Best Laptop Buying Guide: 15 Essential Tips 2022

Is there any Laptop Buying Guide that may tell you which is the best gaming laptop in India ?

or which is the best laptop with windows 10 or best laptop according to your requirement that you should buy ? or Do you know which is best laptops in India? There is a wide range of laptops having variety of sizes, features and price so choosing right laptop for you becomes a challenging task.

So before selecting any laptop it is better to figure out what are your needs. Following Best Laptop Buying Guide Tips or you can say essential tips on buying a laptop will make your task easy, just go ahead.

Best Laptop Buying Guide Tips 2022

Let me give you a deep brief on laptop buying guide. Finding the right laptop is never an easy job for a naive user without much technical knowledge. So here is the list of all the features and technical specifications that you need to research before buying a laptop. Firstly, prepare the list of all your computing needs before deciding on purchasing a laptop. Then check on this laptop buying guide to find “Things to consider before purchasing a laptop for Personal use or Gaming purpose”.

Here is the guide to answer your biggest question “ Which is the best laptop for you?”.

1. Processor Performance

The processor is considered as the Brain of your laptop. So, if you have a financial budget always go for the better processor to achieve high-end performance.

Market trend offers you two types of processors – Intel and AMD

Choose the right one depending on your laptop applications. Check out below images to get a clear idea on how Intel or AMD works.

Intel offers 6 types of processor series for various applications. User can select depending on his usage. Performance of Intel process goes this way

Atom < Celeron < Pentium < Core i3 < Core i5 < Core i7

Atom:

• The most basic processor version, ideal for browsing and watching movies.
• Atom processor is used in tablets and notebooks
• 1-4 cores, 1.3GHz – 1.6 GHz speed

Celeron:

• Updated processor than Atom, offering basic level performance
• so best for browsing, watching movies and email.
• 2-4 cores, 1.1GHz – 3.7 GHz speed

Pentium:

• Most updated than Atom and Celeron version processors for bare minimum apps
• Can perform all Celeron version functions better.
• create content with MS Office
• 2-4 cores, 1.2 GHz – 3.7 GHz speed

Pentium and Celeron are developed to target budgeted customers, looking laptops for basic browsing. If you have a good budget, better opt for core i3 and if you a bit more budget, promisingly invest in i5 to experience all-around performance at mid-range finance.

Core i3

• Improved Intel version, with all Pentium operations
• Includes extraordinary multitasking, best HD playback
• Very affordable with good features
• 2-4 cores, 1.9 GHz – 4.0 GHz speed

Core i5

• Much more improved version when compared to Pentium and i3.
• Along with all i3 features, you can also do Light gaming, photoshop, image editing, multitasking etc
• Excel worksheets enhanced usage along with coding features
• Core i5 is the most affordable processor with amazing features when compared to i3
• So better invest on i5, as experts say, you need to invest more to get more

Also Check: Best laptop having Core i5 processor

Core i7

• The latest and high-performance version from Intel offering heavy multitasking
• All core i5 features + professional photoshop, 3D Graphics and editing
• Edit your videos and play advanced gaming
• 2-8 cores, 2.40 GHz – 4.00 GHz speed

Also Check: Best laptop having Core i7 processor

Core i9

• Top of the line processor from Intel, offering fastest performance than other Intel processors
• Specially designed for power users to support demanding programs and applications
• Available on premium laptops, workstations and high-end gaming devices.

Intel Xeon

• An expensive processor from Intel for large mobile workstations with extreme performance.
• Go for Xeon, if you are professional grade engineer performing 3D modelling and video editing
• Being such powerful, don’t expect to get a lightweight laptop with good battery life.

Intel processor Generations – Intel 6^th Gen, Intel 7^th Gen, Intel 8^Th Gen

Wise advice is to choose the latest processor generation always for better performance, longer battery life and less power consumption

Intel 6^th Gen < Intel 7^th Gen < Intel 8^Th Gen

So better look for Intel 7^Th Gen Core i5 processor when compared with Intel 6^Th Gen core i5 processor.

AMD Processors

AMD processors are mainly developed for mid-range buyers with A, FX and Ryzen series processors.

