How to Buy a Laptop

January 25th, 2012 by Mark Spoonauer, LAPTOP Editor in Chief  

While tablets get all the attention these days, there’s a reason why laptops continue to be the computing device of choice for most people. Notebooks offer real keyboards for faster typing, they’re better at multitasking, and they offer a lot more power for everything from editing video and creating PowerPoints to playing the latest games. So what type of laptop should you get?

There’s a wide variety of sizes, features, and prices, which makes choosing the right notebook a challenge. That’s why you need to figure out what your needs are. To make the right call, just answer the following seven questions.

1. What Size Do You Need?

If you’ll be using your laptop primarily at home and won’t be moving it much from room to room or using it on your lap, get a laptop with a 15-inch display (generally 6 pounds and up). This is the most popular screen size.

However, for the best balance of mobility, performance, and battery life, consider a laptop with a 13- to 14-inch display (3.5 to 5.5 pounds). If you want to travel really light, get an ultraportable laptop with an 11.6- to 12-inch screen (3 to 4 pounds).

Opt for a 17-inch or 18-inch notebook if you plan on moving your machine rarely or not at all. Having a bigger screen is better for watching movies and working with multiple windows open at once. But we only recommend stepping up to a large display if you get a resolution higher than 1366 x 768 pixels. Otherwise, it’s a waste of extra space.

Netbooks (10 inches) have pretty much fallen out of favor because of tablets, but they’re still available. If possible, get a model with a resolution of 1366 x 768.

2. How Much Can Your Get for Your Money?

  • $500 to $600: These days, you can easily find an all-purpose laptop with good performance for about $500. We’re talking about a speedy dual-core Intel Core i3 or an AMD A6 processor, 3 to 4GB of RAM, and at least 320GB of hard drive space. That’s good enough for most consumers looking to surf the web, go on Facebook, check email, and play casual games.
     
  • $600 to $800: As you get above $600, you’ll start to see more premium designs, such as metal finishes. Manufacturers also start to add in other features as you climb the price ladder, including better audio and backlit keyboards. Look for a second-generation Core i5 processor in this range, as well as 6GB of RAM and a 500 to 640GB hard drive.

    If you’re willing to spend $700 or more, expect laptops with faster processors (such as Intel’s quad-core Core i7) and/or dedicated graphics cards from AMD or Nvidia for gaming. Adding a Blu-ray drive will cost at least $75 more.

  • Above $800: If you have $800 or more to spend, you’ll mostly be looking at laptops that focus on multimedia and gaming, as well as highly durable and secure business machines. Higher-resolution screens are also expected.

    All of Apple’s laptops also fall in this price range, as the company focuses on premium designs and higher-end features, such as solid state drives in the MacBook Air. MacBooks start at $999. So-called Ultrabooks, which compete directly with the MacBook Air in terms of thinness, start as low as $799 but go up to and beyond $1,499.

  • Laptops Under $600
  • Laptops Under $800
  • Laptops Under $1,000
  • Laptops Over $1,000

3. Will It Be Comfortable to Use?

The most impressive specs in the world don’t mean diddly if the laptop you’re shopping for doesn’t have good ergonomics. Does the keyboard have solid tactile feedback and enough space between the keys? Is the touchpad smooth to operate or jumpy? Do the mouse buttons have a satisfying click, or do they feel mushy? How well do multitouch gestures work? You should be able to zoom in and out with ease, as well as select text with the touchpad without the cursor skipping around.

In general, Apple and Lenovo offer the best keyboards and touchpads. Toshiba is generally pretty reliable in this category, as is Sony. Acer and ASUS don’t offer the most ergonomic designs, so you’ll want to try before you buy.

Five Things to Look for in Your Next Notebook Keyboard

4. What Specs Do You Need?

Notebook specs such as CPU, hard drive, RAM, and graphics chip can confuse even notebook aficionados, so don’t feel bad if spec sheets look like alphabet soup to you. What you need really depends on what you plan to do with your laptop. More intensive tasks such as 3D gaming and HD video-editing require more expensive components.

