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You either have it, know of it, or are still fighting the trauma flashbacks &#; that clunky, slow, larger than life work laptop. The muscle required to tow it to and from the office probably qualified you for the Olympic sport of weightlifting. Fortunately, technology has advanced, and now lighter, faster and leaner laptops are on the market. Since many models look the same and have similar features, laptop shopping can be overwhelming &#; especially when you&#;re buying them for your entire office staff.
Laptops see heavy daily use, now more than ever before. Business laptops are generally more expensive, but the extra cost ensures a higher-quality product. While it&#;s tempting for some businesses to focus solely on cost when choosing a laptop to buy in bulk, you could be signing yourself up for the same decision in another two years, not to mention other headaches along the way. It's important to also consider other factors that contribute to the quality and longevity of your devices.
To help make the right decision for your business, consider a laptop's price-performance ratio, a measure of a product's ability to deliver performance relative to its price. This can be found by dividing the budgeted cost of work completed, or earned value, by the actual cost of the work performed. And remember to review the specifications of each laptop you're considering to ensure you'd receive peak performance for the extra money spent. A laptop worth investigating is the Dynabook Tecra A50 or the Dynabook Portege X40. To learn more or get a quote, contact us.
Laptops are compact enough to carry with you, yet powerful enough to run demanding 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.
Whether you are just browsing the web, needing to type a research paper, working on video production, or playing some of the best PC games, it's all best done on a laptop. So, how do you know what to look for in a laptop? Well, we've put together this laptop-buying guide to help answer that question for you.
Laptops come in a wide variety of sizes, features, and prices, making choosing the best laptop a challenge. That's why you need to figure out what your needs are.
Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)
Depending on your needs this could be an easy choice, but if you don't have any existing loyalties to a platform or specific software that you need this can be a challenging question to answer. If you are in that latter camp here's a quick overview of each platform&#;s strengths and weaknesses to help you decide.
Most laptops come with one of three operating systems: Windows, ChromeOS, or macOS (for MacBooks only).
Windows 11 (or Windows 10)
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The most flexible operating system, Windows 11, runs on more 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 touch screens to fingerprint readers to dual graphics chips. Windows 11, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system, provides several improvements over Windows 10, including the revised interface, the new Microsoft Store, handy features like Snap View.
Since its launch in October , Windows 11 has also added many improvements, including Focus Sessions and a Do Not Disturb mode. The 22H2 update also came with notable performance and battery optimization enhancements. Windows 11 laptops are great for students, researchers, and business users, and they're still the only gaming laptops anyone should consider.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)
macOS
All MacBooks come with Apple's latest desktop operating system, macOS Sequoia. Overall, the operating system offers similar functionality to Windows 11, but with a different take on the interface that substitutes an apps dock at the bottom of the screen for Microsoft's Start menu and taskbar. They can perform transactions with Apple Pay, take calls or texts from their phones, and unlock their laptops with an Apple Watch. AI is a developing feature on all platforms currently, on macOS that's Apple Intelligence.
However, macOS isn't made for touch, because no MacBook comes with a touch screen. While Apple did bring iPad apps to its laptops starting with macOS Big Sur (iPad and iPadOS apps can run natively on Macs with Apple M series chips), you have to rely on a touchpad or mouse to navigate them. macOS Ventura brought Apple's Stage Manager for handling multitasking, which is an upgrade, but much more difficult to master than Windows solution.
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ChromeOS
Google's ChromeOS is simple and secure, but more limited 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 primary focus is still the Chrome browser. All modern Chromebooks, like the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook can run Android apps, but they aren't always optimized for use in a laptop form factor.
The growing functionality of ChromeOS and improved performance of even relatively cheap recent Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 have expanded the use cases for ChromeOS laptops in recent years. Unless you have specific software only available on Windows or macOS, a Chromebook is a solid choice for most users.
They are also extremely popular with schools, parents, and increasingly businesses because they are hard to infect with malware. For educational use, they offer something closer to a full laptop experience and are more functional than most tablets. If you need a Chromebook, look for one with at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage if this is a secondary laptop, if it's a primary laptop we'd recommend 8GB of RAM and an SSD rather than eMMC flash memory. A screen with a x resolution is preferred and you can now find 4K and OLED models if you plan to watch a lot of content on the Chromebook.
Many PC laptops fall into the category of 2-in-1 laptops, hybrid devices that can switch between traditional clamshell mode, tablet mode and other positions in between such as tent or stand modes. 2-in-1s generally come in two different styles: detachables with screens that come off the keyboard entirely and convertible laptops with hinges that bend back 360 degrees to change modes.
Most of these touchscreen laptops are much better at serving one purpose than the other, with convertibles being laptops first and detachables offering a superior tablet experience. However, if you don't see the need to use your notebook as a slate, you'll usually get more performance for your money with a traditional clamshell laptop.
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Before you look at specs or pricing, you need to figure out just how portable you need your laptop to be. Laptops are usually categorized by their display sizes:
The most impressive specs in the world don't mean anything 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 down when pressed, usually 1 to 2mm) and enough space between the keys. If you're buying a Windows laptop, be sure it has Precision touchpad drivers.