AMD Ryzen

New age processor from AMD, to compete with Intel 8^th Gen Core i5 and i7 processors. Ryzen chipsets are empowered with integrated graphics for better performance

AMD A, FX series

AMD series processors are called as APU’s, offering decent performance for low budget.

Well enough for browsing, watching videos and email.

Usually found on the low end or low budget laptops

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2. Usage

The second point of laptop buying guide is usage. After knowing about all the available processors and their uses, the next question is “for what purpose are you buying a laptop?” and “How will you use?”

Each user has their own requirement to get a laptop, maybe for browsing or IT coding or gaming. So first analyse yourself the purpose of getting a laptop

For simple activities – if you are a light user like you do just internet surfing, email, watch videos, youtube and social media, then choose processor and storage of minimum range.

For Mid-range activities – other than browsing, if you need to create a document, research on multiple tabs, open various applications at a time, then choose good processor and RAM memory

Also Check: Best laptop for students

For Demanding activities – if you are an advanced gamer, use special applications like Photoshop or AutoCAD, extensive coding etc, go for the best processor and high-end RAM.

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3. RAM

The third point in our laptop buying guide is RAM. RAM is the internal memory of your laptop which stores all your data, files, running applications and games. Usually its recommended to maintain high RAM memory to run multiple attilaptionFs simultaneously.

More RAM offers better multitasking and lag-free experience on your laptop

RAM memory size:

Usually laptops are embedded with 4 or 8 or 16GB RAM.

4GB RAM

Well enough for daily applications like office apps, watching videos, simple coding, browsing and run music apps.

8GB RAM

Additionally you can perform heavy graphics editing, advanced gaming and smooth multitasking

Also Check: Best laptop with 8GB RAM

16GB RAM

Additionally you can view high-resolution HD videos, intensive gaming, 4K video editing, graphics designing and everything without any lag or hinders.

Also Check: Best laptop with 16GB RAM

Types of RAM

DDR3: Older version, bit slower and consumes more power

DDR4: Latest version, faster and efficient in power consumption

Choose the best RAM

• DDR3 RAMs are available at cheaper prices, best for limited budget customers.
• But DDR3 RAMs become outdated soon, further any upgrades are not possible. Try to invest on a laptop with DDR4 RAM at affordable prices, as it is power saver, improved battery life and future proof.
• In future, all your applications and OS will upgrade to newer versions, then you definitely need more RAM. 4GB or 2GB RAM laptops may hang or slow down the performance during the upgrade.
• So better go for 8GB RAM laptop on the budgeted range for flexible updates and to perform IT coding or software development. Invest wisely on 16GB RAM laptop, a bit high budget for advanced gaming, heavy photoshop and AutoCAD.
• If you really need hardcore gaming on your 8GB RAM, just add a quality graphics card (min 2GB Capacity), instead of spending your bucks on 16GB RAM.

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4. Storage

Storage is the capacity of your laptop to install OS, your files, photos, documents, applications, data, videos and games etc. minimal storage space can affect your laptop performance. So have a good check on storage space or hard drive space before purchasing a laptop. You can even add additional storage space (SSD) to your laptop to improve performance.

Laptop storage is available in 3 types – Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid-state Drive (SSD) and Solid-State Hybrid Drive(SSHD)

Use of SSD:

SSD laptops may have less storage space but 5 times the faster performance when compared to standard HDD. You should definitely look for an SSD instead of HDD if

Are working with large files or need faster loading.

Comparing different Storage: HDD vs SSD vs SSHD

Also Check: Best laptop with Solid State Drives

Hybrid drives are also available including both HDD and SDD, offering capacity and performance at bit high price.

Quick Tip:

HDD laptops come with high capacity storage at an affordable price. So if you are looking for a cheaper laptop go for an HDD. Otherwise if you can invest more, go for SSD to experience flashing speed and high productivity with PCIe X 4 units.

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5. Operating system

The operating system of your laptop controls both hardware and software, manages files, memory and other connected devices. OS helps you to interact with your laptop easily and also allow software and hardware communication in the simplest possible way. In this laptop buying guide below is some brief description about popular OS.

List of operating systems available to power your laptop – Mac OS, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, DOS

Choose the right OS?

