Our Laptop Buying Advice offers a complete buying guide for anyone in the market for a new laptop, whether they happen to be novice or expert. Enjoy!

Laptop Buying Tips

There are so many laptops on the market to choose from, it can be a nightmare to work out which one will be best, or how much you need to spend, for your needs.

Unlike a normal desktop PC which can be upgraded and have extras installed, such as a replacement keyboard, a new mouse or a lovely new screen, when you buy a laptop, it will look approximately the same as it did when you first bought it.

Because of this, it is really important that you are happy with what you buy, so always ask your local dealer for a demo and test out your prospective laptop yourself.

There’s plenty to watch out for, so here’s some basic tips to be aware of before you even begin buying – here are some wise tips we have picked up over the years….

What Do I Need From My Laptop?

There are many things you might need a laptop for, but equally, there are just as many features that you will never even use. Here’s some advice on centering in on the right kind of laptop for you….

Make A List

Ask yourself why you are buying a laptop. What are you going to use it for? Write everything you want out of your laptop down on a piece of paper, and then research those requirements so you know what to look out for.

Don’t Be Blinded By Science

It might be tempting to buy the most expensive laptop, which is going to be the most advanced, but don’t forget that technology moves so quickly, that same technology will be a fraction of the price a year later – don’t get sucked in and only go for what you need.

Ask Around

We cannot impress enough how important it is to ask around in your local computer shops – but make sure you visit more than one for a variety of opinions so you don’t get persuaded to get something you don’t need!

How Much Do I Spend On My Laptop?

Know Your Budget

The biggest rule in any shopping experience is to always work out your maximum budget. Shop salesmen will do anything they can to eke out an extra £50-£100 from you, so be firm and hold fast at your absolute limit.

Consider Second Hand

If your budget is tight, it may be worth buying second hand or B-stock – but make sure you get a second opinion on just how old the laptop is. Always ask your local dealer for any special deals.

Plan For Peripherals

Also be aware that there may be little extras you need, such as an external mouse, so make sure these are accounted for in your budget, too. For example, if you want a netbook for its ultimate portability, but think you might want to watch DVDs on it every now and again, you may need to invest in an external optical drive as well.

Use Your Credit Card

Always use a credit card to buy electronic goods before setting the account straight away to avoid incurring interest. There are plenty of reasons why this is a good idea, but the main one to remember is that you get better protection if something goes wrong – accidental damage on the way home, for example. But don’t forget – always check your credit agreement to make sure you are protected.

Laptop Warranties

Most brand new laptops will come bundled with some kind of warranty and are normally protected for at least one, so if anything goes wrong that shouldn’t within this period, you will be protected.

However, the chances of anything happening within a year are normally slim so you may want to think about two or three year warranties – and you can even pay extra to extend them even further.

Whether you think this wise, however, is up to you…..we would recommend basing the cost of your warranty on the cost of your device – an extra £100 for 3-year protection for a £2000 laptop is wise, but the same price for a £300 laptop is not.

Laptop Tips: Size & Weight

The whole point of laptops is to be portable, but there are varying degrees of portability! In general, the more portable your laptop – eg the smaller and lighter it is – the less power, speed and functionality it will have.

As an example, we’ll look at the netbook; the smallest class of laptop you can buy. Netbooks are extremely portable and lightweight, but they do lack DVD drives, for example, and generally only have small memory and storage space.

Of course, you can buy external storage and an optical drive, but these will add weight to your overall ‘package’ and negate the point off buying a netbook in the first place.

Size

Size is important to consider when buying a new laptop – here’s what to look for…

Dimensions

When you are searching for a new laptop, you will generally come across three measurements – *mm x *mm x *mm. These measurements show the dimensions of the laptop in terms of width, height/thickness and depth.

Measurements

The width of a laptop is measured from left to right across the keyboard and the depth is measured from the very front to the back. The thickness of the laptop is measured when it is closed.

Screen Size

There will also be one more crucial measurement; screen size. The screen size of your laptop will dictate the basic size of the device and can range from around 7-inches for a small netbook to around 18-inches for the largest laptop.

Weight

Weight is another key issue to look at when buying a laptop as it can be an indicator of performance…

Portability

You don’t want to be constantly lugging around a 12 lbs laptop from location to location every hour of every day – unless you want problems with your back.

