When looking to buy a laptop, you will encounter issues related to buying a laptop and a detailed laptop buying guide 2024 will help you a lot.
The issues generally are What to look for in a laptop? What type of laptop do I need? there are various types of laptops. Will the Laptop last longer? Will the laptop battery last longer? Which laptop brand is best? etc.
Laptops are generally portable PCs with lots of features and come in various sizes and prices. So choosing a laptop that is right for you is quite challenging.
Let’s dive into this laptop buying guide and I will help you find the best suitable laptop for you according to your need.
Things to Consider Before Buying a Laptop
What is your purpose for buying a laptop?
Why do you need a laptop? Is it for entertainment, software and game development, content creation, gaming, business use, or light day-to-day use purposes? or are you a multitasker? means all purposes in a single laptop.
After deciding your purpose for buying a laptop, let’s decide on the budget.
What is your budget for a laptop?
Laptops come in various budgets from Entry-level to High-End level or premium level. From $150 or 20,000 INR to $6600 or 500,000 INR budget range.
Setting your budget is also important in deciding which laptop will be best for you under the budget. The entry-level laptop budget ranges from $150 or 15,000 INR to $500 or 40,000 INR.
Mid-Range Laptops or Mainstream Laptops have a budget of $500 or 45,000 INR to $1500 or 100,000 INR and High-End or Premium Laptops have a budget of above $1500 or 100,000 INR.
Entry Level Laptop Spec with budget $150/15,000 INR to $300/23,500 INR
- CPU: Intel Core Celeron N4500/N4020/N5030
- RAM: 4/8GB LPDDR4x/DDR4
- SSD: 256/512 GB or 64/128GB eMMC
- Display: 13.3/14/15.6 inch and 1366 x 768/1920 x 1080p
- OS: Chrome OS, Windows 11
Laptop Spec with budget $300/24,000 INR to $500/40,000 INR
- CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 7505/Celeron N4120/i3/i5/Ryzen 3 and 5
- RAM: 8/16GB LPDDR4x/DDR4
- SSD: 512 GB or 128GB eMMC
- Display: 13.3/14/15.6 inch and 1366 x 768/1920 x 1080p
- OS: Chrome OS, Windows 11
Mid-range laptop Spec with budget of $500/42,000 INR to $1500/100,000 INR
- CPU: Intel Core i3/i5/i7, AMD Ryzen 3, 5, 7, and Apple M1
- RAM: 8/16GB DDR4/LPDDR5/DDR5
- GPU: RTX 2050, RTX 3050, RTX 4050 and RTX 4060
- SSD: 256/512/1 TB
- Display: 13.3/14/15.6 inch and 1920 x 1080p/2560 x 1600p
- OS: Mac OS and Windows 11
High-End Laptop Spec with budget of $1500/100,000 INR above
- CPU: Intel Core i7/i9, Ryzen 7/9 and Apple M2 and M3
- RAM: 16/32/64GB LPDDR5X/DDR5
- SSD: 512/1 TB/2TB+
- Display: 13.3/14/15.6/17 inch and 1920 x 1080p/2560 x 1600p/2K/4K
- OS: Mac OS, Windows 11
What type of Laptop do I need?
Before I tell you what type of laptop is suitable for you, you should know that there are various types of laptops so you can decide which one to choose according to your needs.
Budget Laptops or Entry-Level Laptops
These laptops come under the $500 or 40,000 INR price range with basic specs that will get your day-to-day task job done. These Laptops are lightweight, low-spec, affordable, not so stylish, but of good quality with decent keyboards and touchpads.
Many Chromebooks are also available under a $500/40,000 Budget. These budget laptops are targeted at people who don’t have a need for too much processing and graphical power.
I have already described the specs according to the budget in the budget section. You can easily get Intel i3/i5 and Ryzen 3/5 CPUs with 8/16GB RAM and 256/512 GB SSD with Windows 11.
Chromebooks are the cheapest with Intel Celeron processor bundled with 4/8GB RAM and 64/128GB eMMC storage in this budget segment.
Mid-Range Laptops or Mainstream Laptops
Mid-range or Mainstream laptops have a wide variety of options available to choose from. These types of laptops have better hardware specs and features with good build quality and design.
