Choosing and acquiring the perfect laptop, tablet, or mobile device may be a challenging and complicated undertaking with almost unlimited possibilities for various use cases. Our laptop buying guide will help you make an informed choice whether you’re purchasing laptops for business or personal usage.
To make things simpler for you, we’ve put up a list of things to look for. Finally, if you take the time to research inexpensive laptops, you’ll avoid a costly error and choose a laptop that is well matched to your requirements.
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Option to Buy Windows Laptop
Windows 10 Pro has been designed to function on low-cost laptops the way you do today—and the way you’ll do it in the future. With Windows 10, you can share laptops and use whiteboarding across all your devices. Whether you’re working independently or as part of a group, being “in the zone” is a powerful feeling. It’s easy to add more services and dependable downloads, so you can do what you want when you want.
Buying Guide of macOS Laptop
Because of this, there is no other computer like a Mac. macOS is the name of Apple’s operating system, which powers every Mac. It can do things that other low-cost laptops available for sale in the market can’t. That’s because it’s designed to work with the specific hardware it’s running on. There are many well-designed applications available for macOS. It syncs with iCloud to ensure that all of your photos, documents, and other data are always up to date.
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Chrome OS Laptops in 2025
With Chrome, you get more bang for your buck. Even while it has the full collection of Google applications for both online and offline use, it does not have the same capabilities or the same choice of compatible software as Windows and Mac OS. Users of low-cost laptops will not have to worry about this. If you’re on a low budget and need the bare essentials from your pocket-friendly laptops, Chrome could be the best option.
Check Display and Memory in Your Laptop
A wide range of screen sizes is available to today’s purchasers of inexpensive laptops, from 11.6″ to 17.3″. Larger screens are required for high-end games or if you’re a video editor or an architect, for example. A larger screen is not required for tasks like word processing and browsing the Internet. So, how much RAM are you need for your low-cost laptops? As with so many other variables, the answer is complex. Adding more RAM may improve speed, but it also increases costs and drains the battery quicker. If so, how often do you use memory-intensive programs like those for graphics or video editing? Is the bulk of your work done through a word processor or a Web interface? Allow your laptop’s use case and programs to decide the amount of RAM it needs.
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Business Laptop Features
Some businesses may benefit from adopting the following business features, such as:
- Improved Protection – Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, has a higher level of security than any of its predecessors and rivals. All of these features work together to keep your budget laptops secure from hackers, beginning with the laptop itself and continuing all the way up to you.
- Working Together – Rather than relying on face-to-face interaction, today’s diverse workforces rely on technology to bridge the gap. Chrome OS-powered cheap laptops, for example, are designed to be used in conjunction with cloud-based applications and services.
- Administration of the Fleet—Businesses wishing to keep track of their vehicles and those driving them may use computers with cellular connections. Additionally, remote administration tools may be used to help and lock/erase machines remotely. Since business-class capabilities aren’t often clearly marketed, it’s important to ask about them when comparing laptops.
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The quality of the construction
Even the most careful among us will inevitably drop, throw, and knock our inexpensive computers during everyday use. When purchasing a new laptop, it’s crucial to determine how much testing it’s been subjected to or if it has any certification. Many of today’s laptops have been made more durable to withstand rain and dust. Many come with military-grade certifications and are particularly intended to withstand the rigors of the classroom.
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Quality of presentation
Making your laptop as user-friendly as possible is essential if you’re going to be staring at it for long periods. For this, you’ll need a screen that’s both user-friendly and visually appealing. Start by deciding whether or not you need touch functionality on your laptop. Some low-cost laptop manufacturers incorporate this feature as standard equipment. However, some people may want a little price for their inclusion. Finally, viewing angles are highly crucial. With an IPS (in-plane switching) laptop screen, you get the best viewing angles and the most comfortable experience for your hands.
10 Tips for Buying a Laptop in 2025
When buying a new laptop, there’s a lot to think about, and everything gets very complicated very quickly. So, hopefully, the laptop buying guide we have shared here will make things a little easier when it comes to buying your next laptop.
Okay, so let’s get into it. The first thing to think about is whether you want a laptop that runs Windows, Mac, iOS, or Chrome iOS. You probably already know the answer to this. Most of the time, it’s whatever you’re used to using.
- If you’ve always used Macs and maybe have an iPhone or iPad, then yeah, a MacBook Air or Pro with a message and an airdrop will be best.
- They’re beautiful laptops and easy to use, but they can be very expensive.
- In iOS you don’t have that many options.
Windows 10 laptops are great as you have a much bigger range to choose from for all budgets, from thin and light ultrabooks to workstations to gaming laptops. Then there are Chromebooks, which run on Google’s cloud-based Cromo s. These are popular with students as they’re usually much cheaper. And they act more as a terminal for accessing apps in the cloud, like Google Docs, Dropbox, and of course, the web browser.
- But if you’re a student on a tight budget, or just want a basic laptop to access the web, then consider a Chromebook.
- If you want a premium laptop and you have at least $1,000 to spend, then maybe consider a MacBook Air. PC International has lot of other option to try.
