Shopping Guides
The complete shopping guide to buying a laptop you will keep for five years
Memory, ports, warranty and the two specs that actually predict whether you will regret the purchase.
Most laptop advice is about the processor. In practice, the two things people regret are memory and the screen — neither of which is easy to fix later.
Buy memory before speed
Sixteen gigabytes is the floor for anything you plan to keep for five years. If the difference between two models is a faster chip or double the memory, take the memory.
Check the warranty geography
A discount on a grey-import laptop is not a discount. Confirm the model number matches the country you live in — the price you save is usually the cost of the repair you cannot get.
The checklist
- 16 GB RAM minimum, 32 GB if you edit video.
- At least two ports you will actually use without a dongle.
- Battery figures quoted in watt-hours, not “up to” hours.
- A return window of 14 days or more.
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