Compromise

You may not get the full functionality with a lighter laptop, but you will save your posture, so if you travel a lot for business, we would recommend getting a netbook or light notebook and using it as an extension of your main desktop PC.

Don’t Forget To Research

Just because a laptop is heavy doesn’t mean it will be feature-packed. It may be that a particular laptop uses a very heavy battery and is geared towards long periods of portable use, rather than functions, so always read the product description carefully to make sure you are aware.

Types of Laptop

In the old days, a laptop was a laptop, but as more people have ‘gone mobile’ with their work, laptops have changed a great deal and have been split up into several different categories.

These categories are generally based on size – laptops are the largest, followed by the notebook and then the netbook. Recent technological developments have also seen the introduction of the tablet PC.

If you are looking for sheer power and speed then you should really be looking at a laptop, which are generally larger and heavier than the others. If you need portability, then a netbook or tablet should be your choice, although you trade off power for the small size. Notebooks sit in the middle ground and are a good option if you need a good compromise between portability and power.

Laptop

All though an all-encompassing term, the name ‘laptop’ is often given to a device that is effectively a desktop replacement. Large laptops are not ideal for travelling around with, but if you need a computer you can move into different rooms around the house or at work, then we would recommend one of these instead of a desktop.

Key Features:

* Heavy
* Large in size and thickness
* Big screen – up to 20-inches
* Large keyboard – great for big fingers
* Fast processing speeds
* Excellent selection of ports and connections
* Expensive

Notebook

Notebooks are perhaps the most common variant of portable computer and are lighter and smaller than laptops. Great all-rounders, notebooks are OK for travelling, but suffer from a fairly short battery life.

Key features:

* Attractive designs
* Medium weight
* Around an inch thick
* Between around 13.5 – 16-inchesscreen size
* Decent-sized hard drive
* Average processors
* Mid-priced

Netbook

Netbooks are small, light, easy to carry and enjoy a decent battery life, so are great for people who are constantly on the move. However, this portability comes at a price as performance is generally weaker and slower than its bigger relatives. Although they often come with cheaper price-tags, you will often be paying more than what they truly offer.

Key Features:

* Small screen
* Ultra-light
* Small, thin design
* Small keyboard
* No disk drive
* Less ports and connections
* Good battery life

Tablet

Tablets have been billed as ‘the next big thing’ and are set to do a lot of damage to the netbook market. Whether they last the course is still up for debate, but they are certainly attractive, futuristic-looking devices. The big question is; is there brains behind the beauty?

Key Features:

* Uses mobile operating systems
* Small screens, from 7-inch to 10-inch
* Touchscreen functionality
* Light
* Highly portable
* Can be expensive for what they offer

Laptop Tips: Internal Components

The internal workings of a laptop are what gives it its speed, power and efficiency. In general, it’s very much a case of getting what you pay for when it comes to parts, so if you are looking to save money, you will need to identify what you want your laptop to do and invest in those parts, before cutting back on the parts you don’t need.

As an example, if you intend to simply build up a music collection, then you want to invest in a decent hard drive for storage and unless you want to play the latest 3D games, there isn’t much point in buying a top of the range graphics card.

Here’s what to expect…

Laptop Hard Drive

Your hard drive is effectively a storage unit for all your documents, extra programs, music, photos and videos. Look for around 250GB of storage as a minimum, which is more than enough for most music collections, but if you are a bit of a video fiend, you may consider a 1TB (terabyte) or even 2TB hard drive.

Laptop Processor

The processor – or CPU – is the brains of any laptop or computer, and spends its time constantly performing millions of calculations to provide you with your computing experience. A faster processing speed generally means a faster laptop, but the very fastest are often mind-boggling expensive.

Laptop Memory

Your laptop’s memory stores data which can be accessed quickly and efficiently by the processor, so the faster and larger your memory – or RAM – the faster your laptop can operate. 1GB of RAM is common in laptops – particularly smaller ones – but we would recommend at least 2GB for a smoother general experience.

Laptop Graphics

The graphics card in your laptop can come in two different guises. Integrated graphics cards are the most basic form and they effectively siphon off from your laptops normal memory, meaning they are only good for basic tasks and simple games. Dedicated graphics cards have their own memory and are required for the latest 3D gaming. Make sure you get the right one for your needs!