Mac OS

Apple laptops come preinstalled with Mac OS, offering smooth performance. The latest version is Mac OS High Sierra. Mostly preferred by content writers, creators and graphic designers.

Pros:

• Great UI, and no app lags
• Virus and malware free apps, developed by Apple
• More secure, high-class programming with longer life.
• Pages and Keynote apps are preinstalled by Apple

Cons:

• All the apps are not compatible with Mac OS. Only a few app options are available.
• Other apps like MS Office have to be purchased separately.
• No touchscreen compatibility

Windows:

Most popular and commonly used OS, that’s compatible with both software and hardware. You need to purchase windows OS, for your DOS laptop and install it.

Pros:

• Most of the software is compatible with Windows OS.
• Many trail version software is preinstalled.
• Customizable UI, easy multitasking and sharing data with all synced and compatible devices
• Edit your photos, enhance and organise
• Designed for touch interfaced
• Available across all price bands

Cons:

• Need to purchase full versions of many software, including MS Office
• Have few security issues
• Not great for enterprise users

Linux:

Trustworthy open source operating system, developed for programmers and coders.

Pros:

• Easy to downloadable and open source
• Highly secure
• Appealing GUI, best for browsing and media.

Cons:

• Not advised for normal users
• Limited software options, when compared to Windows

Also Check: Best laptop with Linux OS

Chrome OS:

Available on Chromebooks with built-in malware and virus protection

Chromebooks come with Playstore offering access to lots of web apps but only limited storage.

Dos OS:

Most basic OS, the user needs to install his favourite OS(Windows or Linux) as per their requirement. Plan to make windows installation with the help of a professional.

Quick Tip:

If your budget permits, get MAC OS Laptop for the awesome experience. If you can afford only a medium budget then get Windows with lots of application access easily.

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6. Features

The 6th point of this laptop buying guide is popular features that you should consider while buying new laptop.

Touchscreen:

Touchscreen offers you mobile feel, easy to scroll, swipe, zoom etc

Available on Windows and Chromebooks laptop

Backlit keyboard:

For easy typing during the night or no light surroundings

Fast charging:

Useful during emergency cases, get your laptop charged fast

Fingerprint reader:

Great security feature to offer limited access to your laptop

Touchpad:

Touchpad without buttons offer a longer life to the laptop and require simple finger touch operation

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7. Screen size

Choose a laptop right screen size depending on your usage. Screen size is measured diagonally and various screen sizes are available in the market – 11 inches, 13 inches, 14 inches, 15 inches, up to 17.3 inch. The best laptop buying guide won’t be complete without discussing screen size.

• 14 inch and 15.6 inches are the most common laptop sizes suiting many users.
• The 17.3-inch screen on hardcore gaming laptops is for real gamers to experience the creative visualization

Screen size selection:

• If you want to watch HD movies, data visualization images or edit videos, a bigger screen like 15inch or 17inch screen size resolves your purpose.
• Whereas smaller screens are light in weight and easier to carry if you are a traveller.
• Bigger screens add to the weight of the laptop making it bulk.
• 11 inch to 14-inch laptop screens are always the best, for simple use, office purpose and carry daily.
• 14-inch laptops offer you optimal performance and maximum storage space.
• A 15-inch laptop is mainly for entertainment purpose with more USB ports, but less portability.

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8. Display Resolution

Your favourite laptops come with 3 types of screen resolutions – HD Ready, Full HD and 4K. Screen resolution is nothing but pixel count measurement. Higher the pixel count, more the screen resolution, you will experience rich visuals with sharp and clear images on the screen

HD Ready

• Budgeted laptops or entry-level laptops come with HD ready screen resolution having 1366 x 768-pixel count
• Enough to watch movies, play basic animation games and work on MS office
• Most efficient display for the cost you pay

Full HD or 1080p

• All high-end laptops are Full HD with 1920 X 1080 pixel count.
• Advanced screen resolution with double pixel cunt and clarity compared to HD screens
• Amazing visual experience with sharper opticals to enjoy HD movies and graphics games

Ultra HD and 4K

• Ultimate resolution with 3840 X 2160 pixels, almost 4 times the resolution of Full HD. Hence called as 4K.
• Offer sharper images to view high-resolution videos, edit them, watch the 4K video and graphics intensive gaming
• Very expensive rage of display

Quick Tip

For basic need get an HD laptop, for decent entertainment invest on full HD and to watch high-end visuals get 4K. choose the right one, don’t simply invest in 4K if your requirement is fulfilled with a lower pixel ratio.

