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WHICH? REVIEWS: LAPTOPS

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We take the strain out of choosing a laptop with our tests to assess day-to-day tasks, wireless connectivity, comfort, ease of use and versatility.

The type of laptop you choose will depend entirely on what you plan to use it for. You might need your computer to be more portable, for example, or you might simply prefer something that can be easily folded up and put away when it’s not in use.

Before you buy, you need to carefully consider which of these types of laptop would suit you best, weighing up things like portability against power and price.

Below, we explain more about the features of laptops.

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Laptop touchpad

Laptops don't generally come with a mouse. Instead, laptops have a smooth, rectangular, touch-sensitive area in front of the keyboard. Moving your finger across the touchpad moves the cursor across the screen.

Typically, one or two clickable buttons beneath or beside the touchpad act like mouse buttons. Some laptops have a tiny joystick built into the keyboard instead of a touchpad.

A touchpad is more fiddly to use than a mouse, but it’s possible to attach a mouse instead if you prefer.

Laptop battery life

While all laptops come with a power supply for connection to the mains, they also have an internal battery for use on the move. Expect your laptop’s battery to last a few hours rather than days.

Power-hungry tasks such as watching a DVD or using the wireless connection will drain the battery more quickly than day-to-day office tasks.

If battery life is particularly important to you, check whether the manufacturer offers a long-life battery for your chosen model.

Memory (Ram)
A type of short-term memory, the processor uses the laptop’s random access memory (Ram) when it wants to perform tasks. Consequently, the speed at which the processor can operate is determined by the amount of Ram. Aim to have as much Ram as you can afford – ideally at least 1GB. It’s usually possible to add more Ram to your laptop, but you may need to get an expert to do this for you.

Hard drive
The HDD (hard disk drive) provides long-term memory for data storage – measured in gigabytes (GB). We recommend getting a minimum of 100GB hard disk space, as storing video, high-resolution photos, music and software uses up lots of space. If in doubt, go for more hard drive space if you can afford it.

Screen

All laptops come with their own built-in LCD screens. Screen size has a direct impact on the size of the laptop itself.

A 15-inch display makes for a pretty standard-sized laptop. A desktop replacement-type laptop might come with a 17-inch display – possibly even a widescreen one – and ultra-portables might go as low as the 12-inch mark, while netbooks can be a squint-inducing 7 inches. More recent models have 10-inch or even 12-inch displays.

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