The age of desktop computers has been reduced to a greater extent. Nowadays, most people prefer using laptops, even if it is for their home-usage. This is because the configuration of the latest model laptops is better than desktop computers, so people prefer them to a greater extent. But can you just go to a shop and buy a laptop? The answer is no because it requires a lot of research and data. Depending upon the usage, the purpose of the laptop, the model will vary. If you are looking for a laptop for your parents or wife, then some unique criterion needs to be filled.
Most of the parents and the housewives will use the laptop for specific reasons only. These laptops are used to watch movies, have video chats with their relatives through skype, surf through the internet, and enter particular home account details. Some educated parents will be using them for online bill payments and for writing or reading blogs. For such simple situations purchasing a simple laptop is enough. So when you go to a shop, you will be faced with various models and designs. Choosing a laptop with high graphic content will not be suitable for your requirement. So while purchasing a laptop, you have to make a perfect decision depending upon your needs. Let us now see how to buy a laptop for mom, dad, and housewife in detail.
Products Buying Guide:
Display
Most of the wives and parents use laptops at home to watch movies and talk to their relatives through Skype. So in such situations having a laptop with a good display is essential. When it comes to the concept of the display, there are a variety of internal features involved. Let us now see about them.
Colour quality and brightness: The color quality and brightness are more important for a perfect display on a laptop. For a good quality, purchase a laptop with good brightness. The brightness allows the colors on the screen to pop out. The smaller details within the laptop can be seen clearly. The brightness of the laptops is measured in terms of Nits. Any laptop with the brightness power of 250 Nits can be considered to be powerful. So while purchasing the laptop, make sure that it has good brightness with automatic and manual adjustment options. Sometimes when you are working outside, under direct sunlight, you might have the requirement to use extreme brightness for good screen clarity. The color of the laptop is measured in terms of sRGB gamut. The recent model laptops come along with the NTSC gamut. The NTSC gamuts are more powerful, and purchasing a laptop with 85 percent NTSC gamut is equivalent to the power of 100 percent of sRGB gamut. The laptop should also have useful features to make color adjustments according to your requirement. Some people, especially those above the age of 50, will have difficulty in vision in certain colors like red or green. So with proper color adjustment techniques, you can be able to view the laptop despite your age.
Resolution: The screen of the laptop is made up of minute objects called pixels. When the amount of pixels is enormous, then the resolution of the laptop will be better. When you download a movie, you might have heard these terms of pixels like 480p, 720p, and 1080p. Any laptop with a resolution of 720 pixels is considered to be HD or high definition quality. The laptops with a greater pixel count of 1080 p are deemed to have the best HD quality. Nowadays, there are laptops with a resolution greater than 1080p called the 4K resolution. This type of resolution screen is suitable for touch model laptop screens and graphic content creators. The laptop screens with 4K resolution will be of the high price range. If you are willing to pay the amount for such a quality screen, you can purchase them. For everyday purposes of video chats and movie watching, a 1080 p resolution based laptop will be sufficient. There are various models available in the market like 4K resolution screen, IPS screen, and an OLED screen when it comes to displaying. The IPS screen provides the right viewing angles and is suitable for watching movies. The OLED screen is more advanced than an LED screen. Ordinary light is used to light up the pixels in the LED screen, but the OLED screen and every pixel are lighted individually on their own. So purchase a laptop with the OLED screen or with 4K resolution for home-usage. Along with these, the size of the screen should also be comfortable. Buying a laptop with a screen size of 14 to 16 inches will be more than enough.
Keyboard
Most of the time, people living in the home will not be introduced to typing concepts. So providing a professional keyboard will not be suitable for them. Laptops with a keyboard that has been ergonomically designed for providing comfort and easy access will be more appropriate. The keys should be easy to press, and the control keys like the ctrl, alt, and enter should be easily accessible. The letters on the keyboard should be large and visible to the elders with a vision problem.
The touchpad on the keyboard should also have a proper Feather Touch Technology with two keys for selecting and deselecting. They should be similar to the mouse. Some people might feel difficult with this new technology, and so they should be comfortable and user friendly.
Web camera
Most housewives and parents will use the laptop for video chatting. A web camera embedded within the laptop with a good video capturing quality will be a suitable option. When it comes to a web camera, the resolution plays an important role. Purchasing a good quality web camera embedded laptop will prevent you from buying another high-quality web camera separately for video chatting, which is entirely unnecessary. While purchasing a laptop, make sure that the webcam has a good quality resolution with at least 720p resolution. When searching on websites like Amazon, search the models that have a web camera with at least 4-8 mp. The image captured by the webcam should be of acceptable quality with proper saturation and resolution. The camera should have the ability to auto adjust the images according to the surrounding lights.
