Finding laptop perfection.
From gaming to commuting living room media player to all-out desktop replacement. PCFormat shows you everything you need to know to piece together the perfect laptop.
When you're looking at building a desktop PC, you are most likely constrained by the amount of cash at your disposal and maybe by your power supply, but that's probably it. Size isn't really an issue unless you've got your sights on sliding the PC under your television. Noise? It'd be nice to keep it quiet, but there are plenty of things you can do after the fact to make it quieter. Want a more powerful graphics engine? Put in a pair of cards, or even three if you're feeling flush. Overclock it all if you want an even faster number cruncher.
You name it then, there's always something you can do to a desktop system to bend it to your will. Things aren't so easy when you move to more mobile computing. Space is a real problem at this level, as is the subtle interplay between the amount of heat produced and how you deal with it. Handling a 130W graphics card may be well within the remit of any desktop chassis, but that's a lot of heat to shift in a machine that's an inch thick. Throw in the fact that the graphics subsystem and the processor generally share the same cooling solution in a laptop and you can see that having an understanding of the system as a whole is more important than simply knowing that you need a mobile Core i7 processor.
There's another element that makes picking a laptop tricky: laptop technology tends to lag that of mainstream desktops by roughly a generation. This is true whether you're talking processors, graphics, memory or even storage. So while you may be up to date with what is happening on the desktop platform, the moment you start looking at what goes in a high-end laptop it feels like you've stepped back in time. And all, of course, at a price level that will have you scratching your head and reaching for a calculator.
Worry not though, because over the next few pages we'll cover what is the current state of the art in laptops, where your money is best spent and what components you should definitely watch out for, and which ones you should try and avoid. Picking the perfect laptop isn't easy, but it is possible once you understand the basics.
If there's one major difference between desktops and laptops, it's that the repercussions of your decisions last a lot longer in the world of mobile computing. Buy a desktop that lacks raw graphics power, and you can just buy a new graphics card further down the line. The same goes for processor, storage, audio, screen, keyboard... you get the idea. You can grow with your desktop; you can keep it up-to-date. It isn't so easy with laptops; there are a few things that you can upgrade, but ultimately when you retire the machine, it'll be almost identical to when you bought it. We always suggest thinking carefully before buying a new desktop, but we'd recommend being even more cautious before buying a laptop.
If you can, go into a store in person and try out various models, you'll have a much better idea of how machines feel that way; whether they really are for you - aesthetically if nothing else. Actually one thing we would say is that if you're planning on doing a lot of typing on your prospective laptop, then trying out the keyboard is a must. Too many times we've seen machines that tick all of our technocrat boxes, only to fall flat on their faces when it comes to actually trying to use the damn things.
Touchpads can be just as frustrating too - often proving that there is a magic optimal size for these mice wannabes. They head to be big enough to move around the screen without constantly having to reset your position, yet small enough so that you aren't always touching it while typing; sending the pointer on a marry dance around your screen. Of course, you can use a mouse if you're sat at a desk, but that isn't always possible if you're travelling.
What screen?
It would be tempting to start covering the core components of a laptop by focusing on the CPU or graphics subsystem, but it's the screen that defines what the machine will be used for. If you're planning to edit HD video for instance, then you'll either need a screen that is primarily capable of displaying a 720p or l080p resolution, probably with a gloss finish for colour clarity. Want to play games? Then a l5-inch screen is going to be a minimum requirement unless you're determined to ruin your eyes. Want portability? Go for a small-screened netbook.
There are three measurements to consider when picking a screen - the native resolution, its physical size and its aspect ratio. Laptops have favoured widescreen displays for a long time now, and the traditional aspect ratio of l6:10 has been with us for years, although l6:9 aspects are beginning to grow in popularity. These wider displays do make viewing two documents alongside each other a joy, although for serious work we do err towards the l6:l0 aspects just for the extra vertical space on offer. More importantly these widescreen displays are perfect for watching movies and, of course, gaming.
Higher resolutions will produce crisper images, but at the same time will require more processing power to produce an image in that space, particularly as laptops tend to support the sort of resolutions usually tound on 24 or 30-inch displays. This is particularly true it you're looking to render 3D to that screen - and here we're primarily talking about gaming. This is why we'd recommend a lower resolution screen, if you're out to buy a gaming machine. For instance a l680 x l050, l6:l0, l7-incher is going to run a lot smoother than a l920xl200 panel.
While we're talking about panel sizes, it's worth remembering that the physical size of the screen does more than define its pixels per inch, this also dictates how big the actual laptop is.
This in turn defines how big the keyboard is and how much space there is in the machine for individual components. Which all loads to how portable the machine is. This in turn defines how much care has gene into the battery life of the machine, and when you consider that the screen is one of the biggest culprits for sucking the life out of your battery, you can see why working out what screen is right for you is so important.
