BASIC LAPTOPS

SOME OF THE BEST-VALUE NOTEBOOKS AVAILABLE FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF USERS

A so-called basic laptop means different things to different users. What it is not, however, is an entry-level laptop, where products are categorised solely on price. For our purposes, ‘basic’ means it does all the most important stuff without a hiccup: email, web browsing, handling complex documents, working with pictures, playing videos and posting social-media updates. Here are some standout examples of basic computers for different users.

BUYING GUIDE

Weight 

Heavy laptops travel less. If you’re planning on carrying your laptop around all day, then make sure it weighs less than 2 kg. Less is better, naturally, and a few hundred grams either way genuinely does make a real difference.

Screen

Your screen consumes most of your battery. Smaller screens of around 12 inches are difficult to work on for extended periods and 17-inch screens make for very bulky laptops. Most people need screens around 15 inches, and a high-quality OLED screen is a delightful perk.

Ports

A surprising number of things still need to plugged in, including flash drives, memory cards and wireless dongles for mouse and keyboard. Shoot for two regular USB and one USB-C port, at least. Make sure at least one is rated USB 3.2 for high- speed data transfer and cut down on wait times. HDMI out is useful if you want to work on a full-sized monitor.

Memory and storage