Laptop Buying Guide  

Budget And Intended Use

The first thing to do when shopping for a laptop is to determine your budget, as a new laptop can cost anywhere from around $150 USD to thousands of dollars. Knowing your intended use helps in your budget planning, as the price range varies depending on the type of laptop you're looking for. For example, a budget ultraportable might cost around $600 USD, while a budget gaming laptop typically goes for around $1,000 to $1,250 USD. It's common practice for manufacturers to advertise the price of the base configuration, so make sure you have some overhead in your budget in case you need to upgrade components like RAM and storage.

Portability And Form Factor

If you're considering a laptop over a desktop, chances are that you'll need to carry the device from one place to another, so portability is a huge factor. Most people find anything 15-inch or smaller easy to carry, and some newer 16-inch models are compact enough that they'll fit into most bags. Don't forget to consider the thickness of the device, as the laptop compartment in many bags doesn't stretch enough to accommodate thicker models, like gaming laptops with a hefty cooling system and bulky chassis. As for weight, it depends on what else you have to carry in your bag, but up to ~3.5 lbs (1.58 kg) is roughly what most people would find reasonable.

The traditional clamshell form factor is the most popular one these days, naturally. There are many other types of laptops, including 2-in-1 convertibles with a 360-degree hinge, tablet PCs with a detachable keyboard, and, more recently, dual-screen laptops. Choosing the right one depends on your preference and needs; Windows has the most variety, followed by Chromebooks, while Apple only makes clamshell laptops with no touch input. If you aren't sure which type to get, ask yourself a few simple questions. Do you need touch or pen input support or a convertible to consume media? Do you need a lot of screen real estate? These questions will help narrow down your options.

Operating System

Of the many widely available operating systems, we primarily focus on the three most used: Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS. Most of you already have some proficiency with one or more of these operating systems and a preference. Or, you might already know which one your school or work requires. In broad strokes, Windows and macOS are full desktop operating systems with wide app compatibility and functionality, while ChromeOS is a more limited, Android-like platform that revolves around cloud services.

What if you aren't familiar with any of these operating systems? How do you choose? Well, let's first talk about ChromeOS. If you need any third-party programs that aren't available from the Google Play Store, legacy drivers, or a fair amount of processing power, ChromeOS isn't for you. This is because most specialized applications don't run on ChromeOS, and most, if not all, Chromebooks use low-power chips that simply can't handle highly demanding tasks. Chromebooks are best suited to people who can access all their work via the Chrome browser or Android apps, like students or anyone needing an inexpensive device to access web content.

As for Windows and macOS, the choice comes down to the apps you use and your preference. If you're looking to play games, Windows is still the preferred platform because there are far more titles available for Windows than for macOS. Generally speaking, most people find macOS more polished, sporting a more unified design language and smoother animation throughout. Also, let's not forget the deep integration Apple has built between Macs and other Apple devices, allowing for additional features like Continuity, Sidecar, and AirDrop. That said, many find macOS less flexible in customization and personalization, so if you're a tinkerer at heart, Windows might be the better option.

What To Look For When Buying A Laptop

Once you've determined your budget and intended use, as well as your preferred form factor and operating system, it's time to examine the individual aspects of the laptop, such as build quality, performance, and ports.

Build Quality

Build quality is an important aspect to consider when shopping for a laptop, as you'd want a device that can last a long time. Build quality also affects the overall user experience, as it can be quite unpleasant to use a device that feels fragile, like it might fall apart from a few clicks on the touchpad. The solidity of the lid and keyboard deck is of particular concern, as you don't want the screen to get damaged from pressure exerted onto the lid, and a keyboard deck that flexes a lot can significantly impact the typing experience, making the keyboard feel mushy. Pay attention to the hinge as well, as it's a moving part that you'll engage every time you use the device.

Laptops with an aluminum chassis and unibody design are typically sturdier than models with a plastic chassis and/or lots of seams, but that isn't always the case, so don't rely too much on the materials used. In addition to reviews, we encourage you to look at community forums for reports of build quality issues because even though reviewers evaluate the build quality, problems sometimes arise only after a certain period of regular use.

Display

Unless you plan on using an external monitor, the display is one of the most important things to consider when shopping for a laptop. The aspects to look at include the panel type, resolution, refresh rate, brightness, reflection handling, color gamut, accuracy, and flicker. Most laptops on the market use an IPS panel, but more are coming out with other display technologies, like OLED and Mini LED. If you watch a lot of content in the dark, OLED and Mini LED displays are the best options, as they'll give you deep, inky blacks.

