Guide to buying a laptop to avoid mistakes

For many people, the laptop is the only computer used in the home because it takes up little space, it can be moved easily and is more manageable than a stationary that instead requires a dedicated workstation.
As seen in a comparison post between laptops and stationary computers, notebooks are also more compact objects, which once bought can hardly be improved inside them or to replace a piece. This means that choosing the right laptop is important and even more difficult.
In this complete guide I will show you how to choose the right laptop suitable for our needs, so as not to spend money unnecessarily (considering that laptops have a higher cost than fixed PCs, having an eye will help a lot).
READ ALSO: How to choose the new Notebook

Features of a laptop

In this part of the guide we will show you the generic features to consider before purchasing a laptop. We will not tell you about technical terms that are difficult to understand, but we will show you the characteristics that we can immediately check in the laptop's data sheet before purchasing.

Size of laptop and screen

Buying the right size laptop is important not only to have a bigger or smaller screen, but also to have a more or less wide keyboard and touchpad. Choosing a notebook that is too small may be tight to work with, but if it is too large it becomes more difficult to carry it around; the choice is clearly subjective.
Those who travel a lot should prefer a smaller size, about 12 or 13 inches while those who use the laptop especially at home can go for 15.6-inch models . Those who want a medium-sized computer can choose the 14 inches. You don't have to think that the bigger it is the heavier it is, because weight and thickness are independent of the dimensions. Ultrabooks, for example, are more compact, flat and lighter, even with 15.6-inch screens.

Number of doors and sockets

New laptops should have all the basic ports and connectors:

1. At least 3 USB ports, including one USB 3.0
2. SD card reader
3. Headphone and microphone jack
4. Ethernet socket
5. Video outputs for monitor or TV (HDMI or DisplayPort)

We therefore check that all these elements are present, so that we can connect any additional peripheral and be able to make the best use of the laptop in all usage scenarios.

Hybrid or classic laptop ">; if we want a tablet it is better to buy an iPad directly, in our opinion the only model on which it is better to focus.

Alternative operating systems

Many people think that laptop means choosing between Windows or Mac PC. Despite the system optimized for touch screens, Windows 10 is used as a classic PC, with mouse and keyboard (touch screens have not been very successful). On the other hand, MacBooks cost no less than 1500 euros which is a figure not for everyone. Here then we can experience a new class of notebooks, the Google Chromebooks, which cost very little and are based on Chrome OS, the Google operating system. These laptops have the particularity of working mainly connected to the internet, with very limited functions if there is no connection.
Chromebooks are inexpensive, light, fast and are based on web applications to be launched via the Chrome browser such as, for example, Google Docs (similar to Office), Google Drive, Google Keep, Dropbox and many others.
The Chromebook may not be a good choice as a primary PC, but it can be a real bargain and have an excellent performance if you already have a desktop or laptop PC with Windows or Mac and a Chromebook as a secondary computer.
In this regard, we advise you to deepen the discussion by reading our article on Why the Chromebook is a great deal to buy immediately .

Laptops with SSDs, no hard drives!

The SSD is the storage unit that replaces traditional hard drives and is perhaps the most important and decisive part of the computer in influencing its performance on a laptop. When we buy a notebook then make sure that the SSD is present as internal memory, avoiding to take laptops with mechanical disks (although they may attract due to the greater capacity). If you really want a laptop with an old mechanical disk, we advise you to inform yourself immediately on how to replace it with an SSD, so as to benefit from extremely superior performance; in this regard, we advise you to read our guide on How to clone a hard disk to another disk with an exact copy .
In another article via we talked about the differences between SSD and Hard disk, so we can deepen the question as it should.

Best laptops for every need

In this chapter we decided to show you some simple laptops, divided according to price and needs. Obviously the laptops shown below are only indicative, they allow you to correctly orient yourself on the characteristics that a laptop must have.

Economical laptop

A good budget laptop but capable of doing all the homework is the Acer Aspire 3 A315, which has an AMD Ryzen 3 2200U processor, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, 256 GB of internal SSD memory, 15.6 display "HD LED LCD, Radeon RX Vega 3 graphics card and Windows 10 Home.
We can view the laptop from here -> Acer Aspire 3 A315 (462 €).

Lightweight portable

If we are looking for a really light laptop, so that we can carry it without problems and without getting tired, we must choose the ASUS Vivobook A411UA, which has 14-inch FHD display without reflections, i7-8550U processor from 1.8 GHz, internal memory SSD from 256 GB, 8 GB of RAM, Intel graphics card and Windows 10 Pro.
We can view the laptop from here -> ASUS Vivobook A411UA (€ 699).

Powerful multipurpose portable

We want a powerful laptop for any type of business, which can also replace a desktop PC ">
We can view the laptop from here -> Asus Vivobook Pro N580GD (1099 €).

Gaming laptop

Although it is always preferable to build a fixed gaming PC to play, if we want to spend a lot on a gaming laptop we can consider the MSI GF75 Thin 8RC, a large and heavy notebook that has a 17.3 "FHD screen, Intel processor Core I7 8750H, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, dual 128GB SSD + 1 TB mechanical disk, 4 GB GDDR5 GTX 1050 video card and Windows 10 Pro.
We can view the laptop from here -> MSI GF75 Thin 8RC (1179 €).

Conclusions

Whatever our needs, we can choose a modern laptop by carefully observing the data sheet and checking if what it offers is adequate for the purpose for which we take it. The prices are much higher than a fixed PC in addition many pieces can not be replaced, so better to choose a modern notebook model, so that it can be used without problems for at least 2-3 years.
Still on the subject of notebooks, we recommend you read our guide on What are the most reliable notebooks and the best brands, so that you can always choose the best manufacturers in terms of reliability and durability. We don't know whether to take a desktop PC or a laptop? Let's find out which one to choose by reading our study. Better to take a desktop PC or a laptop?