Picking the best laptop completely depends on what you are looking to do with it, your budget, and any features that you, the buyer, want. There is a huge selection of laptops, so it may be difficult picking the one that is right for you right away. With a few tips and by knowing where to begin, you can begin narrowing down the selection.

The first step to picking a laptop is understanding the capacity of the laptop and what it can do. If you are a traveler looking for a device to upload pictures and use the internet, you probably don’t need the fastest or most expensive laptop that’s out there. Instead, focus on what you need the laptop for and use your money toward getting the best of that feature. Understanding laptop hardware won’t be as difficult as it may seem when you know where to start.

The first thing you should consider is whether you want a full size laptop or whether you should consider a netbook. This is the most basic thing to consider, but it could make a difference on your budget, and after you figure out the exterior, you can move on to the interior of the laptop.

There are four main parts of the interior that you need to take into consideration: the processor, memory (RAM), hard drive, and battery life. The processor is the main computing chip and is measured in gigahertz (GHz). If you are just going to use your laptop for documents and the internet, you don’t need a fancy and expensive processor.

Next you will need to consider the amount of memory (RAM) that your laptop will have. The more memory you have, the better your laptop will multi-task. Typically, you should go for 2 to 4 GB of RAM. If you find that you didn’t get enough memory, you can easily upgrade for an inexpensive price.

The hard drive is where all of your data and pictures are stored. Most hard drives will hold everything you need it to, and as hard drives are getting bigger, prices are going down. If you find that you need more space for all of your files, you can get an external hard drive to store extra files such as pictures and music in order to leave some space on your laptop’s hard drive.

Your laptop’s battery life is one of the most important things to consider, especially if you are on the road a lot. Netbooks and Macbook Pros have exceptional built in battery life, but you can extend the battery life of any laptop you are using and use the battery to its fullest potential. Don’t bother buying an extra battery, because it’s not worth the extra space it will take up in your backpack.

From there, picking a travel laptop gets easier. Think about whether you want a Windows based laptop or one operating on the Mac OS X operating system. Whichever you choose will have a big impact on your budget. Approach buying a new laptop step by step and the process won’t seem so overwhelming.

Anil Polat is a digital nomad who enjoys looking for and testing the best travel laptops.