Here are the main components to keep an eye on.

  • CPU: Bargain hunters will find AMD’s E Series processor in machines that cost less than $400, which offers better performance than a netbook but not very good multitasking chops. Similarly, Intel’s Pentium CPUs can get the job done, but you can do better if you spend a little bit more. (Intel Atom processors are only for netbooks, a category that’s on the decline.)

    For mainstream performance, we recommend Intel’s Core i3 processors. AMD’s A Series processors aren’t as fast as their Intel counterparts, but they offer better graphics performance.

    Power users and gamers should consider higher-end Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs.

  • RAM: When it comes to memory, or RAM, opt for a minimum of 3GB (4GB is better) to run Windows 7 Premium. Those who demand more performance will want to spring for 6GB or even 8GB of memory.
     
  • Hard Drive: For most users, a fast drive is more important than a large one. If you have a choice, go for a 7,200-rpm hard drive over a 5,400-rpm unit. Even if you have several movies and games on your hard drive, a 320GB should provide more than enough space, but 500GB drives usually don’t cost much more.
     
  • Solid State Drives (SSDs): These drives cost quite a bit more than traditional hard drives and come with less capacity (usually 128 to 256GB), but they dramatically improve performance. You’ll enjoy faster boot times, faster resume times, and faster application open times. Plus, because SSDs don’t have moving parts such as mechanical drives, failure is much less of an issue.
     
  • Display:The more pixels you have, the more content you can fit on-screen, and the sharper it will look. Most notebooks come with 1366 x 768-pixel resolutions. However, if you have the option to choose a laptop with a higher pixel count—1440 x 900 or 1600 x 900—always choose the highest res you can get. You’ll see more of your favorite web pages, multitask better, and have a better movie-watching experience. Full HD panels (1920 x 1080) cost about $150 more than your typical display, but are worth the splurge, especially on larger screens.
     
  • Graphics Chip: For the most part, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares system memory) will be fine for basic tasks, including surfing the web, watching video, and even playing some mainstream games. But a discrete graphics processor from AMD or Nvidia (which has dedicated video memory) will provide better performance when it comes to the most-demanding games. Plus, a good GPU can accelerate video playback on sites such as Hulu, as well as speed up video editing.

    A couple of quick notes on graphics cards. In general, 1GB of video memory will be fine for mainstream games, but more-demanding gamers will want 2GB of dedicated memory. If you like the idea of your laptop switching between integrated and discrete graphics to save battery life, Nvidia’s technology (called Optimus) is superior to AMD’s because it’s seamless.

  • DVD/Blu-ray Drives: Netbooks don’t have optical drives, and they’re also disappearing from lightweight notebooks. That’s because you can download most software and download or stream video from the web. Unless you burn discs or want to watch Blu-ray movies, you don’t need one of these drives and can save some weight by avoiding them. At this point, DVD drives are a safety blanket.

5. Mac or Windows?

This is not an easy question to answer, especially if you’ve never considered making the switch from Windows to Mac. But this quick overview of each platform’s strengths and weaknesses should help.

Apple’s MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros offer an easy-to-use operating system in Mac OS X Lion. It offers iOS-like features such as Launch Pad for your apps, superior multitouch gestures, and Auto Save and Resume so you can pick up on your work right where you left off. Macs also tend to outperform similarly configured Windows machines, especially when it comes to boot and resume times. While Windows PCs offer more software choices, Apple makes it easier to find and install programs with the Mac App Store.

MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros also tend to outclass most Windows machines when it comes to the sturdiness of their industrial designs, the touchpad, and display quality. However, Apple’s notebooks start at $999.

Windows 7 notebooks are generally more affordable and offer a much wider range of design choices from more than a dozen major vendors. Windows machines also have access to a much bigger selection of software, especially when it comes to games. Windows 7 is certainly easier to use than previous versions of Windows, and includes convenient features such as Snap (to view two open windows side by side). And if you care about security, there are many Windows notebooks explicitly designed to appeal to the business crowd.