What processors
Since the introduction of the Pentium M processor, laptops have shown that relatively powerful CPUs can be had which don't require their own nuclear power plant in order to run. While the Pentium M may not cut it by today's standards, the little-core-that-could went on to revolutionise Intel's desktop CPUs and showed us that laptop development can pay dividends. Recently Intel has been kicking up a storm with its Atom CPUs which wandered on to the ultraportable market and showed just what is possible from a chip built with low power consumption in mind. Indeed, the various renditions of the Atom have completely dominated the netbook market, finding its way into just about every chassis that it can get its tiny little hands on. Actually it has no hands, but you get the idea...
It you're looking at buying an ultraportable laptop then then chances are it'll be packing a single or dual-core Atom, limiting your choice of this particular component somewhat. It does at least pack a decent punch for its tiny power footprint. While there are a few competitors to the Atom in the netbook market, most notably VIA's Nano, machines packing these alternatives are few and far between, and generally not worth tracking down.
For more serious work and gaming, the market is potentially a lot more open; with AMD's Turion 64 X2 matching up against Intel's Core 2 Duo. Again the market does tend to favour Intel's chips, but the performance delta between between these two offerings isn't so great. Power consumption does tend to favour Intel, but it can be a small difference in the right machine. In other words battery lives are rarely near the all-day usage that we are usually promised; except in netbooks packing a twelve-cell battery. For serious gaming notebooks, a couple of hours appears to be the best you can hope for.
There is of course a brand new kid on the block: Intel's Mobile Core i7. Essentially identical to Lynnfield, the triumvirate of processors packs a ridiculous punch for roughly the same power draw of the Core 2 Duo range that it will ultimately replace. Finding this beast isn't easy though, and we're still waiting for a good spread of machines to hit the PCFormat test benches before we can say for sure that these are the chips you want in your next laptop. From the systems we've seen, it looks like this is another winner for Intel: Intelligent core management turns off unused cores, turbo mode ramps up single- and dual-core performance and more memory bandwidth than Google, all add up to form an incredible package.
Picking a CPU for mobile shenanigans is very similar to doing the same for desktops: trying to trade off raw clock speed against the amount of cores on offer. When you're looking at power consumption, then more cores are better than faster clocks, as that costs juice, but it's slight in real terms. You'll need to ask yourself whether the apps you'll be using are designed to make use of multiple cores or will benefit more from faster clock speeds.
What memory and storage?
Your choice of processor will define the memory options open to your laptop. AMD's Turions still use DDR2, as do the older Core 2 Duos, while the newer Centrino 2 and Core i7 platforms support DDR3. Having access to the newer memory standards can lead to improved performance, but the main thing you're looking for when buying a laptop is quantity - it's definitely a case hat more is merrier, especially as caching out to the slow hard drive will slow things down considerably. Keep an eye on the raw frequency as well, as this can be a cheeky way for system builders to shave a few pounds off.
Memory is also an area where manufacturers are prone to charge a small fortune for the smallest of upgrades, especially when you can add the memory yourself for the equivalent of a few bags of peanuts. For this reason aim for a healthy amount in the core specification, we'd recommend at least 2 GB these days, and if you're going for a 64-bit laptop then 4GB shouldn't be outside your budget. If you're buying the machine in person, check that the memory slots in the belly of the machine haven't been filled if you do want to upgrade, otherwise you'll be tossing out perfectly good memory in order to get a boost.
Memory is but one part of the storage jigsaw of course, and the hard drive has traditionally been somewhat shy of being the speediest of elements of any laptop. The impressive explosion in desktop hard drive capacities has trickled down to laptops to some degree, and while you won't find a 2.5-inch drive boasting 2TB of storage, there are a few 700GB models floating around. More common are 500 GB drives and lower, although here it's worth looking out for the rotational speed: 4200 rpm drives define the bottom end of spectrum, with 5400rpm the norm, leaving 7200rpm models for the bandwidth connoisseur. Solid State Drives(SSDs) are making in-roads too - a platform where the lack of moving parts makes for a real boon. Capacities aren't as impressive though, and opting for a fast SSD will add serious cash to the machine's overall price. Somewhat bizarrely netbooks have been packing SSDs since they first appeared, although you'll be stretched to get Windows on them, let alone any data, as capacities start from as little as 4 GB. These aren't the cutting edge speedy models that demand a huge premium either. You can get those super expensive SSDs for your laptop especially in high-performance models.
The final question for your storage needs is which optical to go for. Here we'd recommend going for anything from no optical drive at all through to getting a Blue-ray drivel all depending on what you want from the machine. Netbooks don't have room for an optical for instance(and don't really need one beyond installing certain OSes), while a media centre laptop could benefit from a Blue-ray drive in the short term at least (we still have an inkling that digital downloads are the future for HD media). For the vast majority though, a DVD writer is all you need.
Networking?
It wasn't so long ago that wireless networking was considered a premium feature of our more mobile machines, but thanks to the success of Centrino, all machines now ship with some form of integrated wireless networking standard. Newer machines will support 802.11n or failing that 802.11b/g. You shouldn't have a problem connecting your machine to your home network, unless you don't have a wireless router of course. However, if you're looking for fast connections, the plugging in a network cable is still the way to go, and Ethernet sockets are everywhere; you may even have an Ethernet Gigabit port if you're lucky.
