Five Questions to Ask Before you Buy a Laptop

How Much Do You Want To Spend?

These days you can easily find an all-purpose laptop with good performance for less than $500. Most netbooks cost less than $400, and some of our favorite models are as low as $300. You'll also find many lightweight notebooks with more powerful processors than netbooks in the $400 to $700 range.

As you get above $700, you'll start seeing laptops with faster processors (such as Intel's Core i5 or i7) and/or dedicated graphics cards for gaming. You'll also find more premium materials being used in the design, such as aluminum, as well as more of an emphasis placed on sound quality. Expect to pay a $50 premium for systems with 17-inch or larger screens, $150 to $200 for touch capabilities, and at least $100 extra for a Blu-ray drive.

What Size Laptop Do You Need?

If you'll be using your machine primarily at home and won't be moving it much from room to room or using it on your lap, buy a system with a 15- or 17- to 18-inch display (generally 6 pounds and up). You'll have plenty of screen for watching movies and working across multiple open windows on the desktop.

If you want to travel really light, get a 10-inch netbook (2.5 pounds and up) or an ultraportable laptop with an 11.6- to 12-inch screen (3 to 4 pounds). Only buy a netbook if you're using it as a secondary computer or giving to the kids. For the best balance of mobility and muscle, opt for a system with a 13- to 14-inch display (3.5 to 5.5 pounds).

How Much Battery Life Do You Need?

Even if you only plan to move the laptop from the desk to the couch and the bed or from your cubicle to the conference room, battery life matters. Nobody wants to be chained to a power outlet, even if there's a socket within reach. If you're buying a 15-inch notebook, look for at least 4 hours of endurance.

If you expect to be fairly mobile, look for notebooks with over 5 hours of battery life, with 6+ hours being ideal. If given the choice, pay extra for an extended battery; you won't regret it.

To determine a notebook's expected battery life, read third-party results from objective sources—LAPTOP Notebook Reviews, for example—rather than taking manufacturers' word for it. Your actual battery life will vary depending on your screen brightness and what tasks you perform (video eats more juice than web surfing).

What Specs Do You Need?

Notebook specs such as CPU, hard drive, RAM, and graphics chip can confuse even notebook aficionados, so don't feel bad if spec sheets look like alphabet soup to you. What you need really depends on what you plan to do with your notebook. Graphics-heavy tasks such as 3D gaming, HD video editing, or CAD require more expensive components than simple web surfing and tending to Farmville.

Here are the main components to keep an eye on.

CPU: If you're shopping for an inexpensive ultraportable with long battery life, AMD Fusion or Intel ultra low-voltage Core series CPUs are a good choice. For mainstream performance, Intel's Core i3 is good, though Core i5 is better. Power users and gamers should consider high-end Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs. Intel Atom processors are only for netbooks.

RAM: When it comes to memory, or RAM, opt for a minimum of 3GB (4GB is better) to run Windows 7 Premium. Those who demand more performance will want to spring for 6GB or even 8GB of memory. Netbooks tend to feature 1GB of RAM, but upgrading to 2GB can bolster performance.

Hard Drive: For most users, a fast drive is more important than a large one. Go for a 7,200-rpm hard drive over a 5,400-rpm unit if you have a choice. Even if you have several movies and games on your hard drive, a 320GB should provide more than enough space, but 500GB drives don't usually cost much more. On netbooks, 250GB is more than enough.

Solid state drives (SSDs) cost quite a bit more than traditional hard drives ($250+ premium) and come with less capacity (usually 128 to 256GB), but they dramatically improve real-world performance if you can afford them.

Display Resolution: The more pixels you have, the more content you can fit on-screen and the sharper it looks. Most notebooks with 15-inch and smaller screens are only available with 1366 x 768 resolutions. However, if you have the option to configure with something higher—1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080—always choose the highest res you can get. You'll see more of your favorite web pages, multitask better, and have a better movie watching experience.

Graphics Chip: For the most part, an integrated graphics chip (one that shares system memory) will be fine for basic tasks, including surfing the web, watching video, and even playing some mainstream games. But a discrete graphics processor (which has dedicated video memory) will provide better performance when it comes to the most demanding games. Plus, a good GPU can accelerate video playback on sites such as Hulu, as well as speed up video editing.

DVD/Blu-ray Drives: Netbooks don't have optical drives, and they're also disappearing from lightweight notebooks. That's because you can download most software and download or stream video from the web. Unless you burn discs or want to watch Blu-ray movies, you don't need one of these drives and can save some weight by avoiding them. At this point, DVD drives are a safety blanket.

Mac or Windows?

This is not an easy question to answer, but in general Mac- and Windows-based notebooks have unique strengths and weaknesses. Apple's MacBooks and MacBook Pros offer an easy-to-use operating system in Snow Leopard. Macs also come with robust and intuitive multimedia software in iLife, and (based on our tests) tend to outperform similarly configured Windows machines, especially when it comes to boot times. While Windows PCs offer more software choices, Apple makes it easier to find and install programs with the Mac App Store.

However, Apple's notebooks start at $999, and the $499 iPad is not full-featured enough to serve as a primary PC for the majority of buyers.

Windows 7 notebooks are generally more affordable and offer a much wider range of design choices from more than a dozen major vendors. Windows machines also have access to a much bigger selection of software, especially when it comes to games. Windows 7 is easier to use and zippier than previous versions, and includes convenient features such as Snap (to view two open windows side by side). And if you care about security, there are many Windows notebooks explicitly designed to appeal to the business crowd.