First of all, the processor speed of your laptop should be good enough so that you can run multiple processes on it. The dual core or the quad core processors are the latest products available in the market, however the quad core would be a little bit expensive. But dual core processors can also serve the purpose.

Secondly the Random Access Memory (RAM) of your laptop should be high so that the functioning of the laptop becomes speedy. A high Ram would ensure that your laptop doesn’t take enough time while starting up. Equipping your laptop with an anti virus software would be of great help if you are planning to work on the Internet. Anti-Virus software protects your laptop against any kind of spy-ware or virus threat. If you are planning to buy a new laptop then you will get free software with it. However, one can buy it also as it is a very helpful tool to use Internet safely.

Lastly, if the purpose of your laptop is gaming then it should be equipped with a high definition sound card and a video card. Gaming laptops require very high configuration as the games are designed in a very heavy manner and compatibility issues might arise if you do not have a video card with you. If you are buying your laptop for simple purposes or home use only then you can settle down without any graphic or video card. There are lots of very cheap laptops that would handle basic tasks. If buying a laptop is out of the question for you, you might want to rent a laptop. You’ll have low monthly payments for as long as you want to keep it.

You must first decide what uses the laptop will provide. Will it be used for occasional web surfing or emails, gaming, storing music or data, watching movies, or all of the above? Once you decide its use, then you can begin to choose which laptop you wish to purchase.

If you wish to just web surf occasionally and have email access then purchase the bottom of the line cheap laptops. Laptops become more expensive if you wish to put them to more use. If you want to take and store pictures, you need a laptop with an SD slot and USB ports. Something to find out is the number of USB ports, especially using various devices like a web cam or digital camera. If you wish to watch movies on your laptop, then you will need one that has a DVD player. If you want to store a large volume of music or other data, then you will need a larger hard drive. And if you are into gaming, then you need to purchase a laptop with higher end specs such as more processor, more powerful video card, and a bigger hard drive with more ram and drive space. You may choose the screen size depending on how you wish to use the laptop. The larger the screen, the heavier the laptop will be, but easier on your eyes after an extended period of time looking at the screen.

Be sure your laptop has built-in wireless networking in order to use your laptop anywhere. If the laptop will be used as a desktop computer at home as well as taking it on the road, you need to purchase a docking station, also known as a port replicator, which allows your laptop to be used as a desktop computer.

One final word of caution on making the final decision, if you compromise buying a smaller laptop, you will end up with fewer features then the bigger, heavier laptops. Please be careful in choosing which laptops for sale best suits you.

1 – HP Pavillion dv5t

The dv5t features an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, up to 4096MB DDR2 System Memory, NVIDIA GeForce Go graphics available and 15.4″ diagonal WXGA BrightView Widescreen. It only weighs 5.5lbs Starting price $1100.00

2 – Dell Studio 15

This screen is just 15.4″, it’s OS is Windows Vista® Home Premium, 2.00GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 3GB of memory. CD/DVD burner, 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 video card. As well as a 56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell). Starting price $749.00

3 – Lenovo ThinkPad T61

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9300 (2.5GHz 800MHz 6MBL2), genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, it’s screen is only 14.1″, Hard Drive 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm with Disk Encryption, 2 GB PC2-5300 Memory, 9 cell Li-Ion Battery. Starting price $1082.00

4 – Dell XPS M1530

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor ,Genuine Windows Vista ® Home Premium Edition,Size: 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, 2GB memory, 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS, along with a 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery. Starting price $999.00

5 – Sony VAIO FW

It’s screen is 16.4″ makes it great to watch DVD’s and Blu Ray discs. Weighs only 6.4lbs, Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium . Capable to hold 400GB hard drive, 4GB RAM and a 2.80GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. A battery life of five and a half hours. Starting price $1059.00

6 – Toshiba Satillite A305/A300

AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70, 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM, 320GB hard drive, a 15.4″ display screen. Starting price $899.00

7 – Lenovo ThinkPad T400

2.0MB Intel® Core™ 2 duo processor, Genuine Windows Vista ® Business Edition, The T400 has 14.1? display screen, up to 320GB of hard drive, and 8GB RAM, The unit weighs quite a bit less than most at 4.7lbs. Starting price $1130.00

8 – Dell XPS M1330

2.0MB Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor, Genuine Windows Vista ® Home Premium Edition, It comes with built-in camera Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel Webcam, 2GB of memory,Size: 160GB 5400RPM Hard Drive, Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 video card. Starting price $949

9 - HP pavilion dv6700t

The HP Pavilion dv6700t Entertainment Notebook PC delivers a 15.4″ Brightview display, dazzling new high-gloss design, Intel’s Core Duo processors and the option to upgrade to an Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics card with 256MB dedicated video memory. The weight is up there at 6.3lbs Starting price $899.00

10 – Dell Insprion 1525

1.0M/2.0GHz Intel® Celeron® 550, Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Basic Edition, 15.4 diplay screen, 1GB memory, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 video card. Starting price $499