These laptops have Intel i5/i7 and Ryzen 5/7 6/8 core CPUs with 8/16/32 GB RAM options, better graphics cards from Nvidia, AMD, on Intel, and 512/1 TB of SSD storage. All laptops under $1500 or 100,000 INR.
These laptops are targeted at people who want performance under an affordable budget. This budget segment is the sweet spot for laptops, they have better display quality and resolution, powerful CPU and GPU, great battery life as well as lightweight and portable.
Macbooks with base Apple M1/M2 chips are available in this price range.
High-End Laptops or Premium Laptops
These High-End or Premium laptops have all the best specs, display quality, build quality, High-performance CPU and GPU, a lot of RAM and SSD, better battery life, and other top-notch features.
These laptops cost more than $1500 or 100,000 INR and have premium looks and designs. You can get top end Macbook Pro with M3 chips. On the Windows side, Intel i7/i9 or Ryzen 7/9 high-performance CPUs and High-performance graphics cards like RTX 4070, RTX 4080, and RX 7900M GPUs.
In this segment, you will have various laptops to pick from among so many.
2-in-1 Laptops
The 2-in-1 laptops are hybrid laptops means they can become tablets due to detachable keyboards or screens, another one is convertible laptops, which screens can flip back due to being 360-degree foldable hinges.
Some of these laptops are touchscreen laptops. These types of laptops are thin and lightweight. The low-budget ones have low-powered and low-performance processors and integrated graphics.
The high-budget 2-in-1 laptops have powerful processors with integrated graphics, a good camera, a Fingerprint reader, an Active pen with touchscreen support, a good display, and many good features.
Ultrabooks
The Ultrabooks are super thin and lightweight laptops with weights of 0.9kg to 1.8kg. These laptops have high-performance, low-powered processors with iGPU and provide you with a great battery life of up to 10-11 hrs.
Ultrabooks come in various form-factors 13, 14, and 15 inches due to being compact and lightweight, it is ultraportable and suitable for people who like to travel a lot.
Business Laptops
Business laptops are targeted at business people like corporate/office workers and professionals like video editors and graphic designers.
Business laptops which are for corporate/office workers have specs that tend more on the computing and efficiency side. They have highly efficient and mid/high-performance CPUs with great battery life and more RAM.
They are focused on great cameras, security and privacy, and rigid build quality but not so good on looks but high-end business laptops have good displays and design. HP Elitebook 660 G11 and Lenovo Thinkpad E16 are great examples.
The laptops that are made for professionals have great displays, high-end CPUs, more RAM, storage, and GPUs. some of these laptops have a touchscreen for better I/O, especially for graphics design laptops.
These are also called creator laptops such as Asus Vivobook 16X, HP Envy X360, etc.
Gaming Laptops
Gaming Laptops are focused more on gaming but can be used for other purposes as well however the only downside of gaming laptops is power efficiency; they don’t have a long battery life.
Even though they possess larger batteries due to being performance-focused they don’t last long. They have mid to high-performing CPUs with entry to High-end graphics cards, 8/16/32GB of RAM, and many storage options.
Budget gaming laptops have average-quality displays with Ryzen 5 or Intel i5 high-performance CPUs and RTX 2050 or RTX 3050 GPUs with decent cooling solutions and also have backlit keyboards.
Mid-range gaming laptops have IPS or even some cases OLED displays with FHD/1.5K/2.5K High Refresh rate displays, the Latest gen Ryzen 5/7 and Intel i5/i7 processors with RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RX 7600M, and RX 7600S GPUs.
High-end gaming Laptops have lots of options in display either IPS or OLED panel, FHD+, 2K, 2.5K, 3K, and 4K displays with some of them having HDR support, up to 240Hz refresh rate screens, bundled with High-end processors, and High-End GPUs.
Gaming laptops are bulkier due to the need for heat dissipation, they require larger heatsinks and great displays, CPU and GPU mean more power draw; hence less battery backup.
Some of the gaming laptops are HP Victus gaming laptop, Asus Tuf Gaming A15, Asus Rog Strix Scar, etc.
