If you’re heading out on a vacation or going travelling, you might want to bring along a laptop so you can keep up with news, share pictures and stories with your friends on social media, or even start a travel blog or YouTube channel to share your experiences and document them for yourself to look back on in the years to come to remember them. Here are a few good tips for choosing a laptop for travel and what you should look for.

Power Consumption

The first thing that you should pay attention to, and something that might not be immediately intuitive, is the power consumption of the laptop will dictate how long you can run it on battery before it needs to be charged again, and that’s important if you want to use it in areas where power might not be available to you, like on your flights or in coffee shops when you’re taking advantage of free Wi-Fi. Some laptops that are specifically marketed as Travel Laptops offer amazing battery life by using many modern power-saving hardware components and bigger batteries.

Physical Size

Of course, you don’t want to be carrying around a very heavy and bulky laptop when you travel. You’ll want it to be lightweight and easy to slip into your carry-on luggage or light enough to keep on you while you explore foreign cities and towns. What you’re looking for here is the weight of the system as well as the physical size. A 13.3” sized screen offers a sweet spot between usability and portability, but there are smaller options if you really want to go minimalist.

The Warranty

Of particular importance if you’re travelling internationally might be the warranty and what it covers. You don’t want to be in a foreign country only to be told that the warranty associated with the device only covers the country of purchase, but rather you want to be able to get it fixed wherever you are. If you’re worried about breaking or damaging the device, you might also look at a warranty that covers physical damage or making sure you have a comprehensive insurance cover on the device for such occasions. You never know when something could go wrong.

Ruggedness and Build Quality

You could also decrease the chances of your laptop breaking during travel if you opt for something more rugged and with a higher build quality. Some laptop makers use stronger components and provide more rugged devices specifically for when the chance of it sustaining a fall or knock is higher. Look out for these options if you’re going to be wearing your laptop hard during your travels.

Your technology needs to work for you when you’re travelling, and you don’t want to spend any time thinking about it or trying to get it to work as intended when you’re on the road or in a foreign city. Making the right choices when you buy your laptop for travel means you’ll have a great experience with it during your adventures. Bon voyage!