I 've been wanting to buy a new laptop for the past few months but only now will it push through.

I headed to Gilmore near St. Paul Quezon City, where the Mecca of computers in the Metropolis are located. It's always a feeling a sheer excitement to visit that area since you'll be handed out brochures left and right plus most of the people you'll get to talk with really know much about computers to be able to answer event the most technical questions.

I was in search of my ideal specs for a laptop, a 12" screen, a black-colored exterior, a 3-4 hour battery life all on a 12 month installment plan to be financed by a credit card which wouldn't exceed a P40K budget with 0% interest. The rest of the laptop's specs were minor to me. I didn't care much for the CPU, CD Drive and other features. Basically, what I needed was a laptop to let me work anywhere for a long period of time.

I soon discovered that I can't have everything. So it boiled down to a debate within my head on which laptop to choose and which feature to give up. In terms of brands, I narrowed it down to the following in this order: MSI, Acer, Blue, Flextra. I also discovered that almost all of the brands regardless of where they are being distributed or manufactured, are assembled in China. I hope this translates to cheaper prices rather than sub-quality.

And so that final questions that lay in my head are the following: my ideal 12" or 14", keyboard layout (mini keys vs. fullsize), screen form (tv type or dvd wide screen type), color (black, white or gray), and processor (Celeron, Centrino or AMD Turion).

However, one of the huge factors is the budget and if I can find a deal with good installment terms. Because of this, I've been drawn to choose an Acer laptop even if it may cost more than the others. The battery life though is still a turnoff. I hope to have a new laptop by mid next week. Wish me luck !