Laptop Buying Guide: 8 Essential Tips | Laptop Mag

Laptop ownership guide: 8 essential tips to know before you buy

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Laptops are compact enough to acquit with you lot, however versatile enough to run enervating applications. Notebooks are the best tool for doing serious work or play whether you're at home, on the road or in a college classroom. For those reasons, nosotros've compiled lists of the best business laptops and best higher laptops, not to mention our best laptops rankings for nigh users.

While standalone tablets and smartphones are always pop, nigh people realize that everything from typing a research paper to crunching videos to gaming works better on a laptop. So what type of laptop should you become? Nosotros put together a laptop ownership guide to help you out.

There's a wide diverseness of sizes, features and prices, which makes choosing the all-time laptop a claiming. That's why you lot need to figure out what your needs are.

Quick Tips

These are the most important things to consider when choosing a new laptop. For a lot more detail, come across the sections below.

12.5 to 14-inch screensoffer the best remainder between usability and portability. Larger screens are fine if you don't travel much and smaller models are groovy for kids.
If you lot're spending over $600, shoot for these minimum specs: Cadre i5 or Ryzen five CPU 1920 10 1080 screen 8GBof RAM and SSDStorage instead of a difficult drive.
9+ hours of bombardment life is platonic if you plan to take your laptop anywhere at all.
Consider a 2-in-1 laptop (either a bendback or detachable) if you desire to utilize your laptop equally a tablet. If not, a standard clamshell notebook may exist a better choice.
Chromebooks are expert for kids and students and their functionality is expanding rapidly. Windows 10 laptops and MacBooks both offer plenty of functionality; which platform y'all prefer is a thing of personal taste.

ane. Pick a platform: Windows 10 vs. Mac vs. Chrome Bone?

This is not an easy question to reply, especially if y'all're not familiar with both Macs and PCs. Simply this quick overview of each platform's strengths and weaknesses should aid.

About laptops come up with one of three operating systems: Windows, Chrome Os or MacOS (for MacBooks just). Choosing the right one is a personal preference, but hither's a quick summary of what each offers.

Windows x

The most flexible operating system, Windows 10, runs on more than laptop models than Chrome OS or MacOS. Windows notebooks range in price from under $150 to several thousand dollars and offer a wide array of features from bear upon screens to fingerprint readers to dual graphics chips. Windows x, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system, provides a number of improvements over Windows seven and 8, including the ability to switch between tablet and desktop modes, a revamped Start carte with Alive Tiles and the Cortana digital assistant.

Since its launch in July 2022, Windows 10 has also added a host of improvements, including the ability to employ follow-up questions with Cortana, search your e-mail using natural language and use your stylus to scribble almost anywhere. Windows 10 laptops are peachy for students, researchers and business users, and they're the only machines gamers should consider.

More than: 100+ Windows ten Tips to Assist Yous Master Microsoft'due south Bone

Apple tree macOS

All MacBooks come with Apple tree's latest desktop operating system, macOS Large Sur. Overall, the operating system offers similar functionality to Windows 10, but with a different accept on the interface that substitutes an apps dock at the bottom of the screen for Microsoft'south Start bill of fare and taskbar. Instead of the Cortana digital banana, Mac users get Siri. They can also perform transactions with Apple Pay, take calls or texts from their phones and unlock their laptops with an Apple Sentry.

However, macOS isn't made for impact, because no MacBook comes with a touch screen. The latest macOS Big Sur operating organisation brings iPad apps over to Mac (and iPad and iPadOS apps can run natively on M1 Macs), besides as huge improvements to both the Safari browser and Siri.

MORE: MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: What Should You Buy?

Chrome OS

Establish on inexpensive Chromebooks such as the Samsung Chromebook 3. Google's Bone is unproblematic and secure, merely more express than Windows or macOS. The user interface looks a lot like Windows with an application menu, a desktop and the ability to drag windows around, but the principal app you use is the Chrome browser. The downside is that many of the "web apps" y'all utilize don't work particularly well offline. However, that'south changing as all new Chromebooks, including the high-end, Google PixelBook, can at present run Android apps.

If you lot need a device to surf the Spider web and cheque electronic mail, navigate social networks and conversation online, Chromebooks are highly portable and tend to offering expert battery life at low prices. They are too extremely pop with schools and parents because they are hard for kids to infect with malware and more functional than most tablets. If you lot need a Chromebook, look for one with at to the lowest degree 4GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. A 1920 10 1080 resolution preferred and 4K is better but very uncommon. Pay extra to get a 2-in-1 if yous programme to use Android apps.

MORE: Best Chromebooks Available At present

2. Decide If You Want a 2-in-i

Many PC laptops fall into the category of 2-in-1 laptops, hybrid devices that can switch between traditional clamshell mode, tablet manner and other positions in betwixt such equally tent or stand modes. 2-in-1s generally come in two different styles: detachables with screens that come off the keyboard entirely and flexible laptops with hinges that bend dorsum 360 degrees to alter modes.