What to Look for When Buying a Laptop?
Which Operating System should I use?
Now you have come to the part of choosing which OS to pick. There are only these mainstream OS that are preloaded with the Laptops and those are Windows, MacOS, ChromeOS, and Linux.
Windows OS
Windows OS is made by Microsoft. Windows operating system is the most versatile OS in the laptop and PC market and is much more open-ended than competitors.
It supports almost every software and application whether it be video/photo editor software, games, multimedia software, and many development software.
Windows Laptops give various options to choose from whether it be high-end, mid-range, or budget laptops with various designs and quality. A wide variety of brands make Windows laptops and Microsoft is among them.
Windows OS is suitable for all kinds of users: gamers, content creators, business people, designers, casual users, and developers. High-end Windows laptops easily surpass Macbook performance despite being cheaper than Macbooks.
They have laptops in various shapes and sizes. They also have all types of laptops whether 2-in-1, touchscreen, business, creator, casual, or gaming laptops.
Windows also has its own store, office apps, and link-to-phone/windows features to have an ecosystem-like environment. The latest is Windows 11 with various new features and designs compared to previous-gen Windows 10.
MacOS
Apple owns the MacOS, It is a proprietary operating system, unlike Windows. Apple always keeps its products close-ended. Apple’s macOS is focused on office workers, content creators, and developers but casual users can also use them.
MacOS has its own office and media/editing software and each app is well-suited for its task. Most content creators and designers prefer Macbooks as in this category macOS excels compared to Windows but not by much. Windows also gives MacOS, a good competition in this category.
The build quality, design, premium look, and displays of the Macbooks are great. They also have their in-house chip, such as M1, M2, and M3 with inbuilt graphics. Macbooks are powerful and much more power efficient.
Macbooks have higher price tags than Windows, and Chrome OS-based laptops. Apple does not make touchscreen or 2-in-1 Macbooks.
One of the great features of MacOS is its ecosystem, All Apple devices can be paired with your Macbooks and can perform tasks like sending texts or picking calls from their phones, locking and unlocking your MacBooks, and many more.
Chrome OS
Chrome OS is made by Google. It is mainly focused on web apps or browser-based Apps and affordability. Chrome OS is lightweight means it doesn’t consume much of your hardware resources.
Chromebooks or Chrome OS laptops have low-spec hardware. Chromebooks have low-powered and low-performance processors and average displays for better battery life and because of this they are cheaper than Windows and MacOS laptops.
Chrome OS doesn’t have a wide variety of software support like Windows and MacOS. They are Web-centric and they do support Google Play and Android apps though some Android apps still have compatibility issues.
Chrome OS is targeted to Office and student use and for casual users. They also have a similar feature like a link-to-windows/phone feature to access your smartphone via Chromebook.
Linux OS
Linux OS is an open-source operating system that can be installed on a Windows Laptop using the dual boot method. Not many laptops come with Linux pre-installed you can choose to download it if you are a fully coder/programmer or a hacker.
Linux GUI (Graphical User Interface) is not like Windows, MacOS, or Chrome OS. You have to rely on pseudo-commands as well as a graphical interface to work with. They are mostly used for server-based workloads.
Linux is reliable, virus and malware-free doesn’t have crashing issues, and is licence-free. It doesn’t have its own Office/media software, it rather relies on open-source software like Libre Office (an alternative to MS Office), GIMP (an alternative to Adobe Photoshop), and Darktable (an alternative to Adobe Lightroom).
What Form Factor do laptops use?
There are various shapes and sizes of Windows Laptops, Macbooks, and Chromebooks. Let’s discuss that-
Windows Laptops have various sizes of laptops starting from 13-inch to 18-inches in sizes. Macbooks are 13 inches to 16 inches in size, and Chromebooks come in 11.6 inches to 15.6 inches in size.
11 to 12 inches: It is an ultraportable laptop size, which is very cheap and only available in Chromebooks. It weighs around 1 Kg to 1.3 Kg.
13 to 14 inches: It is the best size according to most laptop users due to being compact, easy to carry, and having enough display size to enjoy contents such as media, or any work stuff. It weighs around 1.25 kg to 1.5 kg, All OS laptops are available in this form factor.
