Laptops / Notebooks

Laptops: Ultra compact Gaming & mobile Workstations

Laptops are a great way to both be mobile and still enjoy PC gaming. The key difference between a desktop PC and a Laptop is portability. Laptops, or Notebooks, combine Chassis, Monitor, Keyboard and of course the hardware in a tiny package. Home/Office Laptops and workstation Laptops are suited for gaming as well, but their main focus is productivity.

Gaming Laptops are usually equipped with desktop CPUs like AMD Ryzen or Intel Core. Home/Office Laptops are often using mobile versions of common processors. While a quad core CPU is suited for Home/Office workloads, workstation notebooks are often kitted out with high performance hardware.

For Office tasks, 8 GB of RAM are sufficient, while many games require 16 GB of memory. For storage, 256GB SSDs are the minimum you should choose. 512GB SSD capacity is more advisable. Also, you should check if the Notebook has free SO-DIMM slots for additional memory or free M.2 slots for additional SSDs.

Size & Specs: How to find the best Laptop for yourself!

Laptops are categorised by the size of the in-built display. The most common size are 13in, 15in, 17in, and 19in. Next to the size of the display, the resolution and the kind of display are important. For a 13in Display a resolution of 1920*1080 (Full HD) is fine, for a 19in display a higher resolution like 2560*1440 might be more comfortably.

For Laptops used as a workstation, a 4K IPS display is the optimal choice. For gaming a fast TN panel with fast refresh rates (120Hz, 144Hz) and low response times is a good choice. One thing to keep in mind is the influence of the display to the power consumption. A TN panel might have a lower overall power requirement than an IPS panel.

The most drain of the on-board battery is caused by the hardware itself. CPUs and GPUs are the main culprits in this regard. Most Laptops for Home/Office workloads have CPUs with integrated graphics. These draw the least amount of power. Some Gaming Laptops have both integrated graphics and a gaming GPU for heavier workloads. Often, the power management of the Laptop only switch the GPU is it is really necessary.

The integrated keyboard might also be a feature to take a closer look at. While most Laptops use rubber dome switches, some gaming models are equipped with mechanical switches. These add a more tactile feeling to the gaming experience.