What stuff do you find important in laptop reviews?

OK, who am I to tell reviewers how to review? I myself have yet to review a laptop, and probably never will (because I'll never get a digital camera, lol).

But I still think it's a good idea if everyone mentioned what stuff he is looking for when reading a laptop review, so that future reviewers can adjust their reviews to "public demand".

I'll start with the things that I find important (at least whatever I can think of at the moment). I've seen quite a few reviews out there that include these pieces of information, but unfortunately not all of them do.

(1) Photos of the screen under different viewing angles.
Pictures can't really show the quality of the display in terms of color reproduction and brightness, but it's possible to show the effect of the viewing angles (vertical angles are most important here, since that's the department where most screens lack).

(2) Large photos of the keyboard, showing layout.
To me, the layout of the keyboard is very important. A keyboard with poorly placed navigation keys is something I'd want to stay away from. A nice big pic showing the keyboard from above allows you to see all you need.

(3) The location of various hardware slots on the laptop, i.e. RAM, HDD, battery, Mini-PCI. How accessible are they? Is the optical drive bay multi-functional (i.e. can different drives and accessories be put there)?

 

I find the feedback on the build and design of a laptop very important as that basically tells me whether it is a laptop I can rely on for a few years.
The customer service information in the reviews are also very helpful as that prevents me from being conned.
Naturally benchmark tests and comparisons are vital especially these days with all the different choices in hardware.

Basically, anything that puts me off from purchasing one is what I find to be important .

 

A performance person myself, I look for a detailed analysis of a notebooks performance - that is, if the laptop is designed for good performance. In a gaming laptop, it is especially important to have good 3D Bencmarks, and game tests are a nice extra. In a mainstream notebook, this is not something I would care about.

I also look for comments about the design itself - are the ports in the wrong place, in a good spot, convienent, etc.

The cooling and heat of the laptop are very important areas to comment on. Especially when it comes to higher end notebooks that are designed for performance - you don't want them kicking out and getting too hot when running at maximum or putting their hardware to use.

I like to see a section, or at least parts throughout the review, that detail about why a certain feature is good, bad, etc, and what makes the notebook unique.

And finally, the review can be made very helpful by commenting on the notebook's specific competitors, and why you choose the one you did, etc.

Cheers!

 

Well below is a copy of our review guide outline for what it's worth, and is what we ask people to absolutely include in a review that's posted to the site here. I'm usually most interested in the hardest part to quantify -- the usability and build. Pictures are also so important, I get frustrated reading reviews that talk about how great the screen/keyboard etc. are and use nothing to maybe show what is meant.

I also always find it interesting as to how people ended up buying a notebook, what else they considered, and whether this is their first ever or 50th ever notebook -- all stuff that's good to know regarding where this person is coming from in writing a review.

I'll also add, it's impossible to get everyone to write and do everything you'd like to see in a review. Just ask anybody that's written a review for this site, it's a lot of work and takes time to produce a well written article with pictures that you'd be proud to have displayed to and read by others. I'm continually amazed by the dedication and level of writing skills reviewers for this site provide.

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1. Overview and Introduction: Overview of what model the notebook is, who makes it, what kind of notebook it is (desktop replacement, ultraportable, budget laptop, thin and light etc.) and what the exact configuration you got is (the processor, RAM, hard drive size, screen size, wireless, operating system etc.)

2. Reasons for Buying: Why you bought this laptop, and what other laptops you looked at before deciding to buy this.

3. Where and How Purchased: Where did you buy it from and for how much, do you think this was a good deal?

4 Build & Design: What is the design like, does it look good, does it feel sturdy, what is the case made of, what color is it, is it too heavy, is it easy to carry or use in your lap? Try pushing in on the lid to see if you get ripples on the LCD screen, this is a good indicator as to how much protection your screen has. Also, try "wobbling" (push on the screen) the screen when it is in the up position, if it wobbles a lot then your hinges are probably not very good and this is poor build. Maybe try "twisting" the screen frame a little, if your frame twists easily and a lot then this is also poor build.

5. Screen: What is the screen like, is it bright enough, does it have any dead pixels, what size is it, what resolution did you get with it, does it have any enhanced features such as extra bright view? Also check to see if there are certain areas with light leaks or uneven backlighting that you can tell of?

6. Speakers: How are the speakers, is the sound loud enough, is the sound crisp enough, would you recommend headphones or buying external speakers?

7. Processor and Performance: How fast is the performance of the notebook and what processor do you have? Does it take long to boot up to the windows logon screen (maybe time this), what speed is your hard drive? Mention how much memory you have as this will effect laptop performance. Tell people if the laptop ever hangs or takes too much time to complete a task, or if it always seems snappy for what you use it for? Do you play games on this laptop and if so do they play okay and can you run them in the highest graphics mode?

8. Benchmarks: Download one or more of the following free benchmark programs to show others how your notebook performs against others


Super Pi – Run this program to calculate Pi to 2 million digits of accuracy, make sure there are minimal processes running in the background. Download: ftp://pi.super-computing.org/windows/super_pi.zip
PCMark04 (free version) – The video test might fail if your notebook has Windows Media 10.0. Download: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?pcmark04.shtml (there's no need to purchase the System Suite, just report the numbers it produces in the free version such as multithreading rates, file decryption and web page rendering times shown under the system test suite online results)
3DMark05 – This is a large download but worth it even for machines with integrated graphics. Download: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark05.shtml
HD Tune – Run the test pattern for temp and high and low throughput speeds. Download: http://www.hdtune.com/
Everest – An application used to provide low level memory and motherboard information and benchmarking: http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en
We will take any benchmarks you provide and compare them to similar notebooks, you do not have to do this, just provide your results to us.

9. Keyboard and Touchpad: How easy is the keyboard and touchpad to use, how do you like the placement of buttons on the notebook or do you wish there were more buttons for things such as volume control? Does the keyboard "flex" at all (this means the keyboard sags a little bit and other keys around a key you are pressing go down as you push the intended key)?

10. Input and Output Ports: What input ports does the laptop have, does it have USB 2.0 ports and if so how many, does it have FireWire, is there a memory card reader, can you output to a TV with a video connector, is there a parallel port for printers?

11. Wireless: What kind of wireless did the computer come with, does it work well? Does it have Bluetooth built-in, is there an infrared port?

12. Battery: How long does the battery last, do you wish it were longer or are you happy with it? How many cells does it have and is there an option for a larger battery? Does the battery stick out of the back of the notebook?

13. Operating System and Software: What operating system does it come with, what disks are provided by the manufacturer? Is there a system restore/recovery disk included, or can you call and request one from the manufacturer? What software is included with the computer...is the free software included good or bad?

14. Customer Support: Have you had to use the customer service support, how was it? What form of initial contact tech support do they have phone/email/live chat? Is there a warranty and if so what does it cover and for how long...did it cost you extra to upgrade the warranty?

15. Complaints (optional): Do you have any specific complaints about this notebook and if so what? How annoying is a certain problem if you do have a complaint about it?

16. Praises (optional): What do you really like about this notebook and how has it superceded your expectations? For instance, was the price really good for what you got, is the screen and sound better than you expected, are there little features you didn’t know about at first but learned about and came to really love?

17. Conclusion: What is your conclusion about this laptop and would you recommend it to someone else, and if so, what type of person should buy it? List a few summary "Pros" about the laptop for the things you really like and list a few "Cons" about the laptop for things you think could be improved.