Laptop buying advice forum: Need some help looking for a laptop

I looked there, but there are still way too many choices, haha

About the OS, I'd prefer Windows. I most probably wont be doing heavy gaming, but I will be playing games a bit.

I'd appreciate if anyone would help me narrow my choices down, as this will be one of the first times I've bought a computer.

The essence of a laptop is that it is 'movable'. But there's a big difference between a 10" netbook and a 17" gaming laptop in terms of movability. My son replaced his 15.6" laptop by a 14" one, because he found the old one somewhat cumbersome to carry around the whole day (bad for his back, with a normal school backpack).

Another aspect of movability is the time the laptop can be active on battery only. A 'ultrabook' would be able to do up to 8 hours without power adapter. With a gaming laptop you're lucky to make 2 hours - when the battery is new.

These two points aren't important if you plan to use the laptop as a desktop. "Homework", for example, sounds like being done at your desk at home. But then, why buy a laptop? But if you plan a highly mobile use of this laptop (using it at school to makes notes and mail and browse and entertain yourself the whole day, moving it around from course to canteen to course) things like weight, size and battery life are essential.
And, just one more thing, if you're homework involves book-keeping and heavy use of spreadsheets, you might prefer having a numeric keypad.

Kees

Thanks! I will be taking the laptop with me when I go places sometimes, but I will use it at home mostly, so I don't really need a very long battery time. I think I'd prefer the screen to be around 12"-14". Do you have any other tips on how to narrow down the choices even more?

Thanks, I'm using that right now.

Should I try to stay away from used items? Also, I know an optical drive is where the cd/dvd goes, but what are Optical Storage Devices?

I have a few refurbs but others can't accept such.

OSD, ODD, CD, DVD drives are all optical. Are you telling the forum the stores don't show or answer such questions? I can see why folk don't go there anymore.
Bob

For most OSD = On Screen Display, but in this case someone called it Optical Storage Device which is just another variation of the old story about the rose by another name.

to get external optical drive (is that what it's called?)? Because most of the ones I'm seeing don't have an optical drive, and I need one with a DVD/CD burner(if it can burn it, it can also read it, correct?)? Or would it be more expensive if I get one myself?

I use it on laptops that don't have a drive or have a failed optical drive. It used to be quite a lot more bucks but about your question.

Since it is possible to burn media in a way you can't read it, the answer is no to that question unless you create it so it can be read. Sorry but most folk would never create unreadable media on purpose but some do!

Just get one yourself from amazon, newegg, etc.
Bob

I just looked at Bestbuy's website, and they all seem to have almost the same specs (to me)...What should I be looking for to tell the good ones from the not so good ones?

I find if I create a new post and ask folk what they think about the models they often tell me.

Modems and routers don't have to have WiFi so while this is one thing, we also have to cover what capability your modem and router has.
Bob

it means that the laptop s capable of connecting to wifi?

It means the laptop can connect to WiFi. That's all.

Your statement about the router and modem was incomplete as not all routers and modems have WiFi capability. I've lost count of the times....
Bob