There are many factors that will determine the price of your purchase such as brand, size, features, etc. There are certain laptops in specific price ranges that excel over others and when it comes time to make a decision you'll need to think about what exactly your needs are before making a purchase.
For instance, if you're looking for something affordable it would be wise not to try and max out on everything available in order to get the highest performance machines. Instead, look into purchasing an older model of a great computer then upgrade some things yourself such as adding RAM or swapping hard drives. You can also save money by purchasing pre-used laptops or refurbished models sold directly by the manufacturer.
Laptops priced under $500 will generally have the slowest processors and least amount of memory (RAM) available, sometimes both. The more you pay for your laptop, the faster it'll be able to do what you're asking it to do. It's best not to go over 3 or 2GB of RAM since any more than that can become useless when running multiple programs at once.
If having an extremely lightweight computer is important to you then think about purchasing a netbook instead of a laptop with similar features. Netbooks are essentially smaller laptops that have enough power to complete basic tasks such as word processing, internet, and email; however, they come at a lesser price since they don't include many high-end features.
If you're a professional that needs to have the fastest computer out there with all the bells and whistles then it's going to be expensive no matter how you try and cut corners, but this doesn't mean you won't find great deals on good machines.
My advice is to create a list of everything you think your laptop should have in addition to what it already includes when purchased (besides price) like video card, speed, size of the screen, etc. Then once you narrow down your choices, do some research on each item and make sure that whichever machine you choose has all those things before making a purchase decision.
It's always a good idea to wait until the newest models hit the stores before making your purchase. Newer laptops can be purchased at a greatly reduced price since they're trying to clear out their inventory for the newer models.
Laptops under $500 will typically have almost none of these features except maybe an optical drive; however, this is OK if you don't really need one and most people can do without it anyway since downloads are so much more accessible nowadays than having to buy a CD or DVD.
Once you choose which laptop best fits your needs then consider how much you're willing to spend on it and get that in mind when shopping. You may even want to leave yourself some le just in case you find a killer deal that's too good to pass up! Remember, you're not required to spend the full cost of your laptop in one lump sum and oftentimes will be given financing options on some models.
The most important thing is not splurging on a laptop with every bell and whistle available when you really don't need it or can't afford all those expensive features. I'm sure we've all seen people walking around campus with huge backpacks that weigh half their body weight just so they can have the latest thing out there which is usually nothing more than an over-glorified netbook -_- Trust me it gets annoying after a while!
Netbooks are essentially smaller laptops that have enough power to complete basic tasks such as word processing, internet, and email; however, they come at a lesser price since they don't include many high-end features.
Laptops are an expensive investment, so it is best to decide on a spending limit before starting the search. This will help limit the number of options available and help you choose which models to compare, based on your price range.
Once you determine how much money you want to spend on your laptop, the rest can be easily decided by deciding what are the most important features that are required for your day-to-day use. If gaming or watching movies isn't super important but fast processing speed is then look for those things first until your budget is reached.
