The Beginner’s Checklist for buying a new laptop
Buying a new laptop is a life changing decision. It can turn your life around as it has done for many people.
But the first timers overlook the basic requirements and they fail to understand what is necessary to have and what not to. They fall prey to false visuals and unnecessary opinions. They are pulled by the hidden complicity of the marketing and false advertising gurus.
Some prefer to have just the looks due to the laptop lifestyle they have, while some buy only for the processor the laptop is having or the RAM it comes with, without understanding the other needs they might have in future as their work grows.
To be clear, having the looks matters nonetheless rather than having robust hardware – so do other things like OS support, flexibility and, of course, the price.
People will always have questions before they buy laptops and to make sure that they don’t fall prey to wrong marketing or personal guesses, we have created this checklist to guide them select the right laptop.
This checklist includes a perspective categorization of laptop computers and also the things that you need to know before you decide to buy a laptop.
Usage Based Categorization
Before you proceed, let’s just make it clear for what purpose you’ll be needing your lappy for? There can be various reasons for someone buying it but mostly such choices can be categorized into:
Please note that these are general names and are termed as such according to their wide user base.
Office Laptops
Office laptops or basic laptops are made for elementary/office users like those who just have to deal with office work and are needed to make notes of things on the go.
These are also ideal for entry-level developers but can’t be used for hardcore development/design works. These laptops’ range starts from $300 or Rs. 15,000 and goes up to what people can afford.
These come with 2GB or 4GB of RAM inbuilt and storage of 32GB (SSD) to 500GB (HDD).
Processors are of entry-level and such devices come without any dedicated graphic card (GPU). However, if you get a graphic card, that will be a bonus for heavy needs. We suggest buying these only if you already own a better laptop or computer and need another one to hold on the go for basic typing or entertainment needs.
| Photo | Title | Buy |
|---|---|---|
 | Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP Stream 14-Inch Touchscreen Laptop, AMD Dual-Core A4-9120E Processor, 4 GB SDRAM, 64 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode with Office 365 Personal for One Year (14-ds0110nr, Diamond White) | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP Stream 11-Inch Laptop, Intel X5-E8000 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode with Office 365 Personal and 1 TB Onedrive Storage for One Year (11-ak1020nr, Diamond White) | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2020 Lenovo IdeaPad Laptop ComputerAMD A6-9220e 1.6GHz 4GB Memory 64GB eMMC Flash Memory 14" AMD Radeon R4 AC WiFi Microsoft Office 365 Platinum Gray Windows 10 Home | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP Stream 14-inch Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode with Office 365 Personal for 1 Year (14-cb182nr, Brilliant Black) (9MV72UA#ABA) | Shop on Amazon |
 | ASUS L203MA-DS04 VivoBook L203MA Laptop, 11.6” HD Display, Intel Celeron Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB Storage, USB-C, Windows 10 Home In S Mode, Up To 10 Hours Battery Life, One Year Of Microsoft 365 | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP Stream 14-Inch Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode (14-cb159nr, Jet Black) | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP Stream 11.6-inch HD Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode with Office 365 Personal for 1 Year (11-ak0020nr, Diamond White) | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP 14" HD Intel N4000 2.6GHz 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Webcam Windows 10 Laptop + 1 Year Microsoft Office, Silver, 14-14.99 inches (7MP91UA) | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2018 Newest HP Premium High Performance Business Flagship Laptop PC 14" HD LED-Backlit Display Intel Pentium N5000 4GB DDR4 RAM 64GB eMMC Bluetooth Office 365 Personal 1-Year Windows 10 S, Silver | Shop on Amazon |
| | 2020 Lenovo IdeaPad 14" Laptop Computer, AMD A6-9220e 1.6GHz, 4GB Memory, 64GB eMMC Flash Memory, AMD Radeon R4, AC WiFi, Microsoft Office 365, 2 Year Warranty, Gray, Windows 10 Home | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14" Laptop, 14.0" FHD 1920 x 1080 Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics, Narrow Bezel, Windows 10, 81W0003QUS, Abyss Blue | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2020 Newest HP 14 inch HD Laptop for Business and Student, AMD Athlon Silver 3050U (Beat i5-7200U), 8GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB SSD, 720P Webcam, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows 10, Oydisen HDMI Cable | Shop on Amazon |
Coding Laptops
Developers like devices that are extremely fast and friendly for coding needs. Coders need to type, a lot actually and so is the basic requirement for a computer/laptop to be developer ready.
