Buy laptops at bestware: individual configurations

Modern laptops are far more than a mobile alternative to the desktop PC; the practical folding computers score points for their versatility. As specialists for their respective field of application, they cover the most diverse areas of use. The range extends from thin and light notebooks to blazingly fast high-end laptops for gaming, creative professionals or virtual reality.

At bestware, we offer you the right model for every demand and you can put together your laptop as you wish - just as your individual needs require. In the following article, we present the most common types and show you what is important when choosing the best-equipped laptop.

A brief guide to types: Which notebook to buy?

First, we discuss the different types of laptops. In our bestware configurator, you will receive the optimal selection of components for each of the device classes in order to put together a customised notebook.

Office laptops

The classic office laptop is an affordable entry into the world of mobile devices. Stable, reliable and powerful - these are the qualities that matter in business laptops. Eight-core processors or CPUs with even more cores provide plenty of computing power.

This is complemented by a power-saving, integrated Intel UHD, Intel Xe or AMD Radeon RX graphics card. The economical graphics chips also provide more than sufficient reserves for all daily tasks: Surfing the internet, writing emails, watching videos, editing photos and all kinds of office applications are no problem for the robust office class.

Lightweight laptops

Thin and light laptops are the ideal work tools for on the go. Due to their slim dimensions, they not only fit into any briefcase or backpack, but can also be carried around effortlessly for an entire day thanks to their low weight. They are aimed at all those whose working day is characterised by mobility: students, business travellers, digital nomads or trade fair visitors.

Special power-saving processors and graphics chips, together with large batteries, ensure that the compact long-runners can also last a whole working day or longer away from the power socket. However, the category of slim and light notebooks is not limited to devices for simple and demanding office tasks. Slim gaming laptops also belong to this category, and these now offer considerable performance that is not far behind the performance of a high-end gaming PC.

Multimedia laptops

Multimedia laptops are the all-rounders among mobile PCs. In addition to a powerful CPU, they usually use an efficient mid-range graphics card or a high-performance, integrated graphics chip from AMD or Intel.

This makes them perfect for all multimedia tasks such as advanced video or photo editing. A good multimedia notebook is also characterised by many external connections, for example to connect a beamer, additional monitors and other peripherals. At bestware, we place particular emphasis on these features.

Gaming laptops

In the area of gaming laptops, we offer you devices from different price and performance classes on bestware. In addition to fast high-end processors, it is the graphics performance that is most important, because your personal gaming experience stands and falls with it. 

High-end graphics cards, on the other hand, allow you maximum quality settings and are also suitable for particularly demanding 4K gaming and VR gaming. Fast displays with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, 165 Hz, 240 Hz and more as well as a good keyboard with a precise stroke are also an advantage in a gaming laptop.

High-end laptops

The product range of high-end laptops also includes various device classes. These include, for example, classic desktop replacement devices (DTR), which are just as fast as a desktop PC under the desk. While these devices are uncompromisingly powerful, they are also larger and heavier than many other laptops. 

A second thrust of the high-end approach aims in the opposite direction: special power-saving technologies and increasingly efficient cooling systems ensure that even particularly thin laptops are becoming ever more powerful. Specially adapted cooling systems designed with great development effort allow even these very slim models to deliver permanently high performance.

Laptops for special applications

Workstation laptops offer the right level of equipment and performance for the complex calculations of CAD developers, designers, programmers, professional video and image editing and 3D applications. The individual areas of application place very different demands on the notebook used in each case, so the range on bestware is broad.

Another special area is covered by VR Ready laptops. This special category includes everything that has enough power to conjure up immersive content on the displays of VR glasses. Because whether the content runs smoothly on an HTC VIVE or Oculus Rift is primarily determined by the graphics card. All laptops specially designed for immersion in virtual reality meet these requirements with ease.

Configure laptops on bestware: The best laptops for every area of application

On bestware you can find your personal dream device in no time at all. In the configurator, you can put together your laptop just the way you need it. The starting point is the different models of the two exclusive own brands XMG and SCHENKER. Both attach importance to a simple and elegant look.

