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I'm looking to buy a laptop but how do you choose what type of processor/speed you will need if the laptop will only be used for browsing the internet / watching youtube and for my daughter to play a few kids games.


Intel Core i5
Intel Celeron
Intel Core i7
Intel Pentium
Intel Core i3
Intel Atom
AMD A9
AMD E Series
AMD A6
AMD
Intel Core M
AMD Quad Core
AMD A Series
AMD A10
AMD A4
Rockchip Cortex A9 Dual Core

Just my opinion, but it shouldn't be based on just main processor speed.
Things like video's and games can use a lot of RAM, so you could buy the fastest processor but if you have not a lot of RAM you are wasting your money. Also people often start by saying "...........its only to do............." But later on you will end up using it for more and more things.
I would suggest you go for as faster processor and as much RAM as you can afford.
Also some laptops do not have a lot of storage (often its digital) so add that to equation too. (Most don't need 1Tb but I would suggest at least 500GB size Hard drive)

I’m no computer expert, but I wouldn’t buy anything less than an I7 with a minimum of 16mb ram, 1tb drive, with a ssd for the operating system and commonly used programs.

Your list of processors is not granular enough: you need to check the individual CPU model (not its generation) to estimate its real world performance. For example, an i5 6600K will run rings around an i7 6700T if speed is what you want.

Evidence here: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/In ... 6439vs3503

The amount of RAM etc. are also somewhat important, but for a laptop I suggest you really should look at the battery longevity (not just its advertised capacity).

I believe there is a widespread con with cheaply made laptops - its as though batteries can get hot and wear out even when the laptop is run on mains power. Many of my "high spec" laptops became useless in under a year because their battery would no longer hold charge for a significant length of time! :(

This made me think: In days past, Apple laptops were highly prized because Apple was the only maker that would continue to sell batteries for models 10+ years old. New Apple laptops have built-in batteries, which makes that level of support impossible, so I wondered if they performed "as new" for 10+ years?

Answer turned out to be no, but my MacBook Air is now 3 years old and still holds a decent 5-6 hours charge through fairly intensive work - and this represents significantly greater longevity than the other cheaper (but still very high spec) laptops I have tried. Its an i5 with 8Gb RAM and that is still plenty of power for me.

I like to think the power circuits in a good laptop will let the battery rest when the machine is plugged into the mains, but do not know if this is the case.