15 to 16 inches: It is the most common laptop size for Windows laptops (15.6), and Macbooks (16), and some Chromebooks have 15.6 inches in size. These laptops have the right display size for consuming content and portability. These laptops weigh around 1.7 kg to 2.5 kg.
17 to 18 inches: This is the big daddy of laptops. This size is only available in Windows gaming laptops. It has large displays, high-performance specs, and a bigger battery. It is not suitable to carry around. It is bulkier and weighs 2.6 kg to 3.6 kg.
Laptop Battery Backup
Battery backup or battery life is also a must to look for in a laptop. Especially if you’re always traveling or any office worker. Your laptop must give a minimum of 6 hrs of battery life.
Most laptops offer 10-11 hrs of battery life such as MacBooks, Chromebooks, Business, and Content creator laptops from the Windows side.
Don’t expect great battery life on Gaming laptops, as high-performance CPUs and GPUs always consume more power. If you’re choosing a gaming laptop for better performance, you better plug in and play.
Thin and light laptops always tend to give the best battery life such as Apple Macbooks Pro M3, Lenovo Idea Pad Slim 5, HP Pavillion Aero, and many more.
Which Display Resolution should I choose?
There are various kinds of display resolutions available in laptops 1366 x 768p on budget laptops and Chromebooks, 1920 x 1080p (FHD) is the most common display resolution on the market, 2560 x 1440p (QHD), and 3840 x 2160P (UHD).
These are standard resolutions with a 16:9 aspect ratio, this is the common aspect ratio in almost all laptops, especially gaming laptops. There are 3:2 and 4:3 aspect ratio screens available in laptops.
Now we have 16:10 aspect ratio screens which are taller and good for reading, web browsing, and Photo editing. The resolutions that support this aspect ratio are 1920 x 1200p (FHD+), 2560 x 1600p, (QHD+), and 3480 x 2400p (UHD+), 2880 x 1800p (3K).
Display Types – There are IPS (In-Plane Switch) LED/LCDs which have good colors and contrasts which have been improved a lot in 2024. This is the most common type available in laptops and can be good for professionals.
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), QLED (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode) by Samsung, and mini-LED display types are available which have good sharpness, contrasts, brightness, and dynamic and accurate colors.
These displays are very good for content creation and consuming content. Even gaming laptops are using these types of displays for punchy colors.
Refresh rate – Most laptops have standard 60Hz display; Gaming laptops and Creator laptops always have high refresh rates for better experience. 120Hz, 144Hz, and 240Hz are common refresh rates in laptop displays.
Touchscreen laptops are also an option but they consume more battery, Even Higher resolution and refresh rate result in low battery life. To know more about display resolution and refresh rates read the Monitor buying guide.
I/O Ports and Connectivity
Ports are meant to connect any external devices to your computer. Ports such as USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, mini-HDMI, RJ-Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm Audio jack.
USB-A ports were the norm before it also has various types such as USB 2.0 (480 Mbps), USB 3.2 Gen1 (5 Gbps), and USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps). They all differ in data transfer rates.
USB-A ports are good for external HDD/SSD, Flash drives, and peripherals but nowadays, Laptop makers have reduced the amount of USB-A ports due to their size and transfer speed; especially in thin and light laptops.
Still, some Laptops use USB-A ports such as gaming laptops and not-so-thin ones but even they have reduced the amount of USB Type-A ports.
USB-C ports are becoming a new norm due to their small size and high data transfer speed. USB 3.2 Gen1 (10 Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen2 (20 Gbps), and USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) ports.
Thunderbolt 4 ports are Intel-specific, AMD laptops don’t support it. It is good to have a Thunderbolt port that can be used for external GPUs due to its high bandwidth.
USB-C can also allow you to charge your laptops, charge other devices, and connect to external monitors.
HDMI or Mini-HDMI ports are also used to connect external monitors with some allowing you to use High-refresh rate monitors. RJ-ethernet ports are good for connecting LAN cables via a router; which is good for gamers for low latency.