Laptop Tips: External Components

It’s important that you feel comfortable with the external components of your laptop and ensure they are well made, as a poorly designed laptop will not last the distance.

Don’t forget to always read user reviews to pick up hints and don’t be afraid to ask for demos at your local store. Here’s the sort of components you can expect on your laptop….

Laptop Keyboard

This is simple: if you have big fingers, you’ll need a bigger keyboard, and in general, that means a bigger laptop. Whatever sized-hands you have, look out for well-spaced keys with a good amount of resistance – poor keyboards tend to rattle about, so are easy to spot.

Laptop Touchpad

Instead of a mouse, you will often find a touch-sensitive panel at front of a laptop’s keyboard, known as a touchpad or trackpad. More contemporary laptops will feature multi-touch technology – or even a touchscreen – and what you need to look for are a good balance of sensitivity and response – again, try and get yourself some hands-on time with your potential purchase before you buy.

Laptop Screen

This very much depends on your requirements so there are a few things to consider. In terms of size, get as big as you can without affecting your optimum portability. If you plan to use it outside a lot or watch DVDs and look at photos, try a Super-TFT screen which has a more defined picture under bright lighting conditions.

Laptop Ports

Most modern day laptops are bursting with ports and slots for external equipment. You will find most ports are located along the sides of your laptop/notebook/netbook.

Depending on what your requirements are, some ports will be essential – if you want to hook up your laptop to your TV for HD content, as an example, you’ll need at least an HDMI slot or a Display Port.

Here’s a breakdown of the kind of things you should look out for in terms of ports:

Card Reader – for accessing data from other devices, such as a camera
Display Port – hooks your laptop up to an external monitor or screen
eSata port – allows eSATA or USB devices/cables to be plugged in
Ethernet – Ethernet cables are used for accessing networks or the Internet
Express Card – allows external devices such as FireWire, graphics cards or TV tuners, for example
FireWire – for high speed data transfer
HDMI slot – for plugging in to HDTV or advanced audio system
Microphone – for pretending to be on Top Of The Pops
Modem – accessing the Internet
Optical Drive – disk drive for DVDs, Blu-ray disks, for example
PC Card – for memory expansion
S/PDIF – connects digital audio
S-Video – for analogue video transmission
USB – to plug in USB devices
VGA-out – for external monitor/screen

Quick Access Buttons

Across the top of the keyboard on most laptops, you will find a number of buttons that enable you to ‘quick start’ various programs or functions, such as volume control, media control and Internet access which can sometimes be programmed to your own settings.

Laptop Accessories

If you are just after a basic computer experience, then a laptop on its own will probably do for you, but if you are looking for something extra – then you will need to consider accessories.

Here is our guide to the kind of accessories and extras we think you might need the most….

Laptop Mice

Try as they might, laptop manufacturers have yet to provide a touch-pad experience that can get anywhere near the usability you get from a traditional mouse.

Yes, there have been vast improvements, but the chances are, you will still want to fork out on an external mouse, whatever your budget or taste.

Laptop Speakers

The chances are that the speakers on your laptop are rubbish. They are OK if you are doing basic web surfing and you decide to watch the occasional YouTube video, but expect anything els from your speakers and you’ll be disappointed.

If you really want to improve your laptop’s sound quality, then a decent pair of laptop speakers is an essential purchase, as they will add a clearer, more atmospheric sound to your desktop.

Laptop Webcams

You will probably have a webcam installed in your laptop if you have bought one in the last two or so years, but the chances are that it won’t be a great one.

If you are heavily into video conferencing or other, er, activities, then you will need to buy a more specialised laptop webcam for finer detail and more versatility.

Laptop Cases

The whole point of buying a laptop is so you can transport it easily from A to B. But you will often find that the path between A and B is beset with hazards that could damage your poor little computer.

Make sure your laptop case or bag is strong enough to protect your lappie from the accidental bangs and scrapes that are inevitable as you bustle around in public – but watch out it isn’t too heavy as to affect your laptop’s portability too much.

Laptop Trolleys

The bigger your laptop, the heavier it will be, however, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on portability.

If your laptop is a bulky beast, then you might want to think about a laptop trolley to ease the pain of transportation – they will also offer more protection than typical laptop bags and some will have a ‘mobile office’ included.

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