In the ever-improving world of laptops, knowing what to buy can be a complex process.
Everyone wants the best performance, but what about price? How big a screen can you get before you sacrifice portability? How many ports do you need, and what size hard drive will do the job?
[*]Choose your form factor
(Credit: CBS Interactive)
We break notebooks down into five categories by weight, with some overlap: netbooks (usually less than 1kg), ultraportables (1.5kg-2kg), thin and lights (1kg-2kg), mainstream models (2kg-4kg) and desktop replacements (generally 4kg or heavier).
New netbooks are rare things, but you can still get one if you really try. They were effectively killed off by considerably more powerful mainstream laptops entering the AU$700 price point, and the MacBook Air 11 and ultrabooks bringing portability at a good price.
These days, you can pick one up for under AU$300, but we'd advise you to steer clear; there are simply better options and experiences available now.
While there are still a few
ultraportables around, like
Sony's Vaio Z series and
Alienware's M11x R3, they have effectively been killed off by
thin-and-light laptops, or what Intel calls ultrabooks. Occupying the 11- to 13-inch space, thin-and-light laptops can now genuinely claim extra portability with minimal performance sacrifice. Going for between AU$999 and AU$2299 depending on build quality, storage capacity, aesthetics and branding, thin and lights are the natural evolution of the category defined by Apple's MacBook Air. Don't expect optical drives here, but
battery life in this category is generally excellent.
Mainstream laptops are like budget desktops; they're good for general tasks, but they won't win any contests for their performance. They're significantly thicker than the newest thin-and-light laptops to hit the shelves, but typically come with more ports and generally have more powerful processors and dedicated graphics cards, usually at the detriment to battery life.
This category is set for a shake-up in 2012, with many analysts expecting things to get thinner — whether this is at the sacrifice of ports remains to be seen.
If you want desktop power, you need a
desktop replacement. With screen sizes of 16- to 18-inches, weight as heavy as 6 kilograms and average battery life of less than three hours, these behemoths are not for people on the go. They can accommodate a wide range of performance parts, however, and are just right for power users of all kinds.
Read more.
