How to Buy a Laptop

Introduction

Notebook Buying Guide graphic // Photograph: Rick Rizner

The most highly evolved species of computer, the laptop (aka notebook) computer allows you to work without being tethered to an office. Portability and good performance make laptop PCs an essential part of the daily lives of millions of people, from college students to business travelers. Even the least-expensive of today's laptops are well-equipped for everyday work.

The big picture: There are more laptop choices than ever. We'll identify and discuss the available options -- including screen size, weight, battery life and communications ports.

The specs explained: Do you need a superfast CPU? Or a huge hard drive? We'll guide you through the choices and tell you which features are most critical. more

Laptop shopping tips: Looking for a powerful, versatile notebook at a reasonable price? Our advice will help you find the right laptop. more

PC World's top-rated laptops

The big picture

If you've ever shopped for a laptop, you know that the factors to consider go far beyond performance and connections. Notebook buyers have to think about such additional variables as size, weight, screen dimensions, battery life and keyboard quality -- plus options such as built-in wireless.

Key features

Processor: Intel's dual-core processors have helped laptops gain ground in the power department. In PC World tests, laptops using these dual-core processors performed considerably faster than laptops using single-core processors, particularly when multitasking. In newer notebooks you may see references to Core Duo, Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme, which represent steps up in computing power for laptops.

Some notebooks use AMD's Athlon Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor, which also supports improved performance. The Turion 64 X2 and the Core 2 Duo both provide 64-bit support, which will become increasingly useful as more 64-bit applications reach the market.

Low-end laptops offer Intel's Celeron M processor, which is generally not as speedy as the Core 2 Duo processors. And down below low-end are the new mobile processors that appear in netbooks (or mini-notebooks) -- sub-$500 machines that run on low-power, low-cost 1.6-GHz Atom CPUs.