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Laptop buying guides

Each guide picks up to 15 laptops for one kind of buyer, from the laptops this site can price today, and says how thepicks were chosen. Prices on every guide are live.

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Gaming laptops
Laptops whose listing states a separate graphics card and a screen that refreshes at 120Hz or faster.
Laptops for video editing
Laptops whose listing states a separate graphics card, at least 32GB of memory and a screen of 15 inches or more.
Laptops to carry to work
Laptops whose listing states a Pro edition of the operating system and a weight under 2kg. Not every listing states a weight, so this is the portable machines we can prove, not every portable machine.
Light laptops to carry
Laptops whose listing states a weight under 1.8kg and no separate graphics card. Not every listing states a weight, so this is the light machines we can prove, not every light machine.
Big screen laptops
Laptops whose listing states a screen of 17 inches or more.
Laptops for AI work
Laptops whose listing states a graphics card with 12GB of memory or more, which is what decides the size of model that fits on the machine.
Laptops for programming
Laptops whose listing states at least 32GB of memory and a terabyte of storage, which is what a container stack and a few checkouts ask for.
Laptops for writers
Laptops whose listing states a screen of 14 inches or less and a weight under 1.8kg. Not every listing states a weight, so this is the portable machines we can prove, not every portable machine.
Laptops with room for everything
Laptops whose listing states two terabytes of storage or more.
Laptops for making music
Laptops whose listing states at least 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, and no separate graphics card, because a sample library wants memory and disk rather than a GPU.
Laptops for engineers
A mobile workstation: dedicated graphics with 8GB of its own memory, 32GB of system memory, a screen of 16 inches or more and a terabyte of storage. CAD, simulation and BIM software asks for all four together, which is why all four are in the rule.
Laptops for architects
The largest screens with real graphics behind them: 17 inches or more, dedicated graphics with 8GB of memory and a terabyte of storage. Drawing is done at a distance you cannot fake on a 14 inch panel.
Laptops for students
Laptops whose listing states a weight under 2kg and at least 256GB of storage.
Laptops for data work
64GB of memory or more, on machines built without a gaming screen. A dataset that does not fit in memory is the thing that stops the work, and a high refresh rate does nothing for it.
Laptops for trading
A wide screen of 16 inches or more with 16GB of memory and no gaming graphics. Charts want screen area and steady memory rather than frame rate. Note what this rule cannot see: how many external monitors a machine can drive is not stated on these listings, so it is not part of the rule.
Laptops for company fleets
A professional edition of the operating system, 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. The professional edition is what domain joining and disk encryption need, and it is the line most purchasing departments start from.
Laptops that last the day
A battery of 70Wh or more, as the seller states it. It is the only battery figure these listings carry: nobody publishes a measured runtime, and a runtime we invented would be a number with our fingerprints on it.
Laptops for photo editing
Dedicated graphics, 16GB of memory, a screen up to 16 inches and no gaming refresh rate. Photo work wants the graphics and the colour, not the frame rate, and the machines built for frame rate are on the gaming page instead.
Laptops for everyday office work
Between 8GB and 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage or more, a screen of 14 to 16 inches and no dedicated graphics. Documents, mail and a browser with thirty tabs, on a machine nobody is paying a graphics premium for.
Laptops for travelling
Under 1.3kg. Lighter than the lightweight group, because a machine that is carried through an airport every week is a different question from one that is carried between two rooms.