SD-Card Reader is a must especially if you are a photo/videographer. So what ports should a laptop have? One USB Type-C, 1/2 USB-A port, SD/microSD slot, and a 3.5 mm mic/audio jack are a must in laptops.
Connectivity such as Bluetooth latest version 5.3/5.4 and WIFI versions such as WIFI 6, 6E, and 7 is great. You should focus on the latest versions.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Having a comfy keyboard on your laptop that grants you solid tactile feedback while typing is a sign of good ergonomics. There are various types of keyboards available in the laptops Chicklet, Backlit, and Ergonomic.
Chicklet keyboards are common in budget laptops, and Backlits are common in mid-range laptops and gaming laptops.
Ergonomic means comfiness, and if your laptop has enough space to rest your hand and wrist after the keyboard area and the mouse touchpad doesn’t get touched by your hand every time you type then you have good comfort.
The mouse touchpad should have accurate touch response, multi-touch gestures, and pin-point zoom. The buttons should have a clickable feeling, which is considered a good touchpad.
Upgradability
You will have a question Is your laptop upgradable? Let’s see what type of laptops provide you with upgradability.
Most of the Windows laptops and Chromebooks provide upgradability such as RAM and SSD upgrades. However, some laptops have RAM soldered onto the board and only 1 RAM slot is available for upgrade.
Now some Windows laptops and Chromebooks have RAM soldered onto the laptops you have to look for if they support RAM upgrades and if yes then how much amount of RAM can be supported by each slot?
SSDs can be upgradable in all Windows and Chrome OS-based laptops. Most thin and light laptops don’t support RAM upgrades and then there’s a Macbook, They didn’t provide any hardware upgradability feature.
You have to choose which configuration/specs are suitable before buying. They have RAM and SSD soldered onto the motherboard.
Only Gaming Laptops and standard laptops have proper upgradable feature RAM and SSD. Gaming Laptops can support up to 32/64 GB RAM upgrades and up to 2-4TB SSD Support.
Warranty and Support
Warranty and support depend on laptop brands. Apple has the best tech support while Windows side HP, Dell, and Lenovo. You have to check for company policy which brands give you the best warranty.
The Quality of laptops also depends on which laptop manufacturer makes them. Apple has good quality, and HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus have good laptops from the Windows and Chromebook side.
Asus had a warranty and support issue but now they have solved it.
Read and Watch Reviews
One of the most important things is to Read and watch reviews from a 3rd party. It may be a specs comparison, performance comparison, price-to-performance comparison, or how long the battery will last.
Before buying any Laptop make sure to check on reviews, it will give you an idea of how your gadget/device will perform in day-to-day life.
What Specs to Look for When Buying a New Laptop?
What Processor do I need in My Laptop?
The need for the processor depends on what type of task you want to do on your laptop whether it be gaming, streaming, content creation, Software/game development, graphics designing, office worker, or casual user.
What type of Processor should you choose? Many brands make Processors such as Intel, AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm. Most of the laptops in the market have embedded Intel, AMD, and Apple CPUs while Qualcomm is new in this game.
Intel Processors
Laptops based on Intel Processor come in various naming schemes Core Ultra Series 1/2, Core i3, i5, i7, and i9. Intel now uses Core Ultra naming in their new laptops, for example, Core Ultra 9 185H and Core Ultra 9 288V.
Previously Intel used simple naming such as Core i9 14900HX, Core i9 13980HX, and so on. Core Ultra 3 or i3 is the least powerful chip, Core Ultra 5 or i5 is more powerful than i3 and as the line-up moves to the top, the performance difference increases significantly.
So what is this Core i9 14900HX mean? i9 is the performance tier, 14 is the generation of CPU, 900 shows the performance and HX shows the class of performance. You have seen that Intel uses the suffix at the end of every CPU. So what does this suffix mean?
‘HX’ means high performance and unlocked CPU, ‘H’ means high performance, ‘P’ means performance optimized, ‘U’ means power efficient, ‘Y’ means extremely low power, ‘G1-G7’ means IGPU graphics level.
Similarly, the Intel Core Ultra Series also uses H, U, and V suffixes. (Intel naming scheme guide to help you figure out what suffixes and numbers mean).