Coding laptops come with strong keyboard hardware, fast processing speeds and with at least 4GB of RAM. GPU or Graphic Cards are not needed but can be a useful addition to the performance. Coding laptops start from $450 or Rs. 25000 and go upwards.
| Photo | Title | Buy |
|---|---|---|
 | ASUS F512DA-EB51 VivoBook 15 Thin And Light Laptop, 15.6” Full HD, AMD Quad Core R5-3500U CPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics, Windows 10 Home,Slate Gray | Shop on Amazon |
 | HP 15-cs3019nr Pavilion 15.6-Inch Laptop, Intel Core i7 (Mineral Silver) | Shop on Amazon |
| | Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2020 Newest HP 14 Inch Premium Laptop, AMD Athlon Silver 3050U up to 3.2 GHz, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi, HDMI, Windows 10 in S, Jet Black + NexiGo Wireless Mouse Bundle | Shop on Amazon |
 | New HP 15.6" HD Touchscreen Laptop Intel Core i3-1005G1 8GB DDR4 RAM 128GB SSD HDMI Bluetooth 802.11/b/g/n/ac Windows 10 15-dy1731ms Silver | Shop on Amazon |
 | Asus ZenBook 15 Ultra-Slim Laptop 15.6” FHD NanoEdge Bezel, Intel Core i7-10510U, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, GeForce GTX 1650, Innovative Screenpad 2.0, Windows 10 Pro, UX534FTC-XH77, Royal Blue | Shop on Amazon |
| | ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop- 15.6” Full HD, Intel i5-1035G1 CPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Backlit KeyBoard, Fingerprint, Windows 10- F512JA-AS54, Slate Gray | Shop on Amazon |
| | ASUS L203MA-DS04 VivoBook L203MA Laptop, 11.6” HD Display, Intel Celeron Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB Storage, USB-C, Windows 10 Home In S Mode, Up To 10 Hours Battery Life, One Year Of Microsoft 365 | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2020 Newest ASUS VivoBook 15.6" FHD Thin Light Business Student Laptop, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U(Beat i7-7500U) 8GB RAM 128GB SSD+ 500GB HDD, Radeon Vega 8, Fingerprint, HDMI, USB-C, Win10, w/GM Accessories | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS Screen, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti, Windows 10, 82B1000AUS, Phantom Black | Shop on Amazon |
 | Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10210U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 802.11ax, Fingerprint Reader, Backlit KB, A515-54-59W2, Silver | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14" Convertible Laptop, FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, Intel Core i5-1035G1 Processor, 8GB DDR4 Onboard RAM, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD Graphics, Win 10, 81X1004RUS, Graphite Grey | Shop on Amazon |
| | 2020 Lenovo IdeaPad Laptop ComputerAMD A6-9220e 1.6GHz 4GB Memory 64GB eMMC Flash Memory 14" AMD Radeon R4 AC WiFi Microsoft Office 365 Platinum Gray Windows 10 Home | Shop on Amazon |
 | Dell Inspiron 15.6 Inch HD Touchscreen Flagship High Performance Laptop PC | Intel Core i5-7200U | 8GB Ram | 256GB SSD | Bluetooth | WiFi | Windows 10 (Black) | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo Flex 11 Laptop, 11.6 Inch HD (1366 X 768) Display, Intel Pentium Silver N5000 Processor, 4GB DDR4 RAM, 64GB eMMC SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 605, Windows 10, 81A7000BUS, Onyx Black | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo_ThinkPad_E14 Business Laptop (Intel i7-10510U, 32GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD + 2TB HDD, 14" Full HD Display, Windows 10 Pro) Professional Notebook Computer | Shop on Amazon |
| | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14" Laptop, 14.0" FHD 1920 x 1080 Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics, Narrow Bezel, Windows 10, 81W0003QUS, Abyss Blue | Shop on Amazon |
 | Lenovo Flex 5 14" 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Graphics, Digital Pen Included, Win 10, 81X20005US, Graphite Grey | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2020 ASUS TUF 15.6" FHD LCD Gaming Laptop Computer, AMD Ryzen 5-3550H, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, GeForce GTX 1650 Graphics, DTS Audio, Webcam, Win 10, Black, 32GB Snow Bell USB Card | Shop on Amazon |
Designing Laptops
Designers are always at their creative best. For them, we suggest a powerful designer’s laptop that comes with at least i5-level processor or equivalent, 8GB RAM, 2GB VRAM. As the designers have to store a lot of files in their computers, a minimum of 1 TB is required to be the storage option, may it be HDD or not. These laptops start from $550 or Rs. 40000.