Mac OS X Lion vs. Windows 7: Which OS is Best?

6. How Much Battery Life Do You Need?

Even if you only plan to move your laptop from the desk to the couch and the bed or from your cubicle to the conference room, battery life matters. Nobody wants to be chained to a power outlet, even if there’s a socket within reach. If you’re buying a 15-inch notebook, look for at least 4 hours of endurance.

If you expect to be fairly mobile, shop for notebooks that offer more than 5 hours of battery life, with 6-plus hours being ideal.

If given the choice, pay extra for an extended battery; you won’t regret it. Keep in mind that some notebooks (such as the MacBook Air) feature sealed batteries that you can’t easily upgrade yourself.

To determine a notebook’s expected battery life, read third-party results from objective sources—LAPTOP notebook reviews, for example—rather than taking the manufacturer’s word for it. Your actual battery life will vary depending on your screen brightness and what tasks you perform (video eats more juice than web surfing).

Best Battery Life: Laptops That Last 7+ Hours

7. Do You Trust the Brand Behind It?

Your laptop is only as good as the company that stands behind it. Accurate and timely technical support is paramount, which is why LAPTOP evaluates every major brand in our annual Tech Support Showdown. This past year Apple came in first place, followed by Dell, Samsung, and Lenovo.

Support is only part of what makes a notebook brand worth your money. You also have to consider how the manufacturer stacks up to the competition in terms of design, value and selection, review performance, and other criteria. Apple, Lenovo, and HP notched first, second, and third place, respectively.

Comments (27 Responses) 

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27 Responses to “How to Buy a Laptop”

  1. Miriam Says:
    March 10th, 2010 at 7:44 pm

    I feel that having a DVD drive is important. You need to be able to run the repair disc if necessary, and it is nice to be able to make system backup and restore discs, although you could back up to other forms of storage. And I enjoy being able to watch DVDs I borrow from the library. My local library system offers an option to download movies online, but it’s rather complicated and their selection is very limited. When cost is a consideration it’s nice to have a computer and DVD player in one.

  2. JasonR Says:
    March 12th, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    These are five very important questions, but it almost seems oversimplified in some areas. The “netbook or notebook?” section doesn’t mention ultraportable CULV notebooks. They usually range from 11.6″ up to 15.6″ displays and are somewhere between a netbook and budget notebook in terms of performance. For someone needing 8hrs of battery life but more power than the Atom can provide, these are a great compromise. The trade-off for longer battery life and a thinner/lighter design is that most lack an optical (CD/DVD) drive.

    I’m also surprised that you didn’t include graphics in the “specs needed” section! Most buyers that will NEED dedicated graphics (for 3D gaming and other GPU-intensive tasks) are well aware of that prior to reading an article like this one. But so many buyers seem to think they will need a dedicated GPU to watch HD video or edit photographs, etc. A lot of people buy a laptop with a dedicated GPU that they will never utilize beyond the capability of an integrated one. They are usually not aware of the impact that the dedicated GPU is having on battery life, heat dissipation and the additional cost!

  3. Mark Spoonauer Says:
    March 12th, 2010 at 6:44 pm

    Hi JasonR. We were trying to keep things simple but you raise some good points. I’ve updated the post and you’ll see that we cover both CULV systems and graphics in the specs section.

  4. Keith Says:
    May 15th, 2010 at 9:00 am

    I can’t agree more with Jasons points,
    Many new buyers lack this kind of general knowledge.
    This article should be more popular and read among many many new buyers!

  5. Peter Says:
    May 26th, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    All I can think about in laptop is

    a) Keyboard, what you will mainly be using
    b) Screen Resolution – I hope to see a comeback of the UWXGA+ screens on a 14″ it gave so much workpace
    c) Quiet – Who can work when there is a constant fan noise?