For productivity and media consumption, the higher the resolution, the better, as you'll get sharper text and images for a better viewing experience. Just remember that a higher resolution will drain the battery faster. A pixel density of 160+ PPI is preferable, but you can go lower if you aren't a pixel peeper. You can also go lower for gaming because scenes move so quickly in most games that you don't really have the time to appreciate the increased sharpness.

Next is brightness and reflection handling. You'd want to get a screen that's at least 300 cd/m² for good visibility in indoor settings. For outdoor use in broad daylight, 500 cd/m² or more is best, especially if the screen has a glossy coating that struggles with reflections. As for the screen's finish, that's often dependent on whether there's touch/pen input and the type of panel (OLEDs are usually glossy). A matte finish doesn't always mean you get better reflection handling than a glossy finish, so it's best to judge each screen on its own merits.

The display's refresh rate not only affects motion smoothness and clarity, but it improves input responsiveness as well, making the system feel snappier. Most people can likely get by with a standard 60Hz refresh rate for productivity and general use, but many say that once they've experienced a higher refresh rate, like 120Hz or higher, they would never go back to 60Hz. The best thing to do is to try it out and see if you can notice the difference.

For gaming, a higher refresh rate is better, but again, there are diminishing returns, as most people have a hard time noticing the difference once they reach around 360Hz. You'll also want to look at the panel's response time because a slow response time will cause ghosting in fast-moving scenes. Gamers would also want to ensure that the panel supports variable refresh rate, like FreeSync and G-SYNC, to ensure minimal screen tearing when gaming.

If you have specific color performance needs, like full DCI P3 or Adobe RGB coverage, you should look at the color gamut, which most brands disclose in the spec sheets. Accuracy is important if you need to do color-critical work, especially if you don't have the equipment or budget to calibrate the display. That said, display accuracy can drift over time, so it might be worth investing in a colorimeter if accuracy is crucial to your work.

Finally, you need to consider flicker if you're sensitive to display flickering. Most IPS and Mini LED panels are entirely flicker-free, but if you come across a panel that flickers, make sure the flicker frequency is relatively high, as a higher flicker frequency is less noticeable, reducing the risk of getting eye strain. OLEDs usually flicker; again, check the flicker frequency.

Keyboard And Touchpad

Like the display, the keyboard and touchpad are pretty high in importance because they're your primary method of input (unless you plan on using separate peripherals). Keyboard preferences vary wildly; we try to convey the typing experience as much as possible, but ultimately, trying it out in person is probably your best bet. By and large, you'd want a keyboard with a relatively spacious layout that's easy to adapt to, as well as stable keys with a good amount of travel and tactile feedback. Some laptops lack backlighting, so check for it in the spec sheets if it's important to you.

As for the touchpad, you'd want one that's large enough to use comfortably, as a small touchpad can make some actions difficult, like dragging and dropping over a long distance. You'd also want one that feels smooth, as it'll allow your fingers to glide more easily. Tracking is rarely a problem these days, though you may come across some that don't register inputs as well near the edges. There are two types of touchpad: haptic and diving board. The former uses a haptic engine to simulate clicks, similar to how smartphones vibrate, while the latter uses traditional mechanical switches. Haptic touchpads are more common on higher-end devices. They aren't necessarily better than diving board touchpads, but they do make some actions easier because you can click anywhere, even at the top of the touchpad.

Performance, Thermals, and FAN Noise

For some of you, performance is probably the most important aspect when shopping for a laptop, especially if you need to perform highly intensive tasks, like video editing, CAD, simulations, data analysis, or gaming. The CPU/GPU market is vast, which is good because you have more choices, but also bad because it makes choosing even more challenging. The best way to go about it is to get the most performance you can get based on your budget. Look at the benchmark scores of the available CPUs/GPUs on review websites such as ours, read the manufacturer's spec sheets, and compare them.

If you're trying to figure out which configuration to get of a particular laptop with CPUs/GPUs from the same family, the general rule of thumb is that more cores and faster clock speeds mean better performance. For those with a light, general productivity workload that consists of web browsing, text processing, spreadsheets, and video playback, performance is still important but shouldn't be the main focus, as most modern systems can handle these kinds of tasks. That said, getting better performance will allow you to keep the laptop for longer before needing an upgrade.