Most of these systems are much better at serving one purpose than the other, with curve-backs being laptops first and detachables offer a superior tablet experience. Withal, if yous don't see the need to apply your notebook as a slate, you lot'll usually become more functioning for your money with a traditional clamshell laptop.

MORE: Windows Detachables Have Big Battery Life Problem

3. Cull the Correct Size

laptop different display sizes 13-inch 15-inch and 17-inch

Before you lot expect at specs or pricing, yous demand to effigy out simply how portable you need your laptop to exist. Laptops are usually categorized by their brandish sizes:

eleven to 12 inches: The thinnest and lightest systems around have 11- to 12-inch screens and typically counterbalance two.5 to 3.5 pounds.
13 to 14 inches: Provides the all-time balance of portability and usability, particularly if y'all go a laptop that weighs under four pounds.
15 to xvi inches: The nearly popular size, 15-inch laptops usually weigh 4 to 5.5 pounds. Consider this size if you desire a larger screen and you're non planning to carry your notebook around oft. Laptops with 16-inch displays are rare merely Apple might go the trend started with its xvi-inch MacBook Pro.
17 to eighteen inches: If your laptop stays on your desk all day every solar day, a 17- or eighteen-inch system could provide you with the kind of processing power you need to play high-end games or do workstation-level productivity.

4. Check that Keyboard and Touchpad

The most impressive specs in the world don't mean diddly if the laptop you're shopping for doesn't have good ergonomics. If you plan to do a lot of work on your computer, make sure the keyboard offers solid tactile feedback, plenty of key travel (the distance the key goes downwards when pressed, usually 1 to 2mm) and plenty space between the keys. If you lot're buying a Windows laptop, be sure it has Precision touchpad drivers.

Look for an accurate touchpad that doesn't give y'all a jumpy cursor and responds consistently to multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. If yous're buying a business laptop, consider getting one with a pointing stick (aka nub) between the G and H keys and then you tin navigate around the desktop without lifting your fingers off the keyboard's domicile row.

five. Pick Your Specs

Notebook components such as processor, hard drive, RAM and graphics chip tin can misfile fifty-fifty notebook aficionados, and so don't experience bad if spec sheets expect similar alphabet soup to you lot.

Hither are the primary components to keep an eye on.

CPU: The "brains" of your calculator, the processor has a huge influence on performance, but depending on what you lot want to practice, even the least-expensive model may be practiced enough. Here's a rundown:

Intel 11th Gen CPUs: Intel introduced 1th Gen Tiger Lake processors that volition power the side by side generation of laptops. You tin read about these processors in more detail here. To summarize, Tiger Lake --- a x-nanometer fleck --- offers improved integrated Iris Xe graphics with upward to iv.8Ghz speeds as well as Thunderbolt 4 support. The new EVO brand sets parameters for top laptops, including a minimum of ix hours of battery life.
Intel Core i9:Supplanting the Core i7 as the top-of-the-line CPU from Intel, Core i9 processors provide faster performance than whatever other mobile chip. Available merely on premium laptops, workstations and high-end gaming rigs, Core i9 CPUs are only worth their premium toll if you're a power user who uses the almost enervating programs and apps.
Intel Core i7: A step upward from Core i5, models with numbers that end in HQ or G apply higher wattage and have iv cores, allowing for even faster gaming and productivity. There are likewise Core i7 Y series fries that accept lower ability and performance. Proceed an eye out for CPUs that take a 10 in the model number because they are part of Intel'southward latest, tenth and 11th Gen Generation Core Series, and offer better performance.
Intel Core i5: If you're looking for a mainstream laptop with the best combination of cost and performance, get one with an Intel Core i5 CPU. Models that cease in U are the most common. Those with a Y in the proper name are low power and have worse functioning while models with an HQ use more than wattage and announced in thicker gaming and workstation systems. Intel'due south newest 11th Generation Tiger Lake CPUs have 4 cores, and a number of useful features, including Wi-Fi half-dozen support, Thunderbolt four integration and better AI.
Intel Core i3: Performance is merely a step below Cadre i5 and and so is the price. If you can possibly stride up to a Core i5, we recommend information technology.
Intel Xeon: Extremely powerful and expensive processors for big mobile workstations. If you do professional person-grade engineering, 3D modeling or video editing, yous might want a Xeon, but you lot won't go good battery life or a light laptop.
Intel Pentium / Celeron: Common in sub $400 laptops, these chips offer the slowest performance, just can do if your master tasks are web surfing and lite document editing. If you tin can pay more to go a Core i3 or i5, you'd exist ameliorate off.
Intel Core m / Core i5 / i7 "Y Series:" Low-power and depression estrus allow systems with these processors to go fanless. Performance is better than Celeron, but a notch below regular Cadre U series.
AMD Ryzen 4000 and Ryzen 5000: A new fix of chips that are designed to compete with Intel Core i5 and Core i7. We've establish Ryzen 4000 and Ryzen 5000 chips to outperform equivalent Intel Core processors. For case, the Ryzen 5 4500U CPU delivers about the same functioning every bit an Intel Core i7 CPU. Non only do you get cracking performance and endurance merely Ryzen 4000 and Ryzen 5000-equipped laptops tend to be cheaper than their Intel counterparts.
AMD A, FX or E Series: Found on low-toll laptops, AMD's processors -- the company calls them APUs rather than CPUs -- provide decent functioning for the money that's skillful enough for web surfing, media viewing and productivity.
Apple M1: The first of Apple's custom silicon, the ARM-based M1 chip crushes the competition when information technology comes to raw functioning and endurance. Found on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