  6. James A. Williams Says:
    June 25th, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    I need a laptop with the most memory and fast loading processor.

  7. David Says:
    July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    It should be pointed out that more and more people can create a dual display option, using the ultra-light notebook on the road with a small 11 inch to 14 inch screen for light weight, but on returning home, can plug the HDMI port into their home video setup for a large screen. This makes the need to buy a bigger screen size in a laptop unnecessary and provides a smaller, lighter laptop for travel. THis changes the equation some what and makes SMALL and LIGHT more important. Acer seems to be one vender that is recognizing this changing marketplace.

  8. Peter Says:
    August 9th, 2010 at 8:55 pm

    With reference to replacing a notebook because of sluggish performance, the best test to determine if your old computer can be revived is to reinstall the OS (operating system) using the clean installation method. This is true for both PC and Mac computers. The other key is to reinstall only the programs you routinely use and uninstall all the “crapware” that may lurk on the restore media, if any, afterward. Computers commonly slow down over time due to left over fragments of previous programs not fully uninstalled, other downloads, etc. If clean re-installation of the OS restores your computer to its perky state, you are set! Otherwise, you can then troubleshoot hardware or just buy a new machine. I just re-installed the OS on my 2008 Mac Mini and HP 17″ laptop and they are now both good as new (for the basic tasks I ask of them). I will begin work on my workhorse, a 2008 15″ MacBook Pro in the next couple of weeks. Just plan to set aside about 3 hours for the full re-installation process for each machine.

  9. Dennis Heck Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 5:25 pm

    I am in the market for a Notebook/laptop to replace my aging home PC. All that I use my computer for is email, massive digital photo storage and Photoshop Elements S/W, and iPod digital music, and occasional Word/Excel for work at home.

    I have my eye on the new Dell Vostro 3700 for about $718. I am willing to spend up to $900. Am I on the right track? I noticed thru reading various blogs that I should request 64bit Windows 7 to get maximum performance.

    Do you have any other suggestions?

    Thanks,

  10. John Says:
    November 18th, 2010 at 7:09 am

    Can anyone recommend me a laptop with soft keyboard , fast , suitable for gaming ?

  11. bob Says:
    November 27th, 2010 at 3:48 am

    I’d like to point out that too high resolution on a small screen can make some applications a pain to use — especially web browsers. I have a 1900×1080 screen on 15.6″ monitor. I have to keep my browser permanently zoomed at 130% to make standard font sizes readable. I don’t have 20/20 vision, but I’m not a geezer and don’t normally need reading glasses. High res can be overkill. 1600×900 is the most you’ll need on even the largest laptop screens.

  12. Lucy Says:
    December 17th, 2010 at 10:04 am

    Forgive my ignorance but I’m behind the times & this is new to me. I would like to buy a notebook to use to check/reply to emails, internet & watch DVD’s. Is it possible to get a WiFi signal from my 3G cell phone if I’m not near a hot spot? I really don’t want to add to my expenses with a subcription enabling me to access the internet anywhere. Also, is my credit card # safe if order something on line? I should have asked here first rather than leaving a store frustrated & confused. I trust all of you. Thank you very much!

  13. akash shrestha Says:
    January 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 am

    I want to buy a laptop with very fast processor, large memory & high definition graphic quality. I’m so much confuse which laptop is best for me? please suggest me which laptop should i buy?

  14. Julia Moore Says:
    June 26th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    I am in need of purchasing a laptop in order to continue with the Web Development program that I am enrolled in at school. However, I have very little money, not enough knowledge on what I am in need of, and I have to do all of my research online. I am supposed to take some multi-media classes in the fall and I need more information on what exactly I should be looking for in a computer. At the moment, I am working with a seven-year-old MacBook that works great for the basic Web Development things, just not with movies, music, and things of that nature. Thank You for all of your assistance.

