IMPLEMENTATION OF ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) IN A LAPTOP SELECTION DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR NEW STUDENTS

Abstract

Background

Laptop selection for first-year university students involves multiple technical and non-technical criteria, making the decision-making process complex.

Purpose

This study aims to implement the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a decision support system to determine the most suitable laptop alternative among Acer, Asus, and HP.

Methodology

The study involved 30 first-year university students selected using purposive sampling. Five main criteria were identified: Aesthetic, Durability, Features, Performance, and Perceived Quality. Pairwise comparison data were aggregated using the geometric mean method. All comparison matrices satisfied the consistency requirement (CR ≤ 0.1).

Findings

The results indicate that Durability (0.4721) is the most dominant criterion, followed by Performance (0.2014), Perceived Quality (0.1683), Features (0.0946), and Aesthetic (0.0636). The global priority results show that Acer (0.7146) ranks first, followed by HP (0.1473) and Asus (0.1381)[.

Implications

Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the ranking remains stable under reasonable weight variation

Originality

This study provides practical recommendations for students and methodological contributions in applying AHP with consistency and robustness testing.