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Star-Buy Laptop Buyers Guide.

Read the helpful hints and facts below before buying your Laptop computer, Desktop, Apple Mac or Weekly Special offer on IT equipment.

With more computing power packed into smaller spaces than ever, today's laptop computers represent a serious alternative to their desktop counterparts. If you're looking to upgrade your desktop there are even more alternatives to consider. But if it's computing mobility that you're seeking, some ultra-portable laptops now weigh in at less than 2kg. And when you add in recent technology advances for wireless laptops even the most hardened road warrior can be in touch whenever and wherever they need.

Some of this computing convenience does come at a price - generally laptops are more expensive than equivalent desktop computers - and you'll need to consider which of the key features we outline most suits your computer use. But our advice covers a basic, cheaper version; serious alternatives to your existing desktop and the latest (and lightest) options available in the ultra-portable laptop group.

Once upon a time all a laptop computer needed to be was smaller and more portable than the desktop version. These days the range on offer can be shaped and adapted to fit a number of different uses. Configurable product choices of the type instigated by companies like Dell and Sony, mean that you can mix and match components to fit your exact needs and get all that you need for a price that you can afford. Our key features will help you decide which features are really worth paying for but these three common scenarios for use will help further narrow down your choices.

A budget laptop configuration would make an ideal machine for students and would also be a good starting point for home users looking for an additional machine either for other members of the family or to enable easy use in other rooms. If what you want to do is to use standard software, keep in touch via email, store your data and upload new software you should be thinking about a basic laptop with a 14" screen (measured diagonally), one of the cheaper Mobile Athlon 4 or Mobile Intel Celeron processors, a 20GB hard drive, 256 MB of RAM, a built-in 56k modem, a CD-RW drive and an Ethernet port for network connection. A package of this sort is readily available at under £800 though you'll be sacrificing portability as you save your pounds

Changing your desktop for a laptop either because you want to take up less space or because you need some computing mobility, needs careful consideration. With a budget of up to £1,200 you should be looking at a 15" screen (17" screens are available if you have the space) with widescreen display, a Pentium 4 processor, a 60GB hard drive, at least 512MB of RAM, a DVD-ROM CD-RW combination drive for recording and viewing CDs and DVDs, and a 3D graphics card with dedicated memory (for presentations and digital manipulation) and all in a laptop with a maximum weight of 3kg. A configuration of this type would be ideal for users involved with multimedia, gaming and photo- or video-editing. Heavier models may cost slightly less, and battery life on some of these less portable laptops can be relatively short. If mobility really isn't the key issue, then you'll probably do better in terms of value for money by considering other desktops rather than laptops.

The Ultra portable laptop group is all about weight or, rather, the lack of it and is aimed at users who are going to be on the road (or in the air) where size and weight are the key factors in your purchasing decision. You won't get the additional performance of the heavier, desktop alternatives but what a budget of around £1,800 will provide is a lightweight machine with mobile processor technology that gives the right balance of performance and power consumption and options for wireless networking all as standard. And on higher-priced models a built-in DVD/CD-RW combination drive will take care of all your storage and playback needs. When you are comparing ultra-portables look out for the additional weight of items like mains adaptors and any external drives as well as the weight of the basic unit. If you need them, you?ll be carrying them so factor them in to your choice.

The central processing unit (CPU) is sometimes described as the most important chip in the computer. It contains the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), so the computer can do calculations, and the control unit that controls the flow of data between the ALU and memory. There's a lot of competition between manufacturers of processors and the speeds they offer, but the plain fact is that while it is heavily featured in the marketing literature even the slower processors (1.4 to 1.6GHz) are fast enough for most uses, even though 3.0GHz is offered on many laptops. Money saved on processors might more usefully be spent on memory. There are two things that really matter with laptop processors: the balance struck between processor power and battery consumption, and the links to mobile technology that enable you to make the most of the laptop's portability. For the first, simply put, processors with the word mobile in their name are going to be the best choice. These use less power and run cooler (a definite plus in a laptop). For the second, Intel's combination of processor, chipset and wireless card technologies marketed under the brand name Centrino is hard to beat.

The computer uses the harddrive to store programs and files. The storage capacity of a basic 40GB hard drive is more than enough for most users. However, if you want to work with databases, or digital photos and video files then moving to a bigger hard drive, say 80 or 100GB, may be worthwhile. Some laptops are equipped with 120+GB hard drives.