Intel Core Ultra series processors are focused on thin and light laptops with AI capabilities. They are highly efficient and provide good performance. Intel uses P-core and E-cores in their CPUs for performance and efficiency.
These CPUs have great iGPUs capable of playing games at 1080p med settings and able to do other GPU-intensive tasks smoothly.
AMD Processors
AMD Processors also use a naming scheme in their laptops. Currently, AMD mobile/Laptop processors are named Ryzen 9 AI HX370. These are new Ryzen AI 300 series CPUs as a counter to Intel Core Ultra series CPUs.
These AI 300 and Ryzen 8000 series processors have NPUs for AI-related tasks and great iGPUs for GPU-intensive tasks. Previously, AMD naming schemes were Ryzen 9 8945HS and Ryzen 9 7945HX just like Intel they use suffixes.
‘AMD Ryzen’ is the brand name, ‘9’ is the performance tier, “8” is the model year means 2024, “9” means market segment ie Ryzen 9, “4” is architecture ie Zen4, “5” means Upper model within a segment, and “HX” is the TDP.
‘HX’ means High performance (55W+), ‘HS’ means Performance (35W+), ‘U’ means Power efficient (15-28W+), and ‘C’ means Extremely Low Power (9W).
Most AMD laptops available in the market are of the Ryzen 8000 series and Ryzen 7000 series. The Ryzen AI 300 series is fairly new and will be widely available. AMD also builds its hybrid CPUs.
AMD and Intel both have each other counterparts like Intel i3 has Ryzen 3. So, do they differ? yeah, but not by much. They perform the same on the overall tasks with some tasks AMD is leading, while on the other Intel.
Apple Processors
Apple processors are ARM-based, they are a combination of both power and efficiency. Their processors are used in iMacs, Macbooks, iPads, and iPhones. These are known as M1, M2, and M3; M3 is the latest generation among them.
Apple also uses a naming scheme, such as M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra. Ultra is the fastest and most powerful among them, whereas the base model is the least powerful one.
M3 doesn’t have any ultra model yet. They have 3 models – M3 base, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. Apple CPU also uses hybrid cores like AMD and Intel.
The CPU and GPUs are in a single chip, Apple iGPUs are designed for GPU-intensive tasks like Video and Photo editing, 3D modeling, and graphics designing.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processors
Qualcomm is fairly new in the Laptop CPU market. They debuted in 2024 with Snapdragon X series processors. They are ARM-based processor for Windows thin and light laptops.
They don’t have much software support yet. They mostly focused on productivity and boast of their AI capabilities just like AMD and Intel. These processors are for Windows laptops and these laptops are marketed as Microsoft Copilot+ PCs.
SD processors are powerful and power efficient; Qualcomm claims that these CPUs consume less power and provide great battery life in Windows laptops.
There are two series of Snapdragon X CPUs those are Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus.
What you should look for in laptop processors?
Core count, TDP (Thermal draw power limit), and clock speed in Windows laptops. Chromebooks aren’t meant for high-performance tasks so they have power efficient low power CPUs.
Apple CPUs are powerful and power-efficient so Look for CPU core count and GPU core count in them. Choose which one will be better according to your task.
Apple CPUs also have variants like Intel and AMD. For example, the M3 Pro has 2 variants- an 11-core CPU with a 14-core GPU and a 12-core CPU with an 18-core GPU. So pick according to your needs.
Intel and AMD processors are x86 Architecture CPUs so they support a wide variety of software, libraries, and games.
Gamers/streamers should buy Intel/AMD-based Windows laptops as Apple and Chromebooks aren’t meant for gaming. Casual gamers should pick Intel i5 P, H, or HX version CPUs, and from the AMD side Ryzen 5 H, HS, and HX CPUs. Extreme gamers should pick Intel i7/i9 H or HX CPU and AMD Ryzen 7/9 HS/HX CPUs.
Engineering students, casual content creators, programmers, and Intermediate SW/Game developers can start with Intel i5 or Core Ultra 5 processors with P, U, and H suffixes and AMD Ryzen 5 U/H/HS suffixes CPUs. They can also pick i7 or Ryzen 7 CPUs as well it depends on your budget.