More: Which Laptop CPU is Correct for You?

RAM: Some sub-$250 laptops come up with just 4GB of RAM, merely ideally yous desire at least 8GB on even a budget organisation and 16GB if you can spend just a little more than. For most folks, 32GB or more is more than than enough while 64GB and higher up is reserved for power users.

Storage Drive (SSD): Even more important than the speed of your CPU is the performance of your storage bulldoze. If you can beget it and don't need a ton of internal storage, get a laptop with a solid state bulldoze (SSD) rather than a hard drive, because you'll see at least three times the speed and a much faster laptop overall.

Among SSDs, the newer PCIe x4 (aka NVME) units offer triple the speed of traditional SATA drives. Sub-$250 laptops employ eMMC memory, which is technically solid-state but not faster than a mechanical hard drive.

Display: The more than pixels you have, the more content y'all can fit on-screen, and the sharper it will look. Sadly, some budget laptops even so have 1366 x 768 displays and so exercise a few business organisation laptops, simply if y'all tin afford it, nosotros recommend paying actress for a panel that runs at 1920 10 1080, also known as Total Hd or 1080p. Higher-end laptops accept screens that are 2560 x 1600, 3200 x 1800 or even 3840 x 2160 (4K), which all look sharp only consume more power, lowering your battery life.

Display quality is about much more than resolution. IPS panels range in color and brightness, and then read our reviews to find out if the laptop your considering has a good display. Nosotros typically expect for an sRGB colour rating of over 100% and brightness not bad than 300 nits results. If you lot want the very best picture quality and don't care about battery life, consider an OLED display. You lot should also keep an heart out for upcoming brandish technology to striking laptops, including miniLED.

Touch Screen: If you're buying a regular clamshell laptop, rather than a two-in-one, you won't get much do good from a touch on screen and you will get 1 to 2 hours less battery life. On 2-in-1s, touch screens come up standard. If you lot all the same want a touch screen, cheque out our best affect screen laptops page.

Graphics Bit: If you're not playing PC games, creating 3D objects or doing high-res video editing, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares organisation memory) will be fine, peculiarly Intel's latest Iris Xe graphics. If you accept whatever of the above needs, though, a discrete graphics processor from Nvidia or AMD is essential.

Every bit with CPUs, there are both high- and low-end graphics chips. Low-finish gaming or workstation systems today usually have Nvidia MX450 or GTX 1660 GPUs while mid-range models accept RTX 2050 or RTX 2060 and high-end models have xxx-serial chips like the RTX 3070 or 3080 GPUs. Nvidia maintains a list of its graphics chips from low to high end.

Nvidia'due south rivals, AMD, is Apple tree'southward vendor of selection for graphics cards, although you really shouldn't buy a MacBook for gaming. AMD launched the Radeon RX 5600M and the Radeon RX 5700M GPUs last year. AMD also keeps a listing of its graphics cards.

Ports: While the absence of ports is ordinarily not a deal-breaker when choosing a laptop, it's helpful to become the connections you lot need correct on the system, rather than having to conduct a slew of dongles. Most mainstream laptops will accept USB 3.0 ports and HDMI out for video. However, an increasing number of laptops utilise USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 ports that are USB Blazon-C uniform.

Getting Blazon-C is a definite plus considering you can utilise it to connect to universal chargers and docks. If you can wait, USB 4 will arrive before long with faster transfer rates and the power to daisy-chain 4K monitors with one cable. Other useful connections include SD card slots, headphone jacks and Ethernet ports (especially if y'all're a gamer).

Connectivity: If you need to utilise your laptop on the go, consider buying a notebook with 4G LTE or 5G back up. You'll have to pay for a information subscription plan, only this volition allow you to admission the net abroad from a router. If you want a laptop with the latest and greatest connectivity options, find i with Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6 offers increased theoretical throughputs and a more stable connection than 802.11ac.

