Laptop

Step-by-step laptop check when buying or for yourself. Works for new and used devices.

1

Quick check

5–10 minutes, no software to install

  1. Visual inspection

    Check the body, screws and screen hinges for cracks, wobble or signs of opening.

  2. Power on

    Power it on: check boot speed and listen for beeps, grinding or loud fan noise.

  3. Specs

    Match the CPU, RAM and GPU in Device Manager. Make sure no device shows a yellow triangle.

  4. Screen

    Check the panel for dead pixels and backlight bleed.

    Open online test →

  5. Keyboard

    Test every key.

    Open online test →

  6. Trackpad

    Test clicks, scrolling and window dragging.

    Open online test →

  7. Ports and connectors

    Plug a flash drive or cable into every USB, Type-C, HDMI and audio jack.

  8. Sound and camera

    Play a YouTube video: check the speakers, microphone and webcam.

  9. Battery

    Make sure it charges from the wall and the charge does not drop after a few idle minutes.

  10. Network

    Test Wi-Fi (e.g. speedtest.net) and Bluetooth (pair headphones or a phone).

  11. CPU test

    Run the online CPU test — check compute speed and stability under load.

    Open online test →

  12. GPU test

    Run the online GPU test — check FPS and stability under graphics load.

    Open online test →
2

Medium check

15–20 minutes, built-in Windows tools

  1. Battery report

    Run powercfg /batteryreport in the command prompt and check the wear level.

  2. Disk

    Check the SSD/HDD with chkdsk or CrystalDiskInfo.

  3. Load test

    Run a heavy 4K video or a simple game: the laptop must not shut down.

3

Full check

30–60 minutes, special utilities required

  1. CPU and system

    Run an AIDA64 stress test (10–15 min): watch temperatures and throttling.

  2. Graphics card

    Run FurMark or Superposition: check for artifacts and overheating.

  3. RAM

    Test memory with the Windows tool (mdsched.exe) or TestMem5.

  4. Storage

    CrystalDiskInfo (health, power-on hours) plus Victoria to scan for bad sectors.

Related checklists

MacBookDesktop PCMonitorKeyboard

How to test a laptop before buying — full guide

Testing a laptop before buying is harder than testing a PC: in a laptop all components are packed tightly, and hidden issues with the battery, cooling, keyboard or screen may only show up weeks later. This checklist will help you test the laptop step by step, from a visual inspection to a full stress test. Works for new and used laptops of any brand.

The quick check takes 5–10 minutes with no software. Inspect the body, screws and screen hinges: cracks, wobble and signs of opening indicate drops or repair. Power on the laptop and check boot speed: Windows 10/11 on SSD should boot in 15–30 seconds, on HDD up to 2 minutes. Listen to the cooling system: there should be no beeps, grinding or constant loud noise. Open Device Manager and match the CPU, RAM size and GPU model to what is claimed. Test every keyboard key — press all letters, numbers, function keys, Ctrl, Shift, Alt and arrows. Test the trackpad: clicks, two-finger scroll, drag. Plug a flash drive into every USB port, test Type-C, HDMI and the audio jack. Play a YouTube video — test the speakers, microphone and webcam. Make sure it charges from the wall and the charge does not drop after a few idle minutes. Run the online CPU and GPU tests on FullTestPC.

The medium check takes 15–20 minutes using built-in Windows tools. Generate a battery report with powercfg /batteryreport in the command prompt (as admin) — open battery-report.html and compare Design Capacity and Full Charge Capacity. Wear of more than 30% means the battery holds significantly less than claimed. Test the storage with chkdsk or CrystalDiskInfo: health should be «Good», power-on hours should not exceed 30,000 for HDD and 5 years of writes for SSD. Install HWMonitor and check CPU and GPU temperatures at idle and under load. Run a heavy 4K video or a simple game for 10 minutes: the laptop must not shut down, reboot or show a blue screen. Test Wi-Fi on speedtest.net and Bluetooth — pair headphones or a phone.

The full check takes 30–60 minutes and requires specialised tools. Run AIDA64 System Stability Test — it loads the CPU, GPU, memory and storage at the same time. Run the test for 10–15 minutes and watch the temperatures: the CPU should not exceed 85–90°C, the GPU — 85°C. For laptops the temperature graph is especially important — it should be flat, with no sharp spikes. If the temperature rises sharply and the CPU starts throttling — there is a cooling issue (dried thermal paste, dust-clogged heatsink). Run FurMark or Superposition for the GPU: check for artifacts and overheating. Test RAM with mdsched.exe or TestMem5. Test the storage with Victoria — the program scans every sector and shows a health map. Separately test the screen hinges — open and close the laptop 10 times, hinges should not wobble or squeak.

Common laptop issues to watch for. A worn battery is the most common issue on used laptops, fixed by battery replacement. Dried thermal paste causes overheating and throttling, fixed by repasting. A dust-clogged heatsink causes overheating, cleaned with compressed air. Broken keys are a frequent issue, fixed by replacing the entire keyboard. Dead pixels and backlight bleed cannot be fixed, only a panel replacement. Worn storage shows up as slow boot times, fixed by replacing with a new SSD. A swollen battery is dangerous, requires immediate replacement and may deform the case. When buying a used laptop, make sure the BIOS is not password-locked (otherwise you cannot change settings), make sure Windows activation is tied to the motherboard UEFI key, not the seller's account.