The laptop buzzword of 2024 is "AI PC" — notebooks that have neural processing units (NPUs) for AI-related tasks. But while it's smart to be aware of those systems, there are far more important things to consider beyond AI-savviness. It turns out buying a computer in 2024 isn't really that much different than in recent years: You'll still want to find a system that balances power, weight and screen size with your computing needs.