There are a couple of factors to think about when purchasing a laptop. There are two ends of the scale, mobility and power. The key is to find the right mix of the two. The price will also influance this because the more powerful, the greater the price and the more mobile the greater the price. Therefore the most mobile and powerful laptops are the most expensive. At the power end of the scale, there are laptops called desktop replacements. They are as powerful as top of the line desktop computers in a laptop form. They normally have 17" or higher screens. This notebooks are heavy and have little battery life, around 1.5 hours. At the other end, the mobile laptops have lots of battery life, upto 8 hours, and are very light, under 2 kgs. This laptops are not as powerful, normally with intergraded graphics and less ram. There are exceptions, with some mobile laptops being very powerful but also expensive. So you must find the balance between mobility and power at the right price. To determine this think about your needs, do I need to move it or carry it around alot? Do I need top end graphics/RAM/CPU? Do I need a long battery life? How much can I spend? What is my biggest need? There is one other thing, DO NOT BUY A LAPTOP WITH THE INTENT TO SAVE SPACE!!!. Many people think that laptops are good because they are small and save space but they never move them or take them off the main power. This is wrong, wrong, wrong, so if it is you, dont do it!. Not only is it a waste of money but it is dangerous. Laptops with batteries that dont get used can explode. That kind of function is not what a laptop is designed for.