try to buy a laptop with the right viewing angle to get the details of the image even when you are sitting on the side of the laptop. If your budget allows it, you can go for a higher quality laptop with an OLED screen instead of the normal LED screen. Since every pixel in the OLED, the screen is lighted, the image’s clarity will be higher. The color and brightness of the laptop should also be useful. Sometimes you will have the necessity to work in a public place, and in such situations having low intelligence in your laptop will affect the quality of the picture. So having a laptop with the ability to adjust the brightness will be suitable.
Random Access Memory
The software that you will be using on your laptop will be minimal. You will have the requirement to use Photoshop and video editing software and some basic MS Office software. But still, you will have the requirement to receive a fast response from the software while running. So having a Random Access Memory of 4GB will not be fast enough, especially if you are running multiple software at the same time. So having RAM storage of at least 8GB or higher will be suitable for your requirement. Using a quad-core technology-based processor will be more efficient when combined with this particular RAM.
Disk drive
Journalism is not just about collecting data, but it also involves maintaining those data for a long time so that you can utilize them when required. Since you will be storing a lot of data within your laptop, you must keep them all safe within the drive. Using a hard disc drive will allow you to store a lot of data for a low price. But the major disadvantage with this particular disk drive is that when your laptop is subjected to any kind of accident, the data within the hard drive will be lost easily. So if you are looking for a laptop to save some important details, then go for a solid-state drive that can withstand heavy pressure and store data to a limited amount. If you can back up the data constantly, then you can choose an SSD drive for saving the data and accessing them easily at a faster rate. Purchasing a laptop with 500GB will be suitable, but they will be costlier and way above your budget. Depending upon the models available in the market, choose the best option in terms of disk drives. You can go for a 500GB SSD Drive or a 1TB HDD drive.
Along with these features, certain other features need to be taken into account while purchasing a laptop. One of the major features is the availability of the external ports. This feature will allow you to connect the laptop with your mobile phones and other external devices easily within a short time. Transferring data and keeping backup is an important part of a journalist’s job and hence purchasing a laptop that meets the requirement is essential. Also, the laptop should come along with a high-quality web camera so that you can have interviews with some of the celebrities through the online medium. Combining the web camera with a high-quality audio system and microphone will allow you to have online chats with your editors and clients. So try to choose a high-quality Web Camera that will prevent the requirement to purchase a separate web camera. Purchase a laptop with a proper fingerprint scanner so that all the laptop data will be stored efficiently without any problem with hacking. Given below are some of the common models you can buy from the market. It will be suitable for your profession as a journalist or a student of journalism. You can purchase the laptops given below from online websites like Amazon.