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Look for a large and accurate touchpad that doesn't give you a jumpy cursor and responds consistently to multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. Lenovo fans still love the pointing stick (aka nub), which looks like an eraser head between the G and H keys so you can navigate around the desktop without lifting your fingers off the keyboard's home row.
Notebook components such as processor, 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.
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Here are the main components to keep an eye on.
CPU: The "brains" of your computer, the processor has a huge influence on performance, but depending on what you want to do, even the least-expensive model may be good enough. Here's a rundown:
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RAM: Some sub-$250 laptops come with only 4GB of RAM, but ideally you want at least 8GB on even a budget system and 16GB if you can spend just a little more. Even for most power users 32GB is more than enough, while 64GB and above is reserved for professional power users, high-end gamers, or those who just want to see how much RAM can fit in a laptop.
Storage (SSD): As important as the speed of your CPU is the performance of your storage drive. Actual hard drives have no place in a laptop in , so stick to a solid state drive (SSD).
Sub-$250 laptops often use eMMC memory, which is technically solid-state but not faster than a mechanical hard drive, so if you have the choice of bumping up to an SSD from eMMC on even a budget laptop it will have a considerable impact.
(Image credit: Stevie Bonifield)
Display: The more pixels you have, the more content you can fit on-screen, and the sharper it will look. Sadly, some budget laptops still have x 768 displays, but if you can afford it, we recommend paying extra for a panel that runs at x , also known as Full HD or p. Higher-end laptops have screens that are x , x , or even x (4K), which all look sharp but consume more power, lowering your battery life.
Display quality is about much more than resolution. IPS panels range in color and brightness, so read our reviews to find out if the laptop you're considering has a good display. We typically look for a DCI-P3 color rating of over 85% and brightness great than 300 nits. If you want the very best picture quality consider an OLED display or miniLED, but read reviews of these models carefully as there can be battery trade-offs.
Touch Screen: If you're buying a regular clamshell laptop, rather than a 2-in-1, you won't get much benefit from a touch screen and you will get 1 to 2 hours less battery life. On 2-in-1s, touch screens come standard. If you still want a touch screen, check out our best touch screen laptops page.
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Graphics Chip: If you're not playing PC games, creating 3D objects or doing high-res video editing, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares system memory) will be fine, especially Intel's Iris Xe graphics. If you have any of the above needs, though, a discrete graphics processor from Nvidia or AMD is essential.
As with CPUs, there are both high- and low-end graphics chips. Low-end gaming or workstation systems today usually have Nvidia GTX RTX A or RTX GPUs while mid-range models have RTX and high-end models have RTX or above chips. Nvidia maintains a list of its graphics chips from low to high end.
While Nvidia still rules the GPU world, AMD's Radeon RX GPUs are a viable alternative through the mid-tier range. AMD also keeps a list of its graphics cards.
Ports: While the absence of ports is usually not a deal-breaker when choosing a laptop, it's helpful to get the connections you need right on the system, rather than having to carry a slew of dongles. However, many mainstream laptops now only offer USB Type-C, Thunderbolt 4, or USB4 ports that are USB Type-C compatible. Having legacy USB 3.0 ports, an audio jack, an SD card reader, and HDMI can be useful, but depending on the type of laptop you are considering these features are growing harder to find.
With that said, USB Type-C is a definite plus because you can use it to connect to USB Type-C hubs or docking stations that can give you any combination of ports you might need.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)
Connectivity: If you need to use your laptop on the go, consider buying a 4G LTE laptop or 5G laptop. You'll have to pay for a data subscription plan, but this will allow you to access the internet away from a router. If you want a laptop with the latest and greatest connectivity options, Wi-Fi 7 is it. However, Wi-Fi 6e is still excellent and far more common. Keep in mind that you also need a Wi-Fi 6e or Wi-Fi 7 router in order to actually enjoy the benefits of that performance boost.
We also suggest looking for a laptop with Bluetooth 5.3, the latest standard that offers improved connectivity with Bluetooth-enabled devices, like mice and headphones.
DVD/Blu-ray Drives: If you love physical media times are tough in the laptop world for you. Optical drives are virtually entirely gone, because all software and movies are downloadable, we continue to track down laptops with DVD drives, but it's a challenge these days. If you really need to read/write discs we strongly recommend leaving this off the wish list for your laptop and buying an external DVD drive.
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If you're buying a large, bulky notebook or a gaming rig that you'll use only on a desk near an outlet, you don't have to worry about battery life. However, if you plan to use the laptop on the go, you'll want at least 8 hours of endurance, with 10+ hours being ideal. To determine a notebook's expected battery life, don't take the manufacturer's word for it. Instead, read third-party results from objective sources, such as our reviews.
MORE: Laptops with the Longest Battery Life
These days, you can buy a usable laptop for under $200, but if you can budget more, you'll get a system with better build quality, stronger performance and a better display. Here's what you can get for each price range.
MORE: Best Laptops Under $500
Your laptop is only as good as the company that stands behind it. Accurate and timely technical support is paramount, which is why Laptop Mag evaluates every major brand in our annual Tech Support Showdown. This year Apple claimed first place, followed by Razer in second and Lenovo in third.
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.
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