Choosing well: laptops
The question isn’t power but use: office work, creative work, or both. An oversized laptop is paid for in weight and battery life.
What to check
First set the weight you can live with
Under 1.4 kg, you carry it every day without a second thought. Above 1.8 kg, it mostly stays on the desk.
16 GB of memory is the new floor
For office work and the web, 16 GB lasts several years. Memory is almost always soldered: there’s no going back later.
Advertised battery life is not real battery life
We measure in mixed use at medium brightness. In continuous video calls, take off a third.
The panel matters more than the processor
You look at the screen eight hours a day. A well-calibrated IPS panel changes comfort; two extra points of speed don’t.
What you get for each budget
Under €800
Office work, web, studies. Expect an average screen and a plastic chassis.
€800 to €1,200
The right balance: light, long-lasting, a decent panel, 16 GB of memory.
Over €1,200
Video editing, 3D, heavy development. Weight and battery life suffer in exchange for power.
Frequent mistakes
Buying a creator laptop for office work: you pay for the weight and the heat for nothing.
Overlooking the keyboard and trackpad, which cannot be changed.
Picking 8 GB of memory to save €100: it’s the first thing that will hold the machine back.