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How to Check Your Laptop Model (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Find your exact laptop model in a minute: Windows, Mac and Linux steps, plus where Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer and MSI print the model on the laptop.
How to Know if Your Laptop's RAM Is Upgradeable
How to tell whether a laptop's memory is soldered, partially upgradeable, or fully user-accessible before buying RAM.
DDR4 vs. DDR5 Laptop RAM
The practical differences between DDR4 and DDR5 laptop memory, and why they aren't interchangeable.
SO-DIMM vs Soldered RAM: Is Laptop RAM Soldered?
SO-DIMM RAM is a removable stick and never soldered; soldered LPDDR RAM is fixed to the board. Compare both and check which your laptop has.
How to Choose an M.2 SSD for a Laptop
What to check — connector, form factor, interface and PCIe generation — before buying a laptop M.2 SSD.
M.2 SATA vs. NVMe
The performance and compatibility differences between M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe SSDs.
PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0 SSD Compatibility
Whether a PCIe 4.0 SSD works in a PCIe 3.0 laptop slot, and what changes when it does.
Does USB-C Support Monitors?
Why some USB-C ports drive an external monitor and others don't, even on the same laptop.
What Is DisplayPort Alt Mode?
How DisplayPort Alt Mode lets a USB-C port carry native video signal, and how it relates to adapters and docks.
USB-C vs. Thunderbolt vs. USB4
How the USB-C connector relates to the Thunderbolt and USB4 protocols, and why they aren't the same thing.
How Much Wattage Does My Laptop Charger Need?
How to determine the minimum and recommended charger wattage for a laptop, and why higher isn't always required.
Can I Use a Higher-Watt USB-C Charger?
Whether it's safe to charge a laptop with a USB-C charger rated higher than the laptop's own adapter.
How to Choose a Laptop Docking Station
What to check on your laptop before buying a dock — upstream protocol, display support and driver dependency.
How Many Monitors Can My Laptop Support?
What determines how many external monitors a laptop can drive simultaneously, and where to find that limit.
Why a USB-C Dock Works for Data but Not Video
Why some USB-C docks provide working USB/Ethernet but fail to output video on certain laptops.
How to Check Your Laptop's CPU, GPU, RAM and Storage
Where to find your laptop's processor, graphics, memory and storage on Windows and Mac — the four numbers you need to compare against system requirements.
How to Read Game and Software System Requirements
What 'minimum' and 'recommended' really mean, how to compare CPUs and GPUs by name, and the laptop-specific traps that make a matching spec sheet misleading.
How Much RAM Does a Laptop Need? What Real Requirements Say
Instead of a rule of thumb: the actual RAM figures publishers list for games, Microsoft 365, coding tools and game engines, with sources.
How to Check How Much RAM Your Laptop Can Support
Windows and macOS only show the RAM you have now. Find the maximum your exact laptop supports, how many slots it has and what type of memory fits.
Does My Laptop Support Two Monitors? How to Check
Check whether your laptop can drive two external monitors: count the video outputs, read the maximum display count and know when a dock helps.
Can You Charge a Laptop with a USB-C Phone Charger?
A USB-C phone charger can charge a laptop that accepts USB Power Delivery, but slowly. See how wattage works and what to check before you plug in.
What SSD Does My Laptop Need? M.2 vs 2.5-inch, NVMe vs SATA
Find the SSD your laptop takes: M.2 or 2.5-inch, NVMe or SATA, 2280 or 2242, and which PCIe generation, with a table to compare them.
How to Check If Your Laptop Can Run a Game
Compare a game's minimum requirements with your laptop's graphics chip, RAM and operating system, or check your exact laptop in one search.