Be careful when you see a cheap laptop for sale, and you think “that looks like a bargain!” beware of hidden costs. Some retailers are selling laptops that are very cheap – but they are cheap for a reason. They are low-priced and, on the face of it, look like a good deal. But here’s the problem - the computers are so under powered that they are almost unusable as soon as you get them.
You need to have a minimum amount of storage space for Windows to operate properly. For example, when Windows updates come in, especially the service packs, they require a fair bit of free space to run. The absolute, and I mean absolute, minimum drive size you should get it 64GB and even this is very risky. I prefer to suggest that all computer’s have a minimum 128GB solid state drive, but would strongly recommend 256GB or higher. Of course, if you have photos and videos and other documents to store, then you may need a lot more.
The picture above a model with only 32 gig drive – it’s reporting that the computer is running out of disk space - and this is brand new, before they have even been used!
The solid state drive free space is so bad, if you tried to reinstall Windows on one of these laptops, you couldn’t! In fact, the laptop suppliers themselves can only do it by a sneaky method. They install Windows on a computer with a BIGGER drive, then use a computer tool called cloning to copy that to the low spec laptop.
Your computer needs a decent amount of space to even start up and do it’s day-to-day business. And if you want to install apps and download photos and emails etc on the laptop, then you need more hard drive space.
You’ll also need a reasonable CPU – the central processing unit determines overall speed. Get an AMD Ryzen or Intel i5 or higher. This ensures the computer has the processing power needed to run it’s programs and apps at a reasonable speed without too many bottlenecks in the system.
Have you purchased a poor spec laptop already? I would highly recommend taking it back to the shop immediately and swap to one with a bigger SSD.
Any questions, please call.