We’re not living in the “post-PC” era. Not by a long shot. As more of us work from home, or the plane, or the coffee shop, laptops might be more important than they’ve ever been. They’ve also become harder and harder to buy, as hardware specs have hit stratospheric heights while simultaneously somehow becoming even more difficult to explain or differentiate.
It’s hard to buy a truly terrible laptop these days; good components are inexpensive enough that as long as you avoid anything still called a “netbook,” you’ll probably get something that works. But you can do better than “works” as long as you know what you’re looking for. Picking the right laptop means finding exactly the things you want, and knowing what you’re willing (and unwilling) to sacrifice to get there. Laptops are all about trade-offs, and making the right ones is key.
That’s what we’re here for. This guide is not designed to steer you toward a particular laptop — things change too quickly for that anyway, and what’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for another. We’re here to help you make the right decision for you. Which specs matter, and which don’t? What can you do in 10 minutes inside a Best Buy to figure out whether the laptop you’re looking at is the right one for you? What the hell is a GeForce and when should you care? We’ll answer those questions, and help you decide which notebook is perfect for you.
Before you even walk into the store, though, you have to get just a little existential. Your whole decision starts with a single question: what kind of laptop user are you really?This isn’t about picking the “best” laptop, it’s about finding the right one
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You might only drive Toyota and swear by Serta in your bedroom, but you should never just pick one laptop brand and stick to it. Quality varies from product to product no matter whose name is on the label, so you won’t see us recommending brands — and you shouldn’t blindly follow them. Also, our money says you’re not a $500 laptop buyer: quality decreases sharply below a certain price point, so we’re not going to tell you to buy something you’re going to regret.
Instead, we’ve divided the world of laptop users into groups that more or less stack on top of one another, from users who just want the basics (like web and email) all the way up to gamers who want epic power at all costs. Instead of skipping down to a particular section of this guide, try reading it in order. Even power users need the basics to work right, and there’s more to your computer than your graphics card.
While most of what we’ll talk about has to do with hardware, you’ll obviously have to pick an operating system for your new laptop as well. Unless you’re already a Linux user, your choice probably comes down to Windows 8 and Mac OS X . Really, you can’t choose wrong — Windows is a little more customizable, OS X better-looking, and Windows 8 remains a fairly polarizing operating system. But both have huge app ecosystems and all the hardware support they’ll need. There are MacBooks that fit the bill for almost every user below, and there are Windows PCs for everyone. Picking an OS is a good place to start, but it’s a win-win.
I want to surf the web at home
Even if you’ll only ever surf the web, write emails, and cobble together the occasional Excel spreadsheet, setting a minimum quality standard for your computer ensures it will do those things reliably and painlessly for years to come. You don’t need much, but there are a few essential things you shouldn’t skip or skimp on.
The key here is finding a computer that’s inexpensive without being cheap. Determining one from the other is easy, too: just reach out and pick up the computer. Does it feel like a quality piece of hardware, or a cheap heap of junk? Could you see yourself hauling around this chassis, and using this keyboard and this touchpad for several years? The materials and parts are less important than the assembly and design — and they hint at the quality of the components and circuitry inside the machine. Generally, when laptop manufacturers cut corners, they do it everywhere simultaneously.
The Samsung Chromebook is a great example of an inexpensive computer that’s not at all cheap. It doesn’t do much, nor does any Chromebook — Google’s Chrome OS is little more than an expanded browser window. But Chromebooks are well-made, offer solid battery life, and for at-home browsers and emailers may be everything you need. The trade-offs here are raw power, and raw power may not be what you need.
Of course, internals do matter, especially if you’re investing in a computer rather than buying the cheapest thing you can find. Things change quickly: if you want your laptop to stay snappy for a few years, don’t buy an outdated Intel Celeron, Pentium, or Atom chip when you could get a Core i3 or Core i5. Don’t get an AMD C-series or E-series processor, or even an AMD A4, when you could have an A6 or A8 inside. You don’t need the highest clock speed or model number, but you should have the latest version — “Haswell” is your friend right now.
While you used to have to look for Wi-Fi, USB ports, a webcam, and a video chip capable of HD video playback, you can pretty much take those for granted. Other possibly important features aren’t always included: if you’ll ever need a DVD drive, an SD card slot to import photos from a camera, a VGA port to connect to old projectors, or a removable battery, you’d better triple-check they’re included in your new laptop.
Don’t even look at a computer with less than 4GB of RAM, and it’s a really good idea to spend a few dollars to upgrade to 6GB or 8GB — it’ll keep your computer running running better, longer. So is shelling out for a big hard drive. Some laptops still ship with 320GB hard drives, but filling even 500GB with 1080p movies and games is easier than you think, so shoot for 750GB or 1TB for some breathing room.
Even if the perfect configuration’s sitting there on the shelf, spend a minute seeing how long it takes for the machine to open files, open programs, and wake up from sleep. If anything seems sluggish now, with a fresh machine right off the shelf, just wait until it’s full of apps, files, and games.
Getting the right laptop for your home office or living room is easy, and shouldn’t cost you more than about $800 — we like the Acer Aspire M5 a lot, or the Lenovo ThinkPad T430. But once you’re ready to pack it up and hit the road, finding the right device gets a little harder.D
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