But I think for most people, the safest bet is a Windows 10 laptop just because of the sheer range of devices on the market. Despite what you may have heard, it is all about size and shape that this doesn’t sound right. So size and form factor.
Laptops like the Microsoft Surface Pro seven and Lenovo Yoga C 940 offer better tablet experiences with detachable keyboards or 360-degree hinges that can be flipped around.
These are usually more expensive and more suited for mobile than power users. Most laptops still use a traditional clamshell design ranging from 11 to 17 inches.
It’s pretty straightforward that generally, the smaller screen, the lighter and more portable the laptop is, well big 15 inch laptops are more likely to have the option of higher power processes and dedicated graphics cards.
However, there are some outliers, like the LG Gram 17, which has a huge screen and a superlightweight body. However, it is expensive and uses lower-power processes than you’d usually find in a 13-inch laptop.
Some laptops also have touchscreens; hybrid tune ones are best for this as they’ll usually support a stylus or a pen, which is great for artists and designers.
For me, a touchscreen is a nice extra but not essential. And usually, I’m trying to avoid getting my dirty fingerprints all over the screen anyway. Peaking the screen, we also need to consider the resolution and refresh rate in gaming laptops, refresh rate, and refresh rate.
Gaming Laptop Buying Guide
I don’t want to look at the stupid sticker on my laptop. The demo video it’s not your biggest criticism. I think we’ll be right. The vast majority of gaming laptops are Full HD. And to be honest, for 95% of us, that’s perfect but higher. Higher-end gaming laptops now offer a 4k video option, which means the screen is sharper; there are more pixels per inch. Because of the higher quality panels, they’re usually more color-accurate.
So if you deal with video and photo editing good review will include a screen sRGB Adobe RGB or p3 color ratings in their review; the higher, the better. If you aren’t doing color-accurate work, then make sure you check before you buy a laptop back to 4k, though, and the biggest downside other than being a bit more expensive.
Usually, it has a massive impact on your battery life. Usually, you’ll only get about half, or maybe two-thirds of the battery that you would otherwise with an attentive screen is a big difference. Also, it significantly lowers your framerate and games as the laptop has to push millions more pixels.
- So for gaming laptops, I think the best combo right now is a 15 inch screen with a attentive resolution and if possible a higher 120 or 144 hertz refresh rate. This will help everything look and feel a lot smoother.
- Although I’m not making any promises, a basic guide will be to look for either an Intel i5, i7 processor, eight gigs of RAM 256 gigs of SSD storage.
- And if you’re doing more intense graphical work or gaming, a dedicated graphics card, that spec will be about right for most people.
- Although the more RAM and storage, the better if you can afford it. So that’s pretty high level.
- But I want to dive just a little bit deeper into processes or CPUs when it comes to laptops, Intel pretty much dominate the market right now, although there are some good budget options with AMD chips.
But for simplicity, I’ll stick with Intel. It’s easy to say to get a laptop with an i5 processor. While that’s broadly a good recommendation, you need to think about a couple of things because they’re not all made equal.
What generation is it, and secondly, what letter is in the suffix? At the end of 2024, we’ll have 11th-generation New Series processors and ninth-generation H Series processors.
Those letters are really important, though, because when you look at a processor model name, there will be a letter suffix right at the end.
And that tells you a lot about how powerful that processor is; your chips are found on smaller 13 and 14-inch laptops. At the same time, intell processes offer much better performance. And you’ll find them in 15 inch and bigger laptops.
So if you are going to be running more intensive applications, then go for a laptop with an H Series chip from processes to graphics.
And most laptops use an integrated graphics chip; they don’t have a dedicated card.
And that’s fine for basic tasks like streaming video, maybe doing some very low photo editing. Anything beyond that, they’re pretty terrible. Although Intel’s latest 10th generation isolate processes that come with Iris plus graphics are a big step up, we’re seeing integrated graphics get a bit better. Still, if you want to do anything graphically intensive, whether it’s video editing or playing games, then you’re going to want to get a dedicated graphics card.
Graphic Card Options in Laptop
At the bottom end, you have the likes of Nvidia is MX 150 or 250 chips. Typically in smaller 13 or 14-inch laptops, you’ll be able to play basic games on low to medium settings.
And it’s fine for full HD video editing for anything more serious look for something like an Nvidia GTX 10 series or more powerful RTX 20 series cards.
And finally, if you are looking to get a gaming laptop, there’s something called Max Q, which you should look out for.
Sometimes you’ll find an RTX 2080 Max Q, for example. That’s a slightly less powerful version, usually about 15% less, and offers a better balance between performance and battery life.
Cheaper laptops may still have hard drives or HDDs; try to avoid these unless you see Intel mentioned or something called an SSHD. These are hybrids and offer a decent balance between speed and storage space. Hopefully, you guys haven’t fallen asleep just yet.
Antena Laptop
We’re just now seeing the first wave of project Athena laptops come out. And you may start to see this logo more often. It’s a great way to know without having to dive into all the tech specs that you’re getting a high-end and future-proof laptop. The thing is, you can’t buy a bad laptop anymore.
They’re all variations of good and, of course, value for money. All those sorts of things are often difficult to quantify.