You can also pick an Apple M3 base model laptop but it will cost more than a Windows laptop.
Professional content creators, SW/Game developers, 3D modelers, and Designers should pick Intel i7/i9 with H, HX, Ryzen 7/9 HS, HX model, and Apple M3 Pro or Max models.
Casual or Everyday users, school students, and office workers who need to write documents or work in MS Office and other basic tasks like browsing and Entertainment purposes; Intel i3 or Ryzen 3 processors can be used.
What Graphics Cards Do Laptops have?
Laptops come with two types of Graphics solutions integrated and discrete/dedicated Graphics. Low-budget Laptops, Thin and light laptops, Business laptops, and Macbooks use integrated graphics.
Integrated graphics are GPU combined with the CPU on a single chip. They are very low-powered and good for power efficiency. Previously, Intel iGPUs were just graphics accelerators but now they have progressed quite a lot.
Intel has ARC graphics as an iGPU which are now powerful enough to run games smoothly at 1080p, basic video/photo editing, and designing. The latest iGPU by Intel is Intel ARC 140V and Arc 130V.
AMD has Radeon graphics 890m and 880m; these are the latest version. AMD called their CPU and GPU combo in a single chip as APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). These are powerful iGPUs but a little bit slower than Intel ARC 140V.
Previously, AMD iGPUs always performed better than Intel iGPUs. Apple GPUs are also considered integrated graphics as they are also bundled into a single chip (SOC). They are quite powerful and trade blows with dedicated GPUs.
They are useful for Content creation, 3D modeling, and design. They are not suitable for gaming.
Discrete graphics or dedicated graphics in laptops are additional graphics cards from Intel, Nvidia, and AMD. They are powerful but consume more power. They are less powerful than their desktop counterpart.
Nvidia graphics cards are embedded in most Windows Laptops; AMD graphics cards and Intel graphics cards are also embedded but not on a wide scale.
Graphics cards from Nvidia, Intel, or AMD for Laptops are also called mobile GPUs. RTX 3050, RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RTX 4070, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 Graphics cards are used on laptops.
RTX 3050 is mostly used in budget gaming laptops and normal content-creator laptops. For mid-range gaming laptops RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 are used and for high-end RTX 4070 and above are used.
They also have their MAX-Q versions for power efficiency. These are low-powered GPUs targeted for efficiency and performance, such as the RTX 3050 max Q and RTX 4050 max Q.
AMD graphics cards are RX 7600S, RX 7700S, RX 7700M, RX 7600M XT, RX 7800M, and RX 7900M. They are powerful and quite power-hungry. Suffix ‘S’ are low-powered but not as low as Nvidia’s GPUs.
Intel also started making discrete graphics cards like A350M, A370M, A380M, A530M, A570M, A730M, and A770M GPUs. Although they are fairly new they do perform well in DX12 Games but in DX9 and DX11 games, they do face problems due to driver issues. However, they are updating their GPU drivers and fixing these issues.
What should you look for in a laptop GPU?
Laptops GPUs also come in many variants such as RTX 3050 Max-Q has 4GB VRAM and 35W TDP, and the RTX 3050 Max-Q Refresh comes with 6GB VRAM and 35W TDP.
So you should look for certain specs and their comparisons. GPU core count, VRAM capacity, and TDP/TGP (Power Limit). You also have to look for comparisons of that GPU from 3rd party teams to know how they perform.
See even if you have the same specs but different brands for example – An Asus laptop with Intel i5 13450H, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB Gen 4 SSD, and RTX 3050 50W and a Lenovo Laptop with the exact same specs. The performance won’t be similar.
Why is that the case? because of certain factors such as silicon chips, performance tuning by brands, cooling solutions used by brands, and differences in software may lead to these performance differences. It is quite normal so you won’t have to worry about this too much.
How much RAM should a laptop have?
After processor, this is one of the most important specs you have to look for in your laptop. Laptops come in various RAM configurations such as 8/16/32/64 GB and it depends on your budget.
I would say as most experts do, the more RAM or System memory you have in your laptop the better. Verify if the RAM is soldered onto the motherboard or if the laptop has extra RAM slots to upgrade.
