How to choose a laptop
Processor names change every year and tell you less than you would hope. Start from what the machine has to do, and only three specifications really decide whether it will still feel fine in four years.
Memory is the one that ages worst
16GB is the sensible floor for a machine you intend to keep. 8GB is workable for browsing, email and documents, but it is the first thing to feel slow once you keep thirty tabs open. In most modern thin laptops the memory is soldered to the board, so this is a decision you make once and cannot revisit.
Match the processor tier to the work
- Everyday use — browsing, office work, video calls, streaming: any current Core i5, Ryzen 5 or Snapdragon X is more than enough, and the efficient chips run longer on a charge.
- Creative and technical work — photo editing, video, development, spreadsheets that hurt: Core i7 or Ryzen 7.
- Gaming and 3D: the discrete graphics card decides this, not the processor. A laptop without one will not play current titles well whatever its CPU says.
The screen is what you actually look at
You stare at the display for every hour you own the machine, and it is where budget laptops save money. Look for at least 1920x1080 and, if you work near a window, a matte finish — glossy panels mirror the room. OLED laptop screens are a genuine step up for anything involving colour.
Weight and battery are a single decision
If the laptop travels daily, staying under about 1.5kg matters more than any spec on the box. Larger 16 and 17 inch machines are far better to work on and considerably worse to carry — be honest about which problem you have.
Brands stocked here
ASUS, Acer and Lenovo across the everyday and performance range, MSI and Gigabyte where discrete graphics matter, Apple for MacBooks, and HP for business machines.
