Top 12 Best Laptops Malaysia 2024 (For Students & Business)

Summary

There are many kinds of laptops out there, so to narrow down your choices, decide your budget and your main purpose for buying a laptop as different ones serve different purposes better; like for online learning with webcams, gaming, working or just for daily use.

Here are our recommendations for the best laptops in Malaysia:

• Best Affordable Laptop For Students: Honor MagicBook X 15 Laptop
• Best Laptop for Creative Work: Apple Macbook Air M2
• Best Laptop For Student: Lenovo Ideapad Slim 5 Laptop
• Best Affordable Laptop For Designers: Asus Vivobook 16X Laptop
• Popular Pick Below RM2,000: Dell Inspiron 15 3510 Laptop
• Cheapest Reliable Laptop: Acer Aspire 3 A315-510P-C8Y3 Laptop
• Best Laptop For Work: Huawei MateBook D15 Laptop
• Best Laptop For On-The-Go Users: Asus ExpertBook B3 Detachable (B3000) Laptop
• Popular Pick: Asus ZenBook 14 Laptop
• Popular Pick: Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 14 Touchscreen Laptop
• Popular Pick: Infinix INBook X1 Pro Laptop
• Popular Pick: Honor Magicbook 14 Laptop

Laptop Buying Guide

These are things to keep in mind when buying a laptop:

Display Size and Resolution

The display size of the laptop actually impacts the performance & durability of the laptop more than people think. Laptops with 13″ or lower display size typically are smaller and lighter but are generally less powerful & more prone to overheating. For most cases, 14″ or 15″ are optimal. 

The optimal resolution for a 13″, 14″ & 15″ laptops ranges from 1080p to 2K. So aim for these if you can. There are of course, other factors that affect the overall output quality, but these go beyond the scope of this guide (and quite complicated to compare).

CPU

The CPU or Central Processing Unit, is the brain of the computer which controls the overall performance. There are many CPUs such as Intel Core, AMD Ryzen, and Apple M1. While the Intel vs Ryzen vs M1 debate between experts will rage on, the generation of the CPU also plays a role.

For instance, laptops that come with Intel Core i5 10th generation generally performs better than Intel Core i3 10th generation (given that i5 has more cores, cache & higher clock speeds) but not always. While in most cases, i5 10th gen is better than say, i5 3rd gen. You can always check benchmarks online.

For a budget laptop in Malaysia, we wouldn’t recommend going below i3 10th generation. For a high end laptop, the Ryzen 7, Ryzen 9, i7 and i9 are the best performers currently in 2024, but are expensive.

Graphics Card

Graphics cards render images on a display. For basic laptops, Integrated GPUs such as the Intel® UHD Graphics, would suffice. For gaming & graphics-intensive work, you can opt for either high, mid or low end graphics cards like NVIDIA MX450 (low), RTX 2060 (Mid) and RTX 3080 (High). For video editing or gaming at medium to high settings, we recommend the GTX1650 and above, with some VRAM.

RAM

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. More RAM means faster processing speeds. Most laptops nowadays come with at least 4GB of RAM, many with 8GB. For most uses like surfing the web, video streaming or working with Microsoft Office, 8GB is pretty good. For gaming and graphics work, get more than 8GB. If the laptop you’d like to purchase comes with less than desired, you can always get a RAM stick and add more RAM.

HDD/SSD

HDD and SSD are two types of storage that allow you to store files on your laptop. Between the two, SSD is 3 times faster in terms of data transfer and performance compared to HDD. But price wise, HDD is much cheaper. Go for SSD if you value faster performance. Alternatively, you can always get an external HDD to store files like images, videos, documents, etc, and keep the SSD as your installation directory.

VRAM

VRAM stands for Video Random Access Memory. You can think of it as additional RAM. This is an additional important specs only for gamers and editors. Probably not so important to have for basic use.

Tips To Take Care Of Your Laptop

Clean Regularly

Dust will surely accumulate over time especially on the fan blades within the laptop body. It is recommended to dust off the inside of your laptop once every month to keep it from overheating. You might want to take it to professionals and check the fine print in your warranty cards before you open up anything though.

Monitor The CPU & GPU Temperature 

A thing to note about graphics cards & CPUs on laptops is that it can be deadly costly to repair after they overheat. So, you will absolutely need to keep an eye on the temperature of your graphics card when doing heavy tasks. Use software like HWMonitor. The ideal GPU temperature is between 65° to 85° C and CPU, 65° to 90° C.

Keep Windows or OS Updated

Keeping your OS updated ensures devices communicate better, problems and bugs are eliminated or minimized, and may lead to some minor performance enhancements. 

Use Protective Accessories

Protective accessories like keyboard skin, laptop skin or padded bag help avoid or minimize physical damages to your laptop. It goes without saying, it would be best if you don’t put your laptop in dangerous positions in the first place.