While the XMG models show their gaming genes partly through cleverly placed RGB lighting effects, the SCHENKER notebooks speak an even more businesslike design language.

What they all have in common is excellent, robust workmanship. The notebooks were deliberately designed for maximum reliability and a long service life. That's why XMG and SCHENKER models are regularly found in the top 10 in the relevant notebook comparison tests.

In the following, we present the various component groups and show what is currently possible in terms of performance.

What screen size and resolution is the right choice for my notebook?

Even laptops of the same series often come with different sized displays. Common screen diagonals are 14 inches, 15 inches, 16 inches or 17 inches. The exact size of the display also depends on the format.

These dimensions not only indicate how much screen space is available for viewing content, but also influence the other features of the device. Most 14-inch laptops, for example, are ultrabooks and therefore particularly slim, light and compact - the perfect solution for travelling or surfing on the couch.

In contrast, 15-inch or 16-inch laptops are a good compromise. They are still handy and portable, but score points with their additional viewing area. The most comfortable basis for relaxed work and play that is easy on the eyes are devices in 17-inch format. However, due to their heavier weight and larger dimensions, they are only conditionally suitable for carrying around in a backpack or bag for a whole day.

In addition to the 16:9 format, which has been the standard for years, displays in 16:10 format are becoming increasingly popular for notebooks. They offer a little more vertical viewing area and are thus somewhat higher. This is practical, for example, to display additional toolbars on the monitor when working. The format also influences the effective screen size; here is a brief overview:

• Typical display sizes in 16:9 format: 14.1 inch, 15.6 inch, 16.1 inch, 17.3 inch
• Typical display sizes in 16:10 format: 14.0 inch, 16.0 inch, 17.0 inch

And the screen resolution? For the vast majority of requirements, a full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels is sufficient, because in contrast to the monitor on a desktop PC, laptop screens are much smaller and therefore deliver a razor-sharp image thanks to their higher pixel density. This is best explained by a small calculation example:

• A 15.6-inch monitor with 1920 x 1080 pixels has 141 dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch), i.e. 141 pixels per inch.
• On a 27-inch monitor, the value drops to only 82 dpi at the same resolution, so the distance between the individual pixels is much greater.

Ultra-HD or 4K displays with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels are ideal on laptops for media professionals who want to edit their images on the go. This area of application also requires a high coverage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 colour space.

Laptop case: plastic, aluminium or magnesium?

At bestware, we place particular emphasis on first-class manufactured notebook cases. Plastic that has already been processed to a high standard offers everything that is needed for a stable and durable mobile device: a torsion-resistant and robust construction, small gaps and a first-class feel.

Ultrabooks and slim gaming laptops in particular benefit from housings made of metal, with aluminium or an AZ91D magnesium alloy being the primary materials used. These materials not only help to give the very slim devices additional stability, but also offer thermal advantages thanks to their better heat conduction properties. This means that the components can be cooled better.

The fastest notebook processors from AMD and Intel: Advanced, efficient and powerful

We always offer all laptops in the bestware range with the latest processor generation.

The slim ultrabooks in particular rely on special power-saving processors such as AMD's mobile Ryzen 5000 series, 6000 series or Intel's 13th generation Core processors. These combine a considerable level of performance with high efficiency. AMD's Ryzen 5 5700U, for example, has 8 cores each and is multithreaded. This means it is able to process up to 16 threads in parallel. 

In addition, modern processors already process a high number of instructions per clock (IPC), so that you can even buy thin, ultra-mobile notebooks that can boast a serious level of performance. Their specific efficiency not only ensures low power consumption and consequently a long battery life. In combination with good cooling, such ULV (ultra low voltage) processors are also particularly quiet.

Mobile processors from the high-performance segment go one better. Intel's Core i9-13900HX is used particularly frequently in the notebooks from XMG and SCHENKER. For the first time, 24 cores and 32 threads are possible in a notebook - with a Turbo Boost clock of up to 5.4 GHz and an extraordinarily large cache of 36 MB.

