Since a Laptop or Phone is something that one will have to live with for at least months, if not years, one is always careful while making such purchase decision. Moreover, a laptop is a capital equipment and for people like myself it is the backbone of productivity. To emphasize the significance, there is nothing else and absolutely nobody who gets as much of my time and attention as my laptop!
But the real reason that compelled me to write this is the absence of any technical guide that a layman can use to make his selection. Like any other aware purchaser, I tried to check out reviews on YouTube but most of the reviews seem to be irrelevant to my use case and some of them are just too good to be true. For instance, all an YouTuber will talk about is video editing whereas I want to know how well does MS Excel function and there is not a single critic of the iPad, although there are numerous important points to be mentioned.
Before you get bored, let me just enlist the problems with such reviews in order of significance
Choice of Product
YES! If you are in search of detailed review for a Mid Tier Product, you will not come across any on YouTube. For instance, the Lenovo ThinkPad E series that happens to be the choice of Company Issued devices for many SMEs but there are no comprehensive or professional reviews on YouTube. ThinkPad is perhaps the flagship product line-up for Lenovo, so you can imagine that scenario for the numerous lesser known, or unknown, laptop models! Most reviews are about the top-of-the-line or flagship products. Except for Apple, as Apple does not have a long tail product basket, you will always find numerous reviews for all the apple products as they are all flagships!
Read: ThinkPad E470, affordable Small Business Laptop
Expensive Specifications
If you rely on YouTubers for the specifications, it is most likely that you will purchase a laptop with at least the i5 processor. Most models reviewed on YouTube are carry the top tier or second tier specifications. To an average user, who collectively form a majority, 4k WXVGA display does not matter! At this point, I just want to know whether I would be able to view the full HD display in moderate sunlight! Another problem is that such benchmarks underestimate the power of average specifications. After using the i3-6006U and i3-10210u in the last four years, I am surprised by the performance that you can extract from these underappreciated processors. The step down from i5 to i3 can save approximately $150 or INR 12,000, about 07-10% of laptop cost, for an average customer.
Our experience with AVERAGE Specs: Lenovo ThinkPad E14, the most affordable Premium Laptop
Irrelevance of Use Case
Things that matter to me, may be irrelevant for you! As it all depends on the use case. But the problem with the use case on YouTube is that they are either focused on Graphic (Video or Photo) Editing or Software Development. Most average users and perhaps consultants like us have a very different use case which implies that our perspective of evaluation will be differ drastically. But most importantly this leads to a logical fallacy that if the device can perform demanding task, it can definitely fulfill mundane needs! For instance, the iPad can edit 4k videos with great ease, but try to sign a PDF with a USB token or just a digital image of your signature.
Our experience with the Limitations: Things that an iPad cannot do, including a bad YouTube review!
Performance Benchmark Tests
Interpreting performance benchmarks may be quite daunting to a layman. And even if you learn to interpret the problem is that benchmarks do NOT reflect real world performance. In other words, the benchmark scores cannot help you estimate the number of excel rows required to override processing or browser tabs to overflow RAM or media files to overrun storage. You only want to know whether the device can handle your work with zero or minimal hiccups. For instance, in my case, the only hiccup that I traded against the cost savings is the extra time the i3 takes to process MP4 files from PPT – since this is a an occasional task, the trade-off was logical.
Review of the Device, NOT the experience
Evaluating a device, which is basically judging the performance capacity, in isolation can disproportionately amplify its benefits. For instance, the all aluminum built of MacBook sounds too good compared to the fiber built of ThinkPads, but imagine using an aluminum laptop on a cold winter morning, while on the other hand it is easier to clean compared to the fiber! Similarly, full HD display may seem mediocre when compared to Retina but the only time you will notice or feel disappointed by the performance difference is when you work outdoors in broad sunlight. Another such concern is the battery life, 6 hours of which is sufficient for average user. Moreover, the USB-C standardization may help you rely on other people carrying the extra weight of chargers!
Well this may have seemed aggressive but I could not find a more subtle way to drive the point across. And if you want to know more about the technicalities that you need to understand to select your perfect Laptop, you can refer to our comprehensive guide.
Header Image Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplashlash
Savvy Munshi 