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 office, coding, designing and gaming laptops.

Please note that these are general names and are termed as such according to their wide user base.

Office Laptops

office laptop - buying a new laptop for office work

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 for sale range 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.

Coding Laptops

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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.

Preview Product Rating Price
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 Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB... No ratings yet $357.00
[2021 Version]ASUS Vivobook Laptop L210 11.6” ultra thin, Intel Celeron N4020 Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage, Windows 10 Home in S mode with One Year of Office 365 Personal, L210MA-DB01 [2021 Version]ASUS Vivobook Laptop L210 11.6” ultra thin, Intel Celeron N4020 Processor, 4GB RAM,... No ratings yet $239.99 $219.00
ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop, 15.6” FHD Display, Intel i3-1005G1 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint, Windows 10 Home in S Mode, Slate Gray, F512JA-AS34 ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop, 15.6” FHD Display, Intel i3-1005G1 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB... No ratings yet $419.99 $328.00
HP Chromebook 14-inch HD Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Chrome (14a-na0010nr, Mineral Silver) HP Chromebook 14-inch HD Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Chrome (14a-na0010nr,... 3,563 Reviews $186.00
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 Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14" Laptop, 14.0" FHD 1920 x 1080 Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor, 8GB DDR4... No ratings yet $449.99 $394.00
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-ak0010nr, Royal Blue) HP Stream 11.6-inch HD Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, Windows 10 Home in S Mode... No ratings yet $219.99 $195.00
HP 22 All-in-One PC, AMD Athlon Gold 3150U Processor, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Full HD IPS 21.5-inch Anti-glare Display, Windows 10 Home, USB Mouse and Keyboard (22-df0022, 2020) HP 22 All-in-One PC, AMD Athlon Gold 3150U Processor, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Full HD IPS 21.5-inch... No ratings yet $499.00
HP Newest Pavilion Intel Pentium Silver N5000 4GB 128GB SSD Windows 10 Laptop Red HP Newest Pavilion Intel Pentium Silver N5000 4GB 128GB SSD Windows 10 Laptop Red No ratings yet $270.97 $183.00
ASUS VivoBook F512 Thin and Lightweight Laptop, 15.6” FHD WideView NanoEdge , AMD R5-3500U CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Backlit KB, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10, Peacock Blue, F512DA-EB51 ASUS VivoBook F512 Thin and Lightweight Laptop, 15.6” FHD WideView NanoEdge , AMD R5-3500U CPU,... 2,852 Reviews $539.99 $484.00
Dell Inspiron 3583 15€ Laptop Intel Celeron €'œ 128GB SSD €'œ 4GB DDR4 €'œ 1.6GHz - UHD Graphics 610 - Windows 10 Home - Inspiron 15 3000 Series - New Dell Inspiron 3583 15€ Laptop Intel Celeron €"œ 128GB SSD €"œ 4GB DDR4... No ratings yet $308.49
Dell Inspiron 15.6 inch HD Laptop,Intel 4205U Processor,8GB DDR4 RAM,1TB HDD,Online Class Ready,Webcam,WiFi,HDMI,Bluetooth,KKE Mousepad,Win10 Home,Black,3583 Dell Inspiron 15.6 inch HD Laptop,Intel 4205U Processor,8GB DDR4 RAM,1TB HDD,Online Class... No ratings yet $499.00
jumper Laptop 13.3 inch 8GB RAM 128GB ROM Quad Core Celeron, Windows 10 Thin and Light Laptop, Full HD 1080P Display, Support 128GB TF Cardand 1TB SSD Expansion (8GROM 128GRAM) jumper Laptop 13.3 inch 8GB RAM 128GB ROM Quad Core Celeron, Windows 10 Thin and Light Laptop, Full... No ratings yet

Designing Laptops

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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.