If you're out and about a lot but still feel the need to check your Facebook status, tweet what you ate for breakfast or troll the PCF forums, then you have a few options to abuse your fellow man from your portable wonder. You could lurk around certain coffee shops hoping to grab some free Wi-Fi goodness, or you could avoid all that and go for a machine that boasts a 3G connector. Alternatively, you could use your mobile phone as a modem, which could turn out to be incredibly expensive if you don't have a data contract. Otherwise, you could grab one of those dongles that are available from as little as £15 a month for 5GB of data, which is enough to stay on top of emails and the odd bit of surfing. We're not convinced that these are enough for mobile gaming, though.
Overall, laptop technology has come on in leaps and bounds, and the likes of the MSI GT725 prove that mobile gaming needn't cost a fortune. If you were to ask us, real gaming still lives in a big humming box next to your leg, but we've still got a lot of time for laptops.
Ports, connectors and sockets
Or the subtle art of making sure you can connect your laptop to stuff
If you're planning to use your portable machine for thrilling suited PowerPoint presentations, then you're either reading the wrong magazine or you're a digital guerrilla set to brainwash corporate thinking. In which case there's not a lot we can tell you beyond making sure that your machine has the suitable connectors to hook up to a projector. Most will accept everything from VGA through DVI to HDMI along with standard audio plugs.
If your output needs are slightly more mundane and involve pushing out images to one of those new fangled high-definition moving picture boxes, then you'll either want to make sure that the machine has a DVI connector, or preferably a HDMI output. Check your screen's connectors (or what you may have if you haven't bought it yet) and add it to your essentials checklist. If your main intention is to use a laptop as a media box for your entertainment needs, then you should ensure that it definitely video out to your display, and for that you ideally need a powerful processor backed up by a graphics subsystem that is capable of taking on some of the decoding. 720p should be possible with most recent processors, but if you're looking at 1080p resolutions, then you'll need the highest levels of Core 2 Duo or a mobile Core i7.
Slightly less glamorous than squeezing the latest Hollywood celebrities on to your home screen, is connecting all your home peripherals to your lovely new machine. For the most part this means USB ports, and while you can always add a USB hub to your setup, realistically you don't want to have to lug another device around with you, so go for as many USB ports on your machine as possible. If you've got some serious storage laying around, then an IEEE1394b port will come in handy, but by no means essential unless you're an artist or a video editor. We're about to be hit by USB 3.0, which will offer up to 4.8 Gbps, and that should obliterate the annoying Mac-focused standard once and for all.
The other ports and slots worth keeping an eye out for depend entirely on what you intend to use the machine for. An integrated card reader for your particular digital camera's memory card can make the difference between a superb camera buddy and an average one, for instance.
However, if you are looking for the ultimate in portable media centers, then an integrated TV tuner will open up several possibilities, or failing that a PC Express slot than can accept the latest expansion cards. Alternatively, you may want to consider plumping for an S-Video connector for making use of older screens.
The GPU for you
Laptops can play games too you know, if picked carefully
If we had one wish for laptop capabilities, it would be that the options for dedicated graphics were much more up to date. As it stands it's as if NVIDIA and AMD jumped off a cliff about a year ago, and all that's available is what they left behind - 4850s and 9800M GTX form the main graphics options for most laptop builders. NVIDIA's more recent GTX 280M, 260M and 240M chips are starting to filter through to some extent, but these are in the more ridiculously priced laptops. When you consider that AMD's latest 5x00 series is based on smaller process technology and has reduced power requirements, we should see a boost very soon, and it'll represent a shot in the arm for DX11 too.
While we wait for NVIDIA and AMD to bring out the big guns your options for graphics on the move can be paired down to integrated graphics versus dedicated. If you don't intend playing any games on your machine and your video decoding needs are minimal, then integrated is the way to go. Chances are you;ll end up with a machine boasting Intel's GMA architecture, which is roughly as slow as evolution itself, but the latest models do support a range of video outputs. If you manage to grab the likes of the GMA X4500HD it'll even handle 1080p decoding (the HD bit is important though, without it will be choppy). Note that any integrated graphics will grab some of your system memory - not a problem, unless you have little RAM to speak of.
If you are looking for a gaming machine, then the recommendations fall into the usual split of one from AMD and one from NVIDIA. The 4850 is a surprisingly powerful offering, and when married to a reasonable 17-inch display boasting a 1680 x 1050 resolution you should experience a smooth frame rate in just about every game out there. This is one of the main reason we loved the MSI GT725, and it still stands as one of the most impressive gaming laptops out there. NVIDIA's GTX 260M is a capable chip at slightly higher resolutions, if you want more fidelity, although it does tend to end up in more expensive laptops. Oh, and for the most part don't get too worked up about SLI solutions, leave that to desktops.