Updated 24 May, 2012, 10:23 am IST

Buying Guide: Narrow Down Your Laptop Search In Minutes

01 Oct, 2010, 9:51 am IST | by Dushyant Khilnani

Asking the right questions can narrow down your search in minutes.

A question that’s very common these days is, ‘should I buy a netbook or a laptop’, then another would be, ‘is a Core i3 laptop better or a Core i5’, or ‘should I go with a desktop replacement or a 14-incher is fine’? It becomes easier to answer these questions in ones mind, when you know what you should not be buying, this way you can narrow down your search and concentrate on products that suit your needs, and laptops aren’t any different.

Call it a notebook or laptop, it's evident that all portables are categorized into various segments like desktop replacements, ultra-portables, mainstream or business laptops, entertainment or multimedia laptops and gaming notebooks. Some need portable computers for home or office while others need powerful laptops. Let’s take a quick look at the various categories of laptops that suit you and those that don’t.

Laptops for Multi-media
Overt design, multi-channel sound, loud and clear speakers, crisp and vibrant screen, dedicated GPU, powerful hardware, these are a few common traits of a multimedia laptop, not to mention, a lofty price tag too. When it comes to hardware, these laptops ought to have powerful processors, ample RAM, good discrete graphics, a large screen and sufficient hard drive room to store multimedia content. Owing to similar hardware and overall size, these laptops can clearly double up as desktop replacements, but it isn't always the other way around, because multimedia laptops are more feature rich. Having said that, don't go by only the size and weight, because even smaller and lighter laptops have multimedia-centric features, and they are touted as 'portable entertainment laptops', or something to that effect. Here are two examples:

HP DV6-3050TX (higher mainstream segment)

Dimensions: 378 x 30 x 245
Weight: 2.45 kg
Chipset: Intel HM 55
Processor: Intel Core i7-Q720, 1.6 GHz, 6 MB L3 cache
RAM: 4 GB DDR3
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
Network: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi N and Bluetooth
HDD: 640 GB
Optical Drive: DVD Writer (Lightscribe)
Screen: 15.6-inch glossy (1366x768)
Price: Rs 63,000

Lenovo IdeaPad Z460 (entry-level)

Processor: Intel Core i3
Memory: 2 GB DDR3
Hard disk: 320 GB
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5145
Screen size: 14-inch
Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi N
OS: Windows 7 Home Basic
Price: Starting at Rs 34,481

Laptops for Gaming
Gaming on laptops has become rather common and quite affordable. Today, you can buy a 50K multimedia laptop and play games like Batman Arkham Asylum, and even Crysis Warhead at low to medium settings. However, a true gaming laptop would be one that allows you to notch up the settings and get the true to life experience with the help of better rendering and great sound. Gamers would agree that gaming, be it on a PC or laptop, requires powerful rendering, hence a good discrete graphics card is a prerequisite. So, that's the first thing you'll notice in a gaming laptop in terms of hardware, and of course, other crucial requirements immediately follow. These machines are usually the most powerful. Some even feature multiple graphics cards, and hybrid graphics. So, when you see stickers on a laptop that say something like ‘Nvidia graphics cards in SLI’ and ‘dual-graphics’, you're looking at gaming laptop. In addition, if you notice lights on or around the lid, flashy aesthetics, large screen, a sub-woofer underneath, heavy weight and a price tag that makes you run for the hills, you're definitely looking at a gaming machine. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to empty your pockets to get your hands on a gaming laptop, there cheaper options too. Here are two examples:
Asus G51J (high-end gaming laptop)