| Photo | Title | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| | Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver | Shop on Amazon |
| | Lenovo Flex 5 14" 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Graphics, Digital Pen Included, Win 10, 81X20005US, Graphite Grey | Shop on Amazon |
 | Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9300H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8GB DDR4, 256GB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Backlit Keyboard, Alexa Built-in, AN515-54-5812 | Shop on Amazon |
 | ASUS TUF (2019) Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 120Hz FHD IPS-Type, AMD Ryzen 7 R7-3750H, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe SSD + 1TB HDD, Gigabit Wi-Fi 5, RGB KB, Windows 10 Home, TUF505DU-EB74 | Shop on Amazon |
 | 2019_Lenovo Yoga 730 2-in-1 15.6" FHD Touch Laptop-360° flip-and-fold Design, Intel Core i5-8265U, 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Fingerprint Reader, HDMI, Thunderbolt, Aluminum, Windows 10 | Shop on Amazon |
 | New HP Pavilion 2-in-1 15.6" HD Touchscreen Laptop Intel i5-8265U 8GB RAM 512GB SSD Bluetooth Windows 10 | Shop on Amazon |
| | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14" Laptop, 14.0" FHD 1920 x 1080 Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics, Narrow Bezel, Windows 10, 81W0003QUS, Abyss Blue | Shop on Amazon |
 | Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Space Gray (Previous Model) | Shop on Amazon |
| | Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS Screen, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti, Windows 10, 82B1000AUS, Phantom Black | Shop on Amazon |
 | New Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Latest Model) | Shop on Amazon |
| | Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Space Gray (Previous Model) | Shop on Amazon |
 | New Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage) - Space Gray | Shop on Amazon |
 | New Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Space Gray (Latest Model) | Shop on Amazon |
 | Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Magic Keyboard) - Silver (Previous Model) | Shop on Amazon |
Gaming Laptops
Gaming laptops come with high end hardware and are used not just for gaming but video editing, movie making, 3D design and everything else. A gaming laptop in general contains 12GB or more RAM, more than 2GB of VRAM and high storage space, 1TB mostly. Such laptops are priced in ranges starting from $700 or Rs. 50,000.
Price Based Categorization
As far as the prices are concerned following are the ranges in Indian market:
- Introductory price range less than $500 (₹ 25,000)
- Mid price range $500 -$800 (₹ 25,001 – ₹ 45,000)
- High price range $800 – $1100 (₹ 45,001 – ₹ 70,000)
- Premium price range more than $1100 (₹70,000)
Now, of these choices, at least one from each category would fit in to your need. Depending on your needs or budget, you can follow our checklist to make sure that the current laptop that you are planning to buy fits our recommendation or not. Go for it if it does fit.
Checklist for buying a new laptop
Need: Office Laptop
- Looks good.
- Has introductory price range.
- Is lightweight.
- Is smaller in size.
- Has Windows’ latest OS.
- The RAM slot is expandable.
- Has expandable storage support.
- Has brighter, clearer display.
- Supports latest drivers.
- Is 64 bit.
Need: Coding Laptop
- Comes with good design and strong body hardware.
- Has no more than Rs. 45,000 as price tag.
- Comes with DoS or no OS installed.
- Is 64 bit.
- Has proper driver support.
- Has standard screen size, at least 13 inch.
- Has at least 4GB RAM & 500GB HDD.
- If is priced above Rs. 35,000 : surely comes with dedicated GPU.
- Has at least Intel i3 or equivalent processor. Intel i5, i7 etc. are even better.
- RAM slot is expandable.
- Has expandable storage support.
- Has brighter, clearer display.
Need: Designing Laptop
- Comes with good design and strong body hardware.
- Comes with Windows or Mac* installed
- Is 64 bit.
- Has proper driver support.
- Has full HD display.
- Has larger screen size.
- Has good touchpad.
- Has at least 8 GB RAM & 1TB HDD.
- If is priced above Rs. 45,000 : surely comes with dedicated GPU worth more than 2GB – in case of non-macbooks.
- Has at least Intel i5 or equivalent processor. Intel i7 would be even better.
- RAM slot is expandable.
- Has expandable storage support.
- Has brighter, clearer display.
Need: Gaming/Video Editing laptop
- Comes with good design and strong body hardware.
- Comes with Windows or Mac* installed
- Is 64 bit.
- Has proper driver support.
- Has full HD display.
- Has larger screen size.
- Has at least 8 GB RAM & 1TB HDD.
- If is priced above Rs. 65,000 : surely comes with dedicated GPU worth more than 4GB in case of non-MacBook.
- Has at least Intel i7 or equivalent processor.
- RAM slot is expandable.
- Has expandable storage support.
- Has brighter, clearer display.
- Has good sound system inbuilt.
Once the model you are planning to buy fits the description, it can be the one you should buy. But remember to always hop around and look for (only) expert opinions.
Also, always analyze the features and prices of laptops, amongst top shopping portals so that you can reach a level of satisfaction before you buy. We suggest that you buy only those laptops that come with a trusted brand name, such as Dell, Lenovo or HP.
Also, note that after buying such costly products – warranty and repair services matter a lot. Some companies have weaker track records of services. It’s suggested to not buy a cheaper product with similar features if the company doesn’t provide proper customer support.
Happy tech life.