RAM and Processor
If you are purchasing a laptop, then using a good quality Random Access Memory and processor is essential. The Random Access Memory or RAM should have the ability to run multiple programs at the same time. Even though the parents and housewives won’t use high power software on their laptops, they still might run two or three simple programs simultaneously. This is because they would not be conscious enough to close every program after completing it. So, in reality, the sky will be running in the background when searching for something on the internet, and there will also be video software playing songs or videos along with them. So the computer should have a RAM of 2 to 4 GB for fast accessibility of software and quicker booting.
Similar to RAM, the processor used should also be of acceptable quality and have the ability to run multiple programs at the same time. The intel core processor laptops will be suitable but buying a core i7 or i9 model laptops will be costlier and too advanced. The i3 model laptops will be sufficient for primary usage and if you want to purchase a laptop with a bit of a professional touch, then go for the i5 models. You can also buy a simple core AMD processor for -usagehome-usage. If you want a processor to have good speed, then buy the model with dual or quad-core technology. This will allow you to access multiple software at the same time without worrying about the processing speed.
Hard disk
The disk drives are mainly used by the housewives and parents to store images, albums, and movie videos. Some will also keep pdf books for reading. There are two types of disk drives available in the market, the SSD and HDD drive. The SSD drives are more suitable for people who use laptops for heavy purposes like having animation and graphic software, programming software, etc.… The SSD drives are more ideal for accessing the data immediately without any delay or waiting time. But for simplified usages like video chatting and data storage purchasing the SSD drive-based laptops will be costlier. So using a standard HDD drive with a storage capacity of 500gb to 1TB will allow you to save as many images and videos as possible. Having a good HDD drive will prevent you from using external storage devices like pen drive and external hard disks. But if you are interested in having an SSD Drive you can purchase one but they have low memory space when compared to HDD.
Extra fittings
When you purchase a laptop for your home, make sure that it has some extra fittings like the slots for a USB connection and connect the mouse. Using a mouse will be more convenient for your parents, especially if they are not comfortable with the touchpad. Also, while making video calls, most of your parents will have a headset attached, so a good audio Jack is also essential. Along with that, make sure the laptop also has HDMI and other ports for connecting them to the television or other computers. This will be useful for watching videos on the television by streaming it from the laptop. The laptop should also have embedded Bluetooth technology for connecting it to Bluetooth speakers and Android phones.
Audio speakers
When you use the laptops for watching movies and video chatting, you need to purchase one with a good set of speakers. The laptops should have a good set of double speakers with large drivers for producing a good Dolby quality sound. They will allow you to watch movies, hear songs, and have video chats freely without any distortion. Purchasing the laptops with 2.1 system speakers will allow you to experience woofer sound with a good base system. If you are looking forward to creating a YouTube channel using your laptop, having a good quality webcam and audio speakers will be useful. Now you can record your stories and cooking videos using your laptop and upload them on the computer.
Battery
When you are using the laptop for home purposes, the battery should be efficient and have the ability to stand for a long time. When you are using the laptop for hearing audio sounds and watching videos, the battery will be exploited faster. So using a high powered battery that can stand for at least 10 to 12 hours with quick recharge Technology will allow you to enjoy long hours of relaxing time without worrying about losing the battery power. They are more useful for entertainment during traveling.
Touchscreen or no touchscreen
Before purchasing a laptop, make sure whether you want a touch screen or no touch screen laptop. Some parents will have good computer knowledge, and they will be comfortable with the touch screen Technology laptops. But if your parents are not well equipped to use touchscreen-based laptops, then purchase a normal one with keyboard Technology. Some of the elders will be irritated by the rapid movements on the screen of touchscreen technology laptops. So buy the ones with the proper technology. There are only a limited number of touchscreen laptops available at a reasonable price. So choose the ones carefully.
Budget
Along with all the above features, the budget also plays an important role. The account of the laptop should be reasonable, and they should not exceed more than Rs. 50000 (679$). Purchasing a laptop with high cost will be useless for home usage, especially for parents and housewives who rarely use them for professional requirements. Frame the budget that you feel is perfect for your laptop and purchase them accordingly. The amount of Rs 40000 (543$) to Rs.50000 (679$) is reasonable for home-based laptops. Make sure that the quality of the laptop is also good enough. Quality means that the laptop should be made up of high-quality plastic to not break under pressure. The paints should not peel away over time, and they should be elderly and children friendly. The laptop screen should also have UV protection ability for protecting the eyes of your parents and other family members.
Along with the above-said features, other things need to be noted while purchasing a laptop. The color of the laptop should be neutral and suitable for elderly people. So choose the ones in Black or grey color rather than the red or other bright colored laptops. Similarly, the laptop’s weight should also be less so that it would be easier for them to carry around. The operating system embedded within the laptop should be user friendly. They should have basic Technology features that allow people with less or no computer knowledge to operate efficiently. Purchasing a laptop with a fingerprint scanner will be useful as they can protect the laptop and access them freely at the same time. There are a variety of laptops available in the market with the above-said features. We have analyzed them carefully and provided you with a set of laptops suitable for your parents and housewives. The models given below are the best in the market at a reasonable price.