Chromebooks come with 4/8GB config, and 4GB RAM is sufficient for Chromebooks as Chrome OS isn’t very heavy on resources but picking 8GB will be the sweet spot in this segment.
Most Windows laptops come with 8GB RAM as the base RAM config, I would advise picking the 16GB RAM one or you can pick the 8GB version and buy another 8GB RAM stick that will also work.
Some Windows laptops that use Intel Core Ultra series 2 and Snapdragon X processors have RAM soldered on the System-on-Chip (SOC). So, you can have the only option is to choose the best memory configuration according to you.
Macbook base variants come with 8GB RAM or 8GB unified memory because the GPU and system share the same memory but 8GB won’t cut out choose the 16GB at the least.
The Macbook’s memory is also soldered so you can’t manually upgrade. You can visit the Apple service center and configure your MacBook to the desired specs but it will cost you a lot. So my advice will be to get a 16GB or 24GB variant.
Casual gamers, content creators, software/game developers, 3d modelers, and designers need to have a minimum of 16GB of RAM.
Professional content creators, Serious programmers or developers, Multitaskers, 3D Designers, or AI/ML data trainers get a 32 GB variant laptop.
Older laptops came with DDR4 and LPDDR4X RAM but now Laptops with DDR5 and LPDDR5X RAM have become a trend. The faster the RAM, the better.
How much SSD should a laptop have?
SSD or Solid state drive is the new trend of storage used in laptops. Most brands have ditched the 2.5-inch HDDs which take more space, slow, and a bit heavy.
SSDs are based on NAND flash technology which is compact, small, lightweight, power efficient, and does not contain any movable parts, unlike HDDs.
They come in various form factors such as SATA SSD which is similar to HDD in size ie 2.5-inch but faster than HDDs, M.2 PCIe, or NVMe which is much faster than any HDDs and SATA SSDs.
Most Laptops use the M.2 PCIe or NVMe SSDs; they improve your Laptop performance by a huge margin by improving boot time and application/software load times.
The most common form factor used by Windows Laptops is M.2 2280. Windows laptops use SSD capacity starting with 512GB and 1TB which may upgraded to 2TB or 4TB. So look for the amount of SSD slots in the laptop.
Chromebooks come with eMMC storage which is a form of solid-state drive but has similar speed as HDD. They also come with M.2 SSDs and UFS storage with capacities like 128GB and 256GB.
Most Chromebooks don’t give you the option to upgrade your storage. Some Chromebooks will grant you to upgrade your SSD but It depends on the model and brand.
Macbook has a soldered SSD which can only be changed by visiting the Apple service centre and upgrading your storage will cost you. So, Choose at least 512GB or 1TB SSD if you are buying a Macbook.
Macbook storage capacities are 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB which can be further configurable up to 8TB.
Best Time to Buy a Laptop
The next thing that will come to mind after looking for what to look for in a laptop and deciding which one to choose is when to buy a laptop or get the best deals.
In the Indian market, the best choice is to buy during festivals or auspicious days when Amazon and Flipkart introduce sales or deals.
In the US market, the best time to buy is Cyber Monday, Black Friday, Prime Day, or any deals by Micro Center, Best Buy, or Newegg.
The other option is to buy 3-4 months after the release of new Laptops, as brands tend to lower the prices of previous-generation Laptops.
FAQs
How do you know which Laptop RAM is faster?
The term used with RAM, for example, 16GB LPDDR5x-7500 MHz/MTs, the number 7500 MHz denotes the transfer speed of RAM. The higher the number is the faster its transfer speed is.
Which CPU and GPU combination is best for laptops?
Intel i5 or Ryzen 5 with RTX 3050, RTX 4050, or RTX 4060. Intel i7 or Ryzen 7 with RTX 4060 and RTX 4070 and Intel i9 and Ryzen 9 with RTX 4070, RTX 4080, or RTX 4090.
Which Laptops are best for gaming?
Windows Laptops based on Intel and AMD processors with Nvidia GPUs are the best for gaming. Chromebooks and Macbooks are not for gaming, and Windows Laptops based on Snapdragon X series CPU aren’t good at gaming either yet.