1. The ports. You should make sure that laptop has lots of USB ports for devices such as printer, mouse, flash drive, digital camera, etc. If your laptop does not come with many USB ports, you will need an USB hub. If you plan to connect your laptop to a TV, you will need an s-video port.

2. CD/DVD. Most of laptops come with a CD writer\DVD reader drive. If you want to copy DVDs, you will need a DVD writer drive. At this time the maximum speed for burning a DVD is 16X.

3. The hard drive. The speed of hard drive is measured in rpm or Rotations per Minute. Try to find a laptop that has 4200rpm or 5400rpm. A laptop with 40 Gigabytes is sufficient for an average person.

4. The memory. Your laptop should have at least 1 GB of memory. However, you can get a notebook with 512 MB and work with Windows XP. You should avoid a laptop with only 256 MB of memory.

5. The processor. You can choose between Intel and AMD. At the moment, Intel has the best processor for a laptop called the Core 2 Duo. The speed of processors is measured in Gigahertz. The bigger the number, the faster the processor is. There are also Dual-Core processors. It means they can process two things at the same time. As a result, the power of the processor is doubled.

6. Size. You should choose a smaller screen if you carry your laptop a lot. Typically a 14.1 inch screen is considered small. A 17 inch screen is considered big. A 17 inch screen is heavier and use up more battery life. You can get a 15 inch or a 15.4 inch.

7. The warranty. Each laptop computer should come with one year warranty from the manufacturer covering only defective equipment. You can also get an extended warrantycovering any accidents you may have.

8. The brand. Average brand of laptop is Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer and Compaq. The better brand of laptops is Sony, Toshiba, Alienware and IBM-Lenovo.