Just go for HD, as spending too much on display is not a good investment. At a reasonable price you even get Full HD offering good visuals and better battery life.

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9. Form factor

Next biggest factor to consider before purchasing a laptop is form factor and design. Laptops are available in various form factors like

Lightweight laptops:

• Basic laptops come as thin and lightweight for everyday go. These are less expensive satisfying all the basic user requirements at home, office and student purpose.
• Slim, portable, travel-friendly laptops with innovative design.
• Lightweight laptops usually designed as the screen that folds down onto the keyboard.

Touch screen laptops:

• Touch screen laptops are highly expensive, enabling touch format to edit your documents or perform operations on the laptop.
• You can easily scroll, zoom and perform other controllers with the use of your fingers on the screen.
• Touch screen laptops offer tablet or smartphone experience to the users.

Also Check: Best touchscreen laptops 

2-in-1s laptops:

• These laptops function as both laptop and tablet being more flexible for users. There are two types of 2-in-1s available on the market

             Detachable 2-in-1 laptops:

• Display screen of detachable laptops gets detached from the keyboard and look like a tablet.
• Few detachable laptops have dual processors and a larger battery.

Convertible 2-in-1 laptops:

• Convertiable laptops are undetachable, instead screen rotates 360 degrees.
• Looks like a thick tablet with extra space.

Gaming laptops:

• Gaming laptops
• Bulkier version than basic models with powerful processors, wide IPS display, high refresh rates.
• Gaming laptops are ideal to use at home or office offering superior performance but not travel-friendly

Quick Tip:

Always invest in a lightweight laptop with bets processor, that resolves your purposes and easy to handle

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10. Battery

The battery is considered the blood of your laptop. To keep your laptop running your need your battery charging full, and should have good charging life.

The bigger battery life offers more hours of usage without a power connection. Usually functions like screen brightness, connectivity and range of processor will impact your laptop battery life.

Bulk laptops have a bigger battery, offering high charging life.

If you are planning to get an advanced laptop with high configurations, then be ready yourself at plug point for battery charging.

Quick Tip:

Don’t believe the words of laptop sellers regarding battery life. If they say it comes up to 9-10 hours, then it actually comes only up to 6-7 hours.

Watch reviews of real-time users, to get actual battery life. And don’t waste your budget on higher battery life, there are many more important features to invest on.

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11. Graphics Card

Dedicated graphics card offer you quality visuals on your laptop, especially on a gaming laptop. Choose graphics card with higher GB for sharp and smoother gaming visuals and running performance.

• A high-end graphics card is necessary to play demanding games and edit high-resolution videos.
• Few laptops have inbuilt integrated graphics card within Intel processors to perform simple photo editing or watch movies and other everyday needs.
• But a dedicated graphics card is definitely needed for heavy gaming, Photoshop, AutoCAD etc.

Popular dedicated graphics cards brands – NVIDIA and AMD

NVIDIA vs AMD which one is better?

Quick Tip:

A budgeted laptop with integrated graphics cards servers your home and office purpose, unless you need it for heavy gaming.

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13. Ports and Connectivity

Do check for ports and connections before purchasing a laptop, as these are quite necessary for using multiple devices at a time.

You can connect your pen drive, hard disk to view pictures, videos and data.

Add mouse to your laptop for easy access, headphones and charger too.

Types of ports you need to look for, before buying a laptop:

USB type-A:

Connect USB devices like pen drive, mobile etc. check for the numbering as the higher number indicated a faster speed

USB 3.1 > USB 3.0 >USB 2.0

USB type -C:

This port provides faster data transfer when compared to USB-A.

Useful to connect to universal chargers and docks.

Card Reader :

Connect the microSD or SD memory cards of your phone or DSLR to copy data to your laptop.

HDMI :

Helps to connect your laptop with a projector or LED tv.