Putting together a laptop with the right graphics card

If the mobile device is mainly used for simple office and internet applications and for watching videos, the graphics solutions currently integrated by AMD and Intel in many processors are more than sufficient. Games can also run on them with some restrictions. However, this requires the selection of a low detail level and possibly also a reduced screen resolution.

Ambitious gamers should buy a notebook with a mid-range or high-end GPU. Only then can the full gaming graphics splendour of the latest AAA game titles unfold. Users who use software such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Premiere should also buy a laptop that has a high-performance, dedicated graphics card for GPU acceleration in the programmes.

The various graphics card models differ on the basis of numerous equipment models. These include the amount of GDDR6 memory (VRAM) used, the chip clock or the number of shader units, TMUs and ROPs. NVIDIA graphics cards also differed in terms of the number of dedicated ray tracing cores for the calculation of ray tracing effects and the number of Tensor cores for AI calculations, for example. 

With the GeForce RTX 4050 Ti with 6 GB GDDR6, for example, NVIDIA has a hot iron in the fire for full HD gaming: the graphics card offers everything you need to play demanding games with a high level of detail. It offers basic ray tracing capabilities as well as support for Deep Learning Super Sampling 3.0 (DLSS 3.0). This generates additional, high-quality frames via an AI function of the graphics card. This automatically gives you more FPS for smoother gaming.

The GeForce RTX 4060 and RTX 4070 are both faster and have 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM. Given their performance, these laptop graphics cards are also suitable for gaming in WQHD resolution at 1440p. The fastest graphics cards currently available for laptop gaming are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 with 16 GB of graphics memory and the GeForce RTX 4080 with 12 GB. These are not only the optimal choice for 4K gaming on the notebook with UHD resolution, but also for playing with a high-resolution VR headset.

Build a notebook with the right amount of RAM: How much RAM does your laptop need?

For simple office applications and surfing the internet, 8 GB DDR5 RAM is sufficient as a sensible basic configuration. Gamers, on the other hand, should buy a laptop with 16 GB of RAM: In current games, only 8 GB RAM is no longer sufficient.

Professional creators or programmers sometimes need 32 GB and more. This means, for example, that a large, high-resolution photo can be loaded completely into the RAM and can be processed more quickly than if part of it has to remain on the slower SSD hard drives.

Configure optimal hard disk storage in the laptop: SSD instead of HDD!

Since hardly any current notebook uses a space-intensive and slow 2.5-inch drive bay, you will find neither mechanical 2.5-inch hard disks nor 2.5-inch SSDs with slow SATA connections that do not allow data to be read and written at more than 550 MB/s in the latest generation of laptops.

The current standard in laptops are M.2 SSDs, which are connected either via PCI Express 4.0 or even PCI Express 5.0 with 4 lanes each:

• SSDs with PCIe 3.0 (4 lanes) offer you a transfer rate or bandwidth of up to 3500 MB/s.
• SSDs with PCIe 4.0 (4 lanes) offer you a transfer rate or bandwidth of up to 7000 MB/s.
• SSDs with PCIe 5.0 (4 lanes) offer you a transfer rate or bandwidth of up to 14000 MB/s.
• How fast your M.2 SSD really is when reading and writing also depends on the controller, the type of NAND flash memory and the SSD cooling.

What is an SSD and what are its advantages? In contrast to the mechanical hard disk, which uses rotating magnetic disks and the associated read and write heads, the solid state disk does not use any moving components. It uses several NAND flash components and a multi-channel SSD controller that distributes the data.

The advantage: SSDs not only work silently and very quickly, but also consume less power than the mechanical alternative. Among other things, this benefits the battery life of the laptop. In 2023, mechanical hard disks will only be an issue as external hard disks: as such, however, they still cannot be replaced by SSDs with a storage capacity of up to 20 TB.

At bestware.com, you can configure your laptop with SSDs from various price and performance classes from SSD manufacturers known for their high quality - whether Samsung, Crucial and Western Gigital or with 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB or 4 TB SSD size.

