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).
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