  15. Khairulanwar Says:
    August 14th, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    i think the most important thing before you buy a laptop was the technical specs, you must understand about the specs too. like the processor, if the processor was outdated or low spec like Celeron, Centrino, Atom or i3 u better don’t choose it. because if you are using your laptop for quite a time you will experience lagg or freeze.

    for me the first thing i look is the processor (recommend i7 or QuadCore), GPU like nVidia G400 series or above, or ATI graphic card. the next thing was the RAM (recommended 2gb and above). and the last thing is the slots, i mean the USB port, etc :D

  16. Luthien Melchior Says:
    August 16th, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    Hi… I love my laptop (Dell 700m) but it is VERY old, so it is time to get a new one, but I’m having a problem finding one that is the same size 11.7″ and the same weight or less 4.2lbs with an internal DVD drive… I understand that they aren’t as needed as they once were but I do use mine occasionally and don’t want to lug around an external one… Does anyone know of a lightweight smaller laptop that has one?

    Thank You!

  17. Manyu Says:
    August 21st, 2011 at 1:43 am

    I am looking for a laptop which can edit DSLR video, that would help me go to film festivals.
    I am also looking to write scripts in that laptop by the side of a lake, and carry it around. Good battery backup, and a fast one at that. And i am from Nepal, a third world country, very little money to spare. So help me out if you want to see movies from my side of the world.

  18. July Says:
    August 22nd, 2011 at 6:42 am

    Hi…..i want to buy a laptop…..can u please suggest me what are the features i have to see before buying a laptop….can u say whether acer or dell is good for cost,size,life etc…..also pls tell the latest versions……..

    thank you……

  19. Mr Hotshot Says:
    August 22nd, 2011 at 9:26 am

    i7 snb 2330qm combined with 1gig ati graphics 5870 or nvidia gt 540m for mid high end laptops.on a laptop is great. I’d recommend hp dv6t quad edition. Quite affordable imo. A lenovo laptop has great keyboard/touchpad, acer for affordability but quite less on it’s software features. Macbook air 13 i5+256gb flash 2011 5stars ftw!

  20. endwatches Says:
    September 2nd, 2011 at 7:40 am

    To Laptop, I mainly focus the appearance and keyboard, haha

  21. Jessica Truong Says:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 12:30 am

    I am gonna buy a new laptop and I prefer the one that produce least heat (actually is the most important) because I use it for almost all the time.
    I am able to spend up to $1300 for it. The screen size is about 13~14″ is ok for me, also I would like to buy a laptop that has long term battery. Besides, I need the processor to be i5 (first or second gen. is ok). Mac or Window, either of them is not really bother me. Please help me out here… I am stuck with a lot of options of different brand, style and series :(

  22. Jess Says:
    February 3rd, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you…

  23. Lamba F Chijioke Says:
    February 18th, 2012 at 3:24 am

    Does Dell Company have any laptop product that works with final cut pro software?. I am looking for afforable Dell laptop product that is very good for editing of movies. Thanks FC

  24. ABIE Says:
    February 21st, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Thank you for sharing this info., in additional to your blog, before purchasing a laptop you must first know the technical specs that you are needing, then if your to budgeted with your laptop atleast make some comparisons with the other laptops that is cheaper yet do have the same quality. :)

  25. Laptop Fan Says:
    February 24th, 2012 at 6:11 pm

    Regarding Question 5:
    I would ask: Ubuntu, Mac or Windows?
    My answer would be Ubuntu – imo by far the best OS for laptops.

    However, nice article.

  26. StartingPCRepair Says:
    March 25th, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    As long as there’s no 10key, HDMI port, and a long battery…I’m set!

  27. Jisso Augustin Says:
    April 26th, 2012 at 8:13 am

    I want to buy a laptop which has a good storage space, is fast for playing mainstream games like battlefield, call on duty, etc., fast in surfing the net, has a good memory and has the graphics card for the smoothness of the mentioned applications. I have Lenovo in my mind, but am willing to go for other brands as well. I am confused which one i should go for.

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