Random Access Memory (RAM) is where the computer stores applications that are running and data. Most laptops come with a standard 512MB of Random Access Memory. Moving up to 1024 MB (1GB) installed RAM is a must if you are intending to use the laptop for digital video or downloading music. Even if you are not, buying as much RAM as you can afford is one area of expenditure on computers that will always pay you back in the future. Check out the RAM capacity to see how much room you have for future upgrades.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) screens used in laptops come in a range of sizes from 12" to 20" (measured diagonally). Smaller screens mean lighter and more portable laptops but a 15.4" screen is the most common. If you are going to be working on the machine a lot then a bigger screen with a decent resolution, say 1024/768, will be better for you in the long run. Higher resolutions mean you can fit more in on the screen, but you may find it harder to read. TFT (thin film transistor) screens are designed to perform better in bright light or sunlight and can produce clearer images. TFT is also called active matrix. TFT LCD screens are more expensive than LCD screens using passive matrix technology but give better displays. Widescreen display is useful for watching DVDs and for presentation work.

Graphics cards, also called video adapters, plug into a computer to give it display capabilities. Some laptops have a universal or shared memory function for display, but a graphics card containing at least 64MB of dedicated memory should be your target if you are going to be doing a lot of presentation work or are into gaming.

Many laptops come with more than one USB port (four on some models) which makes connecting to peripherals a lot simpler. Newer models are also available with a Firewire connection to transfer digital information from camcorders or MP3 players for example.

CD-ROM (compact disc, read-only memory) is standard on almost all laptops. Most software programs are now offered on CD. Best for keeping the price of the laptop down.

CD-RW (compact disc, re-writeable) is better because not only can you read CDs you can also write and record data to them. Depending on the CD format you can record once (R) or multiple times (RW). Best if you want to copy music from your CDs into your notebook.

DVD-ROM (DVD, read-only-memory) can read DVD discs as well as CDs. Best if you want to watch DVD movies on your laptop and install software from DVD or CD.

Combination drives. The DVD+RW/+R with CD-RW. With this you can write data to DVDs (which have up to seven times the storage capacity of a CD) and read DVDs and CDs as well. Best for maximum flexibility.

Some laptops now include slots for a variety of removable media like CompactFlash, Secure Digital or Memory Stick. These can be especially useful if you are using the laptop with other digital devices like cameras, camcorders and PDAs.

Most laptops use Lithium Ion batteries. Battery life varies between laptops but somewhere between 2 and 5 hours, depending upon the number of things that you are asking the laptop to perform would be about average. Laptop battery recharging times will also vary - around 75 minutes is common - so buying a spare battery is well worth considering.

If you are using your laptop as a mobile replacement for your desktop then a docking station, sometimes called a port replicator, can save you a lot of bother with peripherals like printers, scanners and speakers. The laptop docking station is connected to all the peripherals and the laptop connects to it rather than each of them individually.

This replaces the mouse on most laptops. Some users find that initially this can be difficult to operate. It is well worth testing out before you buy if you can.

One place where you really might think about taking out this form of insurance is on a laptop. Reliability should not be any worse than any other computer product but the chances of having a mobile mishap are much greater than with desktop models. Screen damage is particularly easy to cause. Most manufacturers supply a warranty. Take this rather than a retailer one and extend it if you can.

To be truly portable many laptop users take the Centrino route, Intel's mobile processor technology that allows you to use wireless networking. There are three wireless standards, of which the latest - 802.11g - is the most useful providing both a fast and stable connection and backwards compatibility with the older 802.11b standard. In theory, connection speeds of 54Mbps are possible. Realistically you will be looking at something between 15-20Mbps (less if you are using b and g together) but still very fast. An alternative option to the built-in solution is the addition of a wireless LAN card in your PC card slot to connect via hotspots.

If you really can not cope with a touchpad then a separate mouse (wireless is best) could be the answer.

Memory Sticks are an easy way to transfer small amounts of data from your laptop to a desktop. They should not be treated as a means of permanent storage.

Not all laptops come with a carry case as standard.

You will need one of these if your laptop does not have built-in mobile technology. It should fit into the PC Card slot of your laptop.

Vital if you are going to make any connection to the internet and you value your data and security. Many laptops are sold with trial versions of products from major suppliers like McAfee or Symantec pre-installed.

If you find yourself using one of the smaller laptops as a desktop replacement you may find purchasing a larger keyboard will help. Wireless options are available. Plugging the laptop into a larger monitor can also help, and its worth remembering that many modern TVs can be used to give a larger monitor area.

Still around, still working, and floppy disk drives are still the cheapest storage solution for data around. Investing in an external floppy disk drive means you can safely back-up very small amounts of data from your laptop and still make use those old floppies you have hanging around.

Mobile or not at some time you?re going to want to print. The choices to make are between inkjet (cheaper but lower quality), laser (more expensive but better quality, especially for images) and all-in-ones (which include extra features like scanning and copying).

If you are thinking of replacing an existing desktop with a laptop but know that mobility is not something that you will need, then stick with a desktop. You will get better value for money, features and performance for less money than a laptop.

Graphics tablets (which can also be used for notes) are another answer for those on the move. Light and easy to use there are several models available at less than £200.