Just like smartphones, laptops have become an essential accessory we can’t be without.
Whether working from home, travelling abroad or streaming the must-watch show of the moment, trusty laptops make all of this - and more - possible.
They also serve as essential backup devices for other pieces of tech, from smartphones to digital cameras and recording equipment. This means that when laptops flash that ghastly blue screen of death, we’re not just losing our daily work companion – but we’re potentially losing a whole host of precious data and memories which we didn’t get around to storing in the Cloud.
This is why it’s essential to cross-check the current charge cycle of your computer with what the model you own is supposed to run. That way, you can start shopping for sparkly new tech before your laptop decides to give up the ghost.
Not sure where to start when it comes to searching for a new laptop? We’ve got a few pointers to help.
How to shop for a new laptop online
- If you mainly watch television or videos on your laptop then you’ll want to prioritise pixel quality for a true-to-life picture. Look out for laptops which offer 4K and sharp resolution (Full HD or 1080p).
- If you’re a gamer then the GPU (graphics processing unit), will be the most important aspect to focus on. Get a laptop that explicitly states it's a gaming one as that will have a better GPU integrated than a normal laptop. For screen size, between 15 to 17 inches is about right.
- If you use your laptop predominantly to work from home you’ll want something with a long battery life. Nine hours or more is ideal, and something with a speedy response time (5ms).
- If your laptop is for the whole family or to be shared with others then you’ll want to think about how much storage the laptop offers. We’d recommend looking for laptops with storage between 512GB to 1TB and RAM of at least 8GB. Also, consider durability if it’s going to be used by small children or clumsy big kids.
- If you love being creative on your laptop then you might want to think about an Apple product as its software is easy to use, has great graphics and newer models offer 4K video editing.
- If your laptop is travelling around as much as you then look for a smaller screen and make sure it is as lightweight as possible. You may want to aim for a 12.5 to 14-inch screen and anything under 2kg for its overall weight.
Best places to shop online for laptops
Shop the best deals on laptops by brand below
Apple
Apple 13" MacBook Air, M2, 8GB RAM, 10 Core GPU, 512 GB, 2022 – Silver
Was: £1,549
Buy now £1099.00, AO
Apple 13" MacBook Air, M2, 8GB RAM, 8-Core GPU, 256 GB, 2022 - Space Grey
Was: £1,249
Buy now £899.00, AO
2020 Apple MacBook Air 13.3" Retina Display, M1 Processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Silver
Was: £829
Buy now £799.00, John Lewis
HP
HP Pavilion x360 14-ek1501sa 14" 2 in 1 Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver
Was: £649
Buy now £589.99, Amazon
HP OMEN 16-xd0001na 16.1" Gaming Laptop - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, AMD Ryzen™ 7, 1 TB SSD - Black
Buy now £1499.00, AO
Razer
Razer Blade 15 Core i7-12800H 32GB 1TB SSD RTX 3080 Ti 360Hz 15.6 Inch Windows 11 Gaming Laptop
Was: £1,599.97
Buy now £1569.97, Laptops Direct
Razer Blade 18-18 Inch Gaming-Laptop - NVIDIA RTX 4090 - Intel Core i9-13950HX - 18" QHD+ 240Hz Display
Was: £3,999.98
Buy now £2502.43, Amazon
Microsoft
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 - 13 Inch 2-in-1 Tablet PC - Black - Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
Was: £1,099
Buy now £922.55, Amazon
LG
LG gram SuperSlim OLED 15Z90RT-K.AA77A1 15.6" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i7, 1 TB SSD, Dark Blue
Buy now £1699.00, Currys
Lenovo
Lenovo IdeaPad 1, AMD Ryzen 3, 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, 15in Full HD Laptop - Grey
Buy now £399.00, Very
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X 14" Laptop, Copilot+ PC - Snapdragon X Elite, 1 TB SSD, Cosmic Blue
Was: £1,299
Buy now £999.00, Currys
Acer
Acer 314 14" Chromebook - Intel® Core™ i3, 128 GB eMMC, Silver
Was: £379
Buy now £379.00, Currys
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Book4 15.6" Laptop - Intel® Core™ 5, 512 GB SSD, Grey
Was: £849
Buy now £649.00, Currys
ASUS
ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402VA 14" 2.8K OLED Touchscreen Laptop
Was: £1,099.99
Buy now £719.98, Amazon
Asus Vivobook 15
Was: £699
Buy now £448.00, Very
Acer Aspire 3 15.6in Ryzen 5 16GB 512GB Laptop - Silver
Was: £549
Buy now £419.00, Argos