VGA port:

Connect your monitors, TV and projectors

Thunderbolt  :

Latest port to connect to a laptop for faster operations.

Combination of Type C connector and display port

Used for charging, connecting to peripherals with a single port.

Quick Tip:

Look for USB Type – C port on your laptop to connect to universal charges and docks

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14. Plan you budget

What are the best laptops to buy with in your budget? The very first thing in laptop buying guide is that you need to decide before going into research of laptop is the budget. Budget planing is the first step of planing to buy new laptop.

If you are looking for a normal daily use laptop then you can plan a average budget laptop while if your work is such that it requires high end computing (For example: Graphics work, Video Editing work, HD gaming etc) then go for higher budget laptops. In our laptop buying guide we are giving some good laptops in different price range.

Also Check: Laptops under Rs 25000

Also Check: Laptops under Rs 30000 with SSD

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Also Check: Laptops under Rs 90000

15. Features to look before purchasing a Gaming laptop

When you are an advanced gamer, You definitely need a professional gaming laptop. So before purchasing one from the market or online store have a look at the few tips you need to look for in a gaming laptop. Make a note of these amazing features and invest in the best gaming laptop ever.

Also Check: Best Highend Gaming Laptop in India

Also Check: Best laptop under 1,00,000 (1 Lakh)

Processor, RAM & Storage:

• Definitely go for Intel latest generation (Intel 7^th or Intel 8^Th) Core i7 processor laptop for heavy gaming. Core i7 comes with 2-8 cores and up to 4.00GHz speed to offer top-notch performance.
• Next comes RAM. Look for 16GB RAM laptop for supreme performance, upgradability and no-lag experience.
• For internal storage get a gaming laptop with HDD and SSD. High budget gaming laptops come with both to offer faster loading speeds and upgradable storage space

Screen & Graphics:

• Make sure to get a gaming laptop with study design and min 6-inch display screen size with IPS display.
• Never get a gaming laptop less than 1920 X 1080 display. If your budget permits, get 2560 X 1440 display or even 4K display for eye feasting visuals.
• You definitely need a dedicated graphics card for smooth gaming and quality visuals. Choose a laptop with high-end Nvidia GeForce graphics card to handle 4K gaming with smooth performance.
• For beginner games its sufficient with the 1GB graphics card, for advanced gaming you need a dedicated 2GB card but for professional gaming, you obviously need dedicated 2GB and above graphics card.
• The refresh rate is another main factor for a gaming laptop for an awesome visual experience. Buy a laptop with a refresh rate greater than 60Hz for fast-paced graphics games.

Battery & Cooling:

• Gaming laptops are never lightweight. So don’t waste, much time on looking for the thinnest laptop. They are heavier to fit more powerful processor, widescreen and larger batteries.
• Usually gaming laptops don’t have good battery life. So don’t invest much in battery life. Go for mid-range battery life gaming laptop with fast charging up the battery.
• Get a mouse for your gaming laptop, as touchpads are not comfortable for gaming. So invest in a branded mouse for the fastest gaming experience.
• Buy a cooling pad and a second monitor if you are an advanced gamer, as high-end gaming may heat up your laptop. Also few advanced games offer the amazing visual world when played using the second monitor too.
• Hardcore gamers should invest in a future-proof laptop for AAA games.

Warranty:

• Check with an extra guarantee before purchasing a gaming laptop. Buy a laptop with an extra year’s guarantee, as the regular one-year warranty is not sufficient in case of gaming laptops. Go for 2+ years of guarantee for longer life.
• Buying a high range or low range of gaming laptop mostly depends on your budget. If you have a high budget, a wise idea is to get an SSD for a mid-range gaming laptop. SSD improves your gaming speed, offering high-end gaming laptop experience.

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Conclusion:

Hope, you got clear details about how to select the best laptop based on your purpose, either home, school, office, gaming etc through this detailed laptop buying guide. Spend your budget wisely on essential features to get the best professional laptop. Well, professional gamer, here you get the list of features to experience the ultimate gaming world. The final advice is to get a medium range laptop(with a good processor and decent storage) at affordable prices and with upgradable options.

If you have any query related to Which laptop is best to buy, please leave a comment & get the best advice