Having a blazing-fast system is great, but that often comes with higher thermals, louder fans, and/or shorter battery life. Obviously, getting a laptop with low thermals and fan noise is preferable since they directly impact the overall user experience (unless you're trying to save on heating during the winter months). The temperature threshold is around 45 °C (112 °F) on the keyboard deck and bottom of the laptop; the latter is important when using the device on your lap. Fan noise is a bit more subjective, as it depends a lot on the level of ambient noise. If you only work in quiet environments, staying below 45 dBA is best, as anything above that is quite noticeable. Many laptops have built-in software to control the thermals and fan noise; just know that these settings will affect performance.

Battery Life

Battery life is probably a major factor in the buying decision for most people, and more is always better. For productivity, you'd want a laptop that can last at least through a typical work or school day with a little bit of charge to spare, so around nine hours or more. Naturally, demanding workloads like video editing, simulations, or gaming will drain the battery much faster. Besides the CPU and GPU, the other significant power-hungry component is the display, as the resolution, brightness, and refresh rate will all have a huge impact on battery life.

RAM And Storage

As of 2025, we recommend getting at least 16GB of RAM, especially on Windows devices. You might get away with 8GB if your workload is extremely light or on a Chromebook, but know that you'll likely experience slowdowns when multitasking. The good news is that with the recent AI push, most manufacturers have adopted 16GB as the baseline configuration. Remember, having more RAM doesn't actually make your system go faster; it just gives you headroom to do more things before you encounter slowdowns.

The amount of storage depends on what you do. While you can likely get by with 256GB if you have a light workload and regularly use cloud storage, 512GB is probably a safer bet these days. Having more storage space doesn't hurt; however, some brands charge an arm and a leg for storage (and memory) upgrades, so it's up to you whether you can stomach the price increase.

If you can only upgrade one or the other, we recommend upgrading the memory because most manufacturers use soldered RAM modules these days. You can always use an external drive if you run out of storage, which you can't do with memory.

Ports

Each person has different needs when it comes to ports. For most people, the bare minimum is probably two USB ports (one USB-A and one USB-C or two USB-Cs), provided that one or more of the USB-Cs supports charging, video output, and data transfer. A third one would be nice if you plan on charging the laptop via USB-C. After that, it's up to you which other ports you need and whether you can live with a dongle or dock.

USB standards are complicated; if you aren't sure what you need, look for USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 support with up to 40Gbps data transfer speeds, which is likely fast enough for most people. As for the HDMI port, many manufacturers advertise HDMI 2.1 support but use the TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) signaling method, which limits the output resolution to 4k @ 60Hz. To differentiate between 4k @ 60Hz and 4k @ 120Hz HDMI ports, we consider the former HDMI 2.0 and the latter HDMI 2.1.

Webcam, Speakers, Biometrics, etc.

There are, of course, other components in laptops, like the webcam, speakers, biometrics, and Wi-Fi adapter. Some laptops even have optional cellular connectivity. Their importance depends entirely on what you care about. Regarding Wi-Fi standards, like Wi-Fi 6, 6E, or 7, don't worry about it too much unless you have very specific needs, and if you don't know what you need, then it probably doesn't matter that much.

Serviceability

While it may seem like most of the market is moving towards laptops with soldered parts like the RAM, storage, and wireless adapter, you can still find models that have replaceable parts, most notably Windows devices. There are even laptops specifically designed for upgradability, like the Framework Laptop 13 (2025). Having replaceable components means you can upgrade the laptop with better parts, prolonging the life of the laptop. It can also help save money because the individual parts, like the RAM and storage drive, are usually cheaper than what many brands charge to upgrade when configuring the laptop at purchase. With system memory, there's a downside in that replaceable SO-DIMM modules are usually slower and less energy-efficient than soldered memory, so you might see a drop in performance and battery life.

Where To Buy

With the shrinking number of brick-and-mortar stores, most of you will likely make your purchases online, so we do our best to review the laptops and convey all the necessary information you need to make a buying decision without stepping into a physical store. Where you should get a laptop depends on the configuration you need and the brand, as many manufacturers limit the configuration options available from third-party sites and marketplaces or offer special deals on their own site. This is the case for brands like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Apple. It's worth noting that some third-party sellers on marketplaces often swap out the SSD (and sometimes even the memory) for a larger capacity drive, hoping to sweeten the deal, but it's always a gamble whether the upgraded drive is actually better performance-wise, so it's best to check first.

Conclusion

There you go! You should be ready to find a laptop now that you know the basics. Remember: a more expensive laptop doesn't mean it's better, and since there's no perfect laptop, knowing what matters most to you is key. Take your time, read the specifications and reviews, and don't fall for marketing jargon. If you want to know how we test laptops, check out our How We Test article, where we give you an overview of our review process from the purchase of the product to the final review.