Have you ever been in an electronics store, hunting for a good laptop, and then approached by a salesman? Probably yes. Do you know what questions to ask the salesman, or do you just listen to him give a standard sales pitch and end up buying a laptop that doesn't suit your needs? Well, God forbid, we shouldn't let such things happen. This article shows you the top 7 questions you need to ask a laptop salesman so you don't end up shelling out cash for features / laptop components you don't need.

One of the most fundamental questions that any laptop salesman must be able to answer is the CPU used by the laptop. As you might know, these days, the minimum CPU configuration a laptop must have is the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Anything less than that, and we are looking at a (very likely) sub-standard laptop. So make sure you ask the salesman what CPU is used by the laptop. And he better have an answer.

Another fundamental question is the amount of memory the laptop has. These days, most laptops have at least 1GB of RAM, and many have 2GB. This is the minimum to run Windows Vista reasonably well, so make sure you check out the amount of memory available.

It's difficult to gadge the screen size of a laptop sometimes. Make sure you ask the laptop salesman what the screen size of the laptop is. Usually, we need about 12-inches to 14-inches for a decent laptop. Gaming or multimedia laptops might have screens as big as 17-inches.

The weight of the laptop is another prime consideration. Besides testing out the heft of the machines, make sure that you ask the salesman the weight of the laptop. Is it inclusive of the battery pack or exclusive? Stuff like that should be clarified.

If you have special needs that the out-of-the-box laptop cannot address, then ask the salesman about customization options. For example, you might ask the salesman if it is possible to add an extra 2GB of RAM to the laptop. If you're into video editing, does the laptop come with Firewire ports or a card reader? Perhaps the basic laptop configuration doesn't have these, but a customized configuration might have it.

If you're like me, I always buy an extra battery for my laptops. The thing is, you don't want the laptop to run out of juice when you're on the road and have no access to a power socket. So always check with the salesman what is the cost of an extra laptop battery. These can usually cost a lot of money, so they can add to the overall cost of ownership of your machine.

Another important thing to check is obviously the warranty policy of the laptop. Does the manufacturer cover the machine for 1 year, 3 years or 5 years? Or do they have a lifetime warranty policy? What about dead pixels on the laptop screen, or defective software? Do these get covered in the warranty policy? Check these with the salesman before you pay for the laptop.

Very often, we assume that a laptop comes with Windows Vista, Microsoft Office and other productivity suites all pre-configured. That's not always the case. Most laptop manufacturers just install Windows Vista and do not include stuff like Microsoft Office - which you need to purchase separately on your own.

I hope this article has given you some good insight into the top 7 questions to ask a laptop salesman. If you make sure you run through this list of questions each time you hunt for a laptop, I'd gurantee you can find a laptop to suit you needs. So good luck and until next time, happy laptop shopping.