what is the best laptop

Is there such as thing as the best laptop? It's a bit like asking what is the best car. Its all relative to the individual in regards to needs and requirements - so really there is no laptop that can be called the best. Finding a laptop that's right for your needs, firstly we need to begin with a base specification that should be standard on just about every laptop - Wired and wireless network cards built in - 2gb or ram minimum and the hard disk should be at least 80gb, just about every later version of an operating system, applications or games are generally larger than its previous versions requiring much more hard disk space, and now a 40gb hard drive is simply not large enough.

What else do we need to consider ?
Size or weight / Portability - CPU or Processor - Which Operating system - Shared or Dedicated graphics - How many USB Ports - CD/DVD drives - Screen Size - The look of the laptop - what is its role or requirements - How to save money.

Size Weight and Portability - The most common screen sizes on laptop are around 13-15 inches, as this is the most common it will mean the lowest prices when comparing smaller or larger laptops with the same specification, which is nice if your out to save some money, if you travel around a lot then lugging around a heavy laptop pc could be more in physio fees than the overall price of the laptop, so lots of travelling makes a smaller type of laptop a real blessing, you have to also think even if the laptop itself is not overly heavy, add the weight of the AC/mains adapter, a case, plus all the other little bits you need to carry, it can make it pretty heavy especially if carried around for long periods.
The same really cannot really be said with 17" laptops, if you are looking for one with a larger screen thats ok, but if you need to travel a lot why not purchase a small laptop and then put the extra cash towards getting an external screen which will be bigger and can also be used at the same time as the laptop screen, in effect giving extra viewing space.

CPU or Processor - The processor has changed a lot over the last few years and it now seems many companies are bolting on more processor cores. At present a laptop needs to have a dual core processor or above to run well. Dual core is the standard at the moment with AMD's Turion 64 x2 and Intel's Core 2 Duo, both are very good processors, but personally I've found AMD has the edge due to it being a bit cheaper, but if you do not mind waiting and have the money there are some of the Quad core laptops coming onto the market any time now.

The Operating system - If you want a laptop with Windows XP and you have found you can only purchase with Windows Vista (which is more common now) do not just presume that you can simply wipe away Vista and replace with XP, a lot of new pc hardware may not have XP drivers developed for it, this can create real headaches when trying to change over to XP.

Graphic Cards - it is generally impossible to upgrade the video capabilities on a laptop, whatever video card is has installed is what your stuck with, so if you enjoy gaming or need high end graphic abilities the laptop will need a type of graphics card with its own dedicated memory, otherwise graphic performance will suffer if it is used for high end graphics or gaming. USB ports - How many is enough, the average amount of USB ports on a laptop is around 3-4 this may sound like enough, but once you plug in a keyboard -printer- mouse - flash drive they are all in use, you could always purchase a hub, as they are pretty cheap, but the easiest options is to buy a laptop with more ports than you need in the first place. Another point to check, every laptop should have USB 2 ports, but it's worth checking this as USB 1 is around 10 times slower.

DVD & CD drive - A lot of the information given in regards to CD/DVD drives can be pretty confusing when we hear terms such as Dual layer - CD/RW DVD/Rom, most new laptops today should have a Dual layer DVD writer type of drive this will allow you to read and write to CD's and DVD's and read/play them all too.

Screen size - this was covered to a certain degree with the portability of the laptop as above. The larger the screen the heavier its going to be, and unless the laptop has a larger heavy duty battery, power consumption will be more too, there are also some very nice screen technologies around including tru brite which give the screen a nice glossy look.

Aesthetics, the Look of the Laptop - would you prefer, a slower laptop that looks great or a much faster machine that looks like a house brick? When you look for a laptop there is a huge variety, if you cannot find what your looking for with one manufacturer try another so you should not have to compromise on spec or look, but if you have to compromise a little on one compromise on the looks a little but not on the spec.

Laptops role - what will you be using the laptop for, just Internet browsing - some word documents, basic gaming, most new laptops can easily do this, so then the world of the laptop is your Oyster. If you are going to use the laptop for business applications such as large spreadsheets etc, then a mid power machine will be fine, you do not need be too concerned about the graphic ability and a shared memory type should be fine for your needs. If you are into Gaming or high end graphics then you could require the more powerful processors and graphics cards if you want to play the latest games with all the flashy effects switched on.

Save Money - If you would like a good laptop for a cheaper price (who would not) you have a few other choices, the first of these is a second hand laptop, you can save a fair amount of cash this way, but you really need to know what you are looking at or you could end up with a machine with problems or one that is not all that it seems to be, plus unless it still has warranty left you could be taking a big risk.
Refurbished laptops offer a safer way to save money, you should also get a warranty too. Bargain basements offers - many retail stores very often have special offers which can be good value, check around on stores website for laptop models that have been superseded by newer models, again there are very good machines to be had this way, but be quick as there are always people on the look out for these. Checkout more articles at computer-adviser.com