Preview Product Rating Price
MSI Modern 14 A10M-1029 14' Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core i5-10210U UMA 8GB DDR4 512GB NVMe SSD Win10Pro MSI Modern 14 A10M-1029 14" Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core i5-10210U UMA 8GB... No ratings yet $750.00
Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop, 14' Full HD IPS, AMD Ryzen 7 4700U Octa-Core with Radeon Graphics, 8GB LPDDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Backlit KB, Fingerprint Reader, Alexa Built-in Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop, 14" Full HD IPS, AMD Ryzen 7 4700U Octa-Core with Radeon Graphics,... No ratings yet $689.99 $618.99Amazon Prime
Lenovo Flex 5 14 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0' FHD Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage, AMD Radeon Graphics, Digital Pen Included, Win 10 Lenovo Flex 5 14 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0" FHD Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage,... 7,015 Reviews $649.99 $533.00
HP 2020 15 15.6' HD Touchscreen Premium Laptop - 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, USB Type-C, HDMI, Windows 10 - Silver W HP 2020 15 15.6" HD Touchscreen Premium Laptop - 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1, 16GB DDR4, 512GB... No ratings yet $528.88
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz Full HD IPS-Type Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 8GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe SSD, RGB Keyboard, Windows 10 Home, Bonfire Black, FA506II-AS53 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz Full HD IPS-Type Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4600H,... 214 Reviews $849.00
HP - Pavilion 15.6inch Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB SSD - Shadow Black, 15-ec1073d HP - Pavilion 15.6inch Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB... 793 Reviews $913.00
Lenovo - IdeaPad L340 15 Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB Solid State Drive - Black, 15-15.99 inches, 81LK01MSUS Lenovo - IdeaPad L340 15 Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 -... 427 Reviews $648.00
HP Pavilion Laptop, 15.6' Full HD IPS Touchscreen, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 Processor up to 3.60GHz, 12GB RAM, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, HDMI, Wireless-AC, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Home HP Pavilion Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Touchscreen, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 Processor up to... 695 Reviews $524.00
2020 Newest HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 Laptop, 15.6' Full HD Touchscreen, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor up to 4.0GHz, 8GB Memory, 256GB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, HDMI, Wi-Fi, Windows 10 Home, Nightfall Black 2020 Newest HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 Laptop, 15.6" Full HD Touchscreen, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor up to... 665 Reviews $519.99
Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series 5502 Laptop i7-1165G7 Processor, 8GB, 1x8GB, 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive, 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare LED Backlight Non-Touch Display Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series 5502 Laptop i7-1165G7 Processor, 8GB, 1x8GB, 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid... 169 Reviews $792.04
Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H,NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 15.6' Full HD IPS 144Hz Display, 8GB DDR4,256GB NVMe SSD,WiFi 6, DTS X Ultra,Backlit Keyboard,AN515-55-59KS Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H,NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 15.6" Full HD... 1,725 Reviews $819.99 $719.00
HP 2024 Newest Touchscreen Laptop for Business, 17.3' HD+ Display, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U Processor(Beat i7-1165G7), 16GB RAM, 2TB SSD, WiFi 6, BrightView, HDMI, Webcam, Windows 11 Home, HP 2024 Newest Touchscreen Laptop for Business, 17.3" HD+ Display, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U Processor(Beat... 89 Reviews

Gaming Laptops

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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.

Preview Product Rating Price
MSI Modern 14 A10M-1029 14' Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core i5-10210U UMA 8GB DDR4 512GB NVMe SSD Win10Pro MSI Modern 14 A10M-1029 14" Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core i5-10210U UMA 8GB... No ratings yet $750.00
Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H,NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 15.6' Full HD IPS 144Hz Display, 8GB DDR4,256GB NVMe SSD,WiFi 6, DTS X Ultra,Backlit Keyboard,AN515-55-59KS Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H,NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 15.6" Full HD... 1,725 Reviews $819.99 $719.00
HP 2024 Newest Touchscreen Laptop for Business, 17.3' HD+ Display, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U Processor(Beat i7-1165G7), 16GB RAM, 2TB SSD, WiFi 6, BrightView, HDMI, Webcam, Windows 11 Home, HP 2024 Newest Touchscreen Laptop for Business, 17.3" HD+ Display, AMD Ryzen 5 7530U Processor(Beat... 89 Reviews
ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz Full HD IPS-Type Display, Intel Core i7-9750H Processor,Gigabit Wi-Fi 5, Windows 10 Home, FX505GT-AB73 ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz Full HD IPS-Type Display, Intel Core i7-9750H... 769 Reviews $917.00
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 Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS Screen, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor, 16GB... 2,234 Reviews $1,079.99
Lenovo - IdeaPad L340 15 Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB Solid State Drive - Black, 15-15.99 inches, 81LK01MSUS Lenovo - IdeaPad L340 15 Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 -... 427 Reviews $648.00
HP - Pavilion 15.6inch Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB SSD - Shadow Black, 15-ec1073d HP - Pavilion 15.6inch Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 - 256GB... 793 Reviews $913.00
MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062 15.6' FHD 144Hz 3ms Thin Bezel Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7-10750H RTX2070 16GB 512GB NVMe SSD Win 10 MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062 15.6" FHD 144Hz 3ms Thin Bezel Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7-10750H RTX2070... 2,110 Reviews $2,998.88
Razer Blade 15 Base Gaming Laptop 2020: Intel Core i7-10750H 6 Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, 15.6' FHD 1080p 144Hz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, CNC Aluminum, Chroma RGB Lighting, Thunderbolt 3, Black Razer Blade 15 Base Gaming Laptop 2020: Intel Core i7-10750H 6 Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q,... 1,454 Reviews $1,920.50
MSI GS75 Stealth Gaming Laptop: 17.3' 240Hz Display, Intel Core i7-10875H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, Win10 Pro, Black (10SE-620) MSI GS75 Stealth Gaming Laptop: 17.3" 240Hz Display, Intel Core i7-10875H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060,... 239 Reviews
Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i7-1065G7 4 Core, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, 13.3' 1080p 60Hz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, CNC Aluminum, Chroma RGB, Thunderbolt 3, Black Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i7-1065G7 4 Core, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650... 108 Reviews

Price Based Categorization

As far as the prices are concerned following are the ranges in Indian market:

  1. Introductory price range less than $500 (₹ 25,000)
  2. Mid price range $500 -$800 (₹ 25,001 - ₹ 45,000)
  3. High price range $800 - $1100 (₹ 45,001 - ₹ 70,000)
  4. 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.

Last update on 2024-03-28 using Amazon Product Advertising API.