Buying a new laptop is often quite a pricey investment, but one that is well worth it as long as you pick the one that is right for you. If the up-front cost is too much for you to bear, it’s also a good idea to look into buy now pay later deals on laptops from retailers like Misco.

First of all, are you using your laptop for business or pleasure? If you’re a student or using your laptop for your job, you’re unlikely to have any high-end system requirements – something with a dual-core processor and 4GB of RAM should be plenty, and consider whether you’ll want a built-in webcam or whether you can save money by buying it separately. If you’re on the go a lot of the time and want to take your laptop with you, think about getting a netbook instead – they’re much faster and more portable than a laptop, although of course the trade-off is in lower power and less storage space.

Alternatively, if you’re a gamer who doesn’t want a desktop PC, you ideally want to get the best specifications you can afford. Usually this means searching by graphics card, as gaming laptops usually have the other specs built around them, but you should aim for a 2.4GHz CPU or even a quad-core. It may be more expensive now, but it’ll be a lot more future-resistant than a less advanced model.