Making a Laptop Purchase?

So the other day I had to spend a lot of time researching and finding about laptop processors and their performances. I would like to save the time for others presenting the information collated from my research below

How do you measure the performance of a processor?

Average CPU Mark (provided by https://www.cpubenchmark.net/) can give a comparison of CPU processor performance. Higher the Average CPU mark faster is the processor.

Processor	Average CPU Mark (Higher value means faster processor)
Intel Pentium N3710 @ 1.60GHz	1874
Intel Core i3-5005U @ 2.00GHz	2917
Intel Core i3-6006U @ 2.00GHz	3166
Intel Core i3-7100U @ 2.40GHz	3850
Intel Core i3-6100U @ 2.30GHz	3876
Intel Core i3-4130 @ 3.40GHz	4778
Intel Core i3-6300 @ 3.80GHz	5814

Which processor - i3, i5 or i7 should I purchase?

As a simple rule

Prefer i3 processor: If you want it for surfing, watching movies and productivity
Prefer i5 processor: If you want to do gaming
Prefer i7 processor: If you want to do high end graphics modelling

What is this generation thingy mentioned on sites?

Intel has so far released 7 generations of laptop processor. Each generation of processor is better than previous one  in terms of power consumption and processing efficiency. 

How do I find the generation of laptop ?

You can find the generation of processor by reading name of processor.
Intel is currently releasing seventh generation of processors

Generation is indicated by the number after Brand modifier
Intel Core i3-7100U means Seventh Generation Processsor
Intel Core i3-6006U means Sixth Generation Processor
So Intel Core i3-5005U means Fifth Generation Processor
Intel Core i3-4130 means Fourth Generation processor

You get the drift. :)

What more information can I get from the name?

You can also get an idea of general power consumption by processor by looking at the last alphabets of processor name

Mobile Processors		Comment
H	High Performance Graphics	These processors are meant for high performance and have 2 cores i3 - 7100H consumes 35 Watts for cooling
HK	High Performance Graphics and unlocked	You can overclock these processors. The processor is meant for power user and gamers as they have 4 cores instead of 2 cores available in Y and U series. They also consume high power compared to others typically around 45 watts. Hence low on battery life.
HQ	High performance Graphics and quad core	These processors are also meant for power users and gamers. They also have 4 cores instead of 2 but they cannot be overclocked. They also consume high power compared to others typically in range of 45 watts. Hence low on battery life.
U	Ultra Low Power	These processors consume 15 watts of power. They are good for productivity, surfing and battery life.
Y	Extremely low power	These processors consume extremely low power around 4.5 watts hence don't need a fan. These are good for productivity, surfing and portability because fan is not required. Currently they have low capacity batteries or high powered screens. Hence lacking battery life.

Example
So i3-7100H means it is a seventh generation intel processor for high graphics performance has 2 cores.
So i7- 4700HQ means it is a Fourth Generation Intel Processor meant for high graphics performance with 4 cores.
i3-6006U means It is a Sixth Generation Intel processor meant for productivity, surfing and battery life
Core i7-7Y75 means It is a Seventh Generation Intel processor meant for portability, productivity and surfing.

Now you are ready to decide the laptop processor you want to purchase. :)

Happy Laptop purchasing. Comment if this tutorial helped you. Here are 2 good value for money laptops I found based on my research  (I bought the Lenovo one :) )

i3-6006U Lenovo Brand Laptop

CPU Benchmark points : 3166





i3-6006U Acer Brand Laptop

CPU Benchmark points : 3166