Nosotros also suggest looking for a laptop with Bluetooth 5, the latest standard that offers improved connectivity with Bluetooth-enabled devices, like mice and headphones.

DVD/Blu-ray Drives: Few laptops come up with optical drives, considering all software and movies are downloadable, though nosotros've kept rails of the laptops with DVD drives. Yet, if you lot actually need to read/write discs and your laptop of choice doesn't come with a built-in DVD drive, you tin can always purchase an external 1 that connects via USB for under $20.

6. Don't Skimp on Battery Life

If you lot're ownership a large, bulky notebook or a gaming rig that you'll apply only on a desk-bound most an outlet, you lot don't have to worry about bombardment life. However, if y'all programme to use the laptop on your lap, even if it's at domicile and or piece of work, you'll want at least seven hours of endurance, with 8+ hours being platonic. To determine a notebook's expected battery life, don't take the manufacturer'south word for it. Instead, read third-political party results from objective sources, such as our reviews.

More: Laptops with the Longest Bombardment Life

7. Plan Based on Your Upkeep

These days, you tin buy a usable laptop for under $200, merely if you tin can upkeep more, you'll get a arrangement with better build quality, stronger performance and a better display. Here's what you lot can get for each toll range.

$150 to $250: The least-expensive notebooks are either Chromebooks, which run Google's browser-centric Os, or low-end Windows systems with minimal storage and slower processors, such every bit the HP Stream 11 and the Dell Inspiron 11 3000. Utilize these every bit secondary computers only or give them to the kids.
$350 to $600: For well under $600, you tin get a notebook with an Intel Core i5 or AMD A8 CPU, four to 8GB of RAM, and a 500GB difficult drive, all respectable specs. Nevertheless, at this price, about notebooks don't accept an SSD, a total-HD display or long battery life. There are a few notable exceptions, such as the Acer Aspire E 15 and Asus Chromebook Flip C434.
$600 to $900: Every bit yous get above $600, you'll start to see more premium designs, such as metal finishes. Manufacturers also offset to add in other features as you climb the price ladder, including higher-resolution displays and SSDs. The Lenovo IdeaPad 530s and Asus ZenBook UX333FA are dandy examples of laptops that offer all these perks for less.
Higher up $900: At this price range, expect notebooks that are more portable, more powerful or both. Look higher-resolution screens, faster processors and possibly discrete graphics. The lightest, longest-lasting ultraportables, like the Apple MacBook Air and the Dell XPS thirteen, tend to toll more than than $1,000 (although you can get the Dell for less if you don't opt for a touch on screen). Loftier-finish gaming systems and mobile workstations usually cost upward of $ane,500 or even as much every bit $2,500 or $3,000.

MORE: Best Laptops Under $500

8.Mind the Brand

Your laptop is only as skillful equally the company that stands behind information technology. Authentic and timely technical back up is paramount, which is why Laptop Mag evaluates every major brand in our annual Tech Support Showdown. This past year Apple came in first place, followed by the big story of the year: Razer, while Dell rounded out the top iii.

Back up is only function of what makes a notebook make worth your money. Yous also accept to consider how the manufacturer stacks up to the competition in terms of pattern, value and selection, review performance and other criteria. In our 2022 Best and Worst Laptop Brands report, HP placed get-go, followed by Asus and Dell. We've also rated gaming laptop brands, with MSI taking first place and Acer and Alienware rounding out the tiptop 3.

Laptop Guide

The All-time & Worst Laptop Brands
Laptop Tech Back up Showdown: Hole-and-corner Report
Should I Buy a Chromebook? Ownership Guide and Advice
Laptops with the Longest Battery Life
Chromebooks vs. Windows ten Laptops: What Should You Buy?
Out of the Box Tips: Set up Upwards Your New Laptop Similar a Pro
The Best Time to Buy a Laptop
Chromebook vs. Tablet: Which Should You Buy?
Laptop Buying Tips for Students
x Key Features to Look for in Your Laptop
How to Buy a 2-in-1 Laptop Hybrid
USB Type-C FAQ: Everything You Demand to Know
How to Get Rid of Your Old Laptop
Laptop Warranties: What They Cover
Which CPU is Correct For You?

Phillip Tracy is the assistant managing editor at Laptop Mag where he reviews laptops, phones and other gadgets while covering the latest industry news. After graduating with a journalism caste from the University of Texas at Austin, Phillip became a tech reporter at the Daily Dot. At that place, he wrote reviews for a range of gadgets and covered everything from social media trends to cybersecurity. Prior to that, he wrote for RCR Wireless News roofing 5G and IoT. When he's non tinkering with devices, you tin can find Phillip playing video games, reading, traveling or watching soccer.