What external connections does my laptop need?

USB is certainly the most frequently used interface. The all-rounder for connecting additional peripherals such as a mouse, external SSDs or hard drives and a printer. Laptops from XMG and SCHENKER support the latest standards such as USB 3.2 and are therefore ideally equipped even for future tasks.

There are two types of connector for USB: Type-A, the classic and somewhat larger USB plug, and the new Type-C. The latter is not only narrower and is therefore also used in many smartphones, but it is also twist-proof. The latter is not only narrower and is therefore used in many smartphones, for example, but it is also twist-proof. In contrast to Type-A, it doesn't matter which way you plug a cable into the port, with Type-C there is no longer a right or wrong direction.

In addition, USB-C ports sometimes offer more functions, details of which can be found in the data sheets for the respective laptop. For example, some ports allow you to connect an external battery to charge the notebook on the go via the so-called power delivery function. It is also possible to output a DisplayPort signal via USB-C and thus address an external monitor.

Thunderbolt 4 goes one step further. The interface is also implemented as a Type-C connector and differs at first glance only by a printed lightning symbol on connectors and slots. The connection integrates the same functions as USB-C, but is once again significantly more powerful: The fastest external SSDs currently available read and write at up to 40 Gbit/s on the laptop.

A second type of connection is used to connect the notebook to a beamer or one or more external monitors. For this purpose, modern mobile devices have a different number of DisplayPort and HDMI outputs. In addition, there are multimedia inputs and outputs for connecting loudspeakers or a microphone - partly implemented as a combo socket and partly in the form of two separate jack sockets.

 Network traffic runs either via cable over an Ethernet port with Gigabit or 2.5 Gigabit speed or WLAN. The new WiFi 6E standard, also known under the bulky term 802.11ax, transmits particularly fast and stable. Another wireless connection option to other devices is Bluetooth. The transmission standard is suitable, for example, for coupling the laptop with a powerful Bluetooth loudspeaker.

Finally, some laptops have an SD or micro SD card reader. So if you are a photographer, for example, and don't want to constantly lug around an additional, external reader device, you should take a close look at the data sheet before buying the laptop in question.

Laptops without operating system

Another special feature unites the XMG and SCHENKER brands: in the bestware configurator, which enables a clear selection of the optimal hardware components, the notebooks can also be configured without an operating system.

Upgrade and maintain a laptop: What to consider?

With XMG and SCHENKER laptops, maintenance is not a problem because you can open them to clean or upgrade them if necessary. This option means that you will be able to enjoy your device for a long time.

Problems can arise after several years of use, for example, if the interior gradually becomes dusty. If the notebook gets too hot, it is usually sufficient to remove the bottom shell and remove dust from the fan. With a little discipline, you can extend the life of your laptop.

The freely accessible interior also makes it possible to upgrade hard disks, SSDs or RAM, or to replace the BIOS battery on the mainboard. You can also replace the laptop battery. Thanks to our own warehouse, we keep the spare parts for the laptops on site in Leipzig.

Configure the ideal notebook with bestware - including service from the test winner

You want to configure your individual, customised laptop? Then bestware is your first port of call. We make sure that all the laptops we offer meet the highest standards and always use the latest components and technologies. An experienced team of highly qualified service technicians ensures in advance that all components offered on bestware are perfectly compatible with each other.

So it doesn't matter which individual components you choose to put together your dream laptop in our configurator: The result is always an absolutely stable and high-performance system that leaves nothing to be desired. For this reason, every single laptop undergoes a separate, intensive test procedure before we send it on its way from our Leipzig production facility.

Since we only offer hand-picked, quality-tested components, you can be sure that you will always receive a mobile companion that will meet your expectations for a long time.

If you, as a private or business customer, have questions about your laptop or need further information, our competent in-house support team, which has received awards from the renowned online magazine Notebookcheck, is always happy to help.

As part of our extended service, we also offer a 48-hour repair service. In order to be able to send you the latest news about our product worlds, we look forward to your registration for our newsletter.