Quand on a peu de connaissances en matériel informatique, acheter son premier PC portable suscite de nombreuses interrogations. Comment puis-je me retrouver avec tous ces modèles sur le marché ? Quels critères dois-je privilégier pour choisir mon ordinateur ? Mon budget est-il suffisant pour un appareil répondant à mes besoins ? Voici quelques conseils qui peuvent vous aider.
Work out what you need
Before anything else, decide what you’ll be using your future laptop for. Knowing whether the device will mainly serve for work, study, gaming and so on will help you invest in the right model.
Generally speaking, you can choose between five main types of laptops:
- Standard laptop: suitable for studying, office tasks, browsing the internet, using social networks, and storing and watching media files.
- Ultrabook: a very light, ultra-thin laptop. Its ergonomic, compact design is perfect for people who often need to travel with their work device.
- Gaming laptop: this computer is configured specifically for games. Its RAM, processing power and graphics performance also suit users who do image and video editing.
- Touchscreen laptop: its touchscreen lets the user access apps and different functions with a simple tap. This model can be suitable for children who are just starting out with computers.
- 2‑in‑1 hybrid laptop: a machine halfway between a tablet and a laptop with a keyboard. It can be a good choice for mobile professionals, students and users who mainly use their device for music and video.
Identify the key features of a laptop
To buy your first laptop, you can use the following features as a guide to find the one that really meets your expectations.
Battery life
Last‑minute meeting in a café, sending an urgent email in an airport lounge, browsing the internet on a train… In these situations, you won’t always have a plug socket nearby. You need a laptop with decent battery life. Even at home, games and demanding software require a powerful battery so you don’t have to keep your computer plugged in all the time.
When choosing your laptop, assume at least 20% less battery life than what’s stated on the spec sheet. For example, if the claimed battery life is 12 hours, the real figure is around 9 hours. If your device can run for 7 to 8 hours on battery power, that’s already very good.
Screen
A larger screen makes the laptop more comfortable to use and more enjoyable for multimedia. On the other hand, the machine will be heavier and less convenient to carry around. A smaller screen is less comfortable to look at, but makes the device much easier to transport. Current laptops generally have screens from 13 inches to 17 inches. There are also borderless screens, which give you the same screen size while reducing the laptop’s width by around 2 cm.
Screen resolution is also a crucial factor. Full HD screens are now easy to find and offer excellent clarity. You can also find higher resolutions such as Retina, QHD and 4K.
Performance
First, look at the RAM (memory) in the laptop. A 4 GB RAM configuration is more than enough for standard use (word processing, web browsing, etc.). But you can choose 16 GB of RAM if you plan to run resource‑hungry software. This is the recommended setup for online gaming.
Next, check the processor. Its processing power is expressed in gigahertz (GHz). The higher this is, the more powerful the computer. A higher number of cores also lets the device handle several tasks at the same time.
Finally, you should also look at the storage capacity. Ideally, go for at least 512 Mo.
Set your budget
A laptop with advanced features and high‑end components will obviously cost more. But are you really prepared to spend over 1,400 € just for Facebook, YouTube, Excel and Word?
With a budget between 300 and 800 €, you can get a device with perfectly decent performance. You can even buy a laptop with a 17‑inch screen and 512 Go of RAM.
