Our continually updated list of all the best laptops available today.
Now that Windows 8
is a few months old, we've got a huge number of laptop-tablet hybrids
appearing as well as plenty of traditional laptops using the new OS. And
that's before you get to Apple's hugely successful MacBook line.
No wonder choosing the right laptop for you can be even more confusing than ever.
And
it's not only high end powerhouses that are packing in the performance;
cheap laptops are more powerful and capable than before, while high-end
devices are often perfectly good replacements for your desktop
computer, able to cope with more intensive programs.
Those after a fast boot up time and a lightweight machine to carry might drool over an Ultrabook.
Serious
gamers will want a machine tailored to their graphical and processing
needs, while those after flexibility might fancy a convertible
laptop-tablet hybrid.
Here
we look at some of the best laptops to really excel themselves in our
extensive testing processes this year. We've arranged them into
categories to help you find the best one to suit your needs.
We
also list the current selling prices in the UK, Australia and the US,
although in some cases a laptop listed here may not be available in
every territory.
All of the machines listed here are laptops.
Although we have listed the convertible laptop-tablets that fall more on
the side of laptop than tablet, we haven't listed those that are more
tablet-like. You can find those in our tablet reviews page and buying guides. Similarly, all-in-one touchscreen computers and other desktop PCs are in our PC and Mac desktop reviews page.
PRICING NOTE:
The prices listed here are for guidance only and aren't guarantees of
availability at a certain price. Because of the wildly fluctuating
availability of certain models, we often review laptops by series. As a
consequence it may be that there are tens of models with similar or the
same name, vailable at various price points.
When considering what to buy, think about your needs and your most important
factor, be it laptop battery life or screen size. The most important
part is to be honest about what you need, and you could save a fortune
on getting the best laptop for you.
Best laptop-tablet hybrids
Since
this article seeks to round up the best laptops available, we are only
listing those we have fully tested and reviewed in real life situations.
More laptop-tablet hybrids will be reviewed as soon as we get them in
for testing, so we expect to add more impressive convertible tablets to
this list later.
For now, here are the great machines we have tested and loved so far:
1. Sony Vaio Duo 11 - £900/AU$1,500/US$1,500
A
full Intel Core processor powers the sliding tablet-laptop design of
the 11.6-inch Sony Vaio Duo 11, enabling it to run Windows programs as
well as Windows Store apps. Its design is a welcome change from the many
docking 'transformer' style hybrid devices such as the Samsung Ativ Smart PC and Asus Vivo Tab.
While
it's not a perfect laptop-tablet hybrid, and certainly won't have mass
appeal, Sony has furthered the Windows 8 cause with an exceptionally
powerful device that challenges the perceptions of what tablets can
achieve.
Read our Sony Vaio Duo 11 review
2. Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga - £999/US$1,000 (around AU$1,525)
As far as Windows 8
devices go, the attractive, snappy, versatile, and surprisingly
affordable 13-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is a true flagship device.
Its
flexibility is a huge draw, and of the four positions you can set the
Yoga up in, we used three of them all the time. As much as possible, it
takes complete advantage of the Windows 8 system in its tablet-like
interface, enabling you to delve deeper by simply pulling out the
keyboard and using it more like a traditional laptop.
3. Samsung Series 3 Chromebook - £230/US$330 (around AU$350)
Cheaper
than some tablets, the Samsung Chromebook doesn't run a typical
operating system such as Windows, OS X or even Linux. Instead, it is
designed just to run Google Chrome, the web browser, and related web
apps.
If you think you could do all your computing using Google
web apps, you could well benefit from the good battery life, silent
operation, light weight and portability, simplicity and implicit
security of the Chromebook, not to mention its low price. However, with
no 3G connectivity, it is pretty much limited to use only in Wi-Fi
areas.
Read our Samsung Series 3 Chromebook review
4. Acer Aspire V3 - £450/US$500 (around AU$685)
The
Acer Aspire V3-571 is an excellent all-round affordable laptop, with a
vibrant 15.6-inch screen that's great for movies and an Intel Core
i5-2450 2.5GHz processor that scored extremely highly in our lab tests. A
laptop double the price would struggle to top this in terms of raw
grunt for photo editing, dealing with large files and multitasking.
The
Acer Aspire V3 is a solid, capable laptop with power that belies its
budget price. The keyboard is the only let down, with low travel, and
the screen does suffer from glare a little. If you're looking for a good
family laptop, this is seriously worth considering.
Read our Acer Aspire V3 review
5. Acer Aspire V5 - £450/US$500 (around AU$685)
The
slim and attractive Acer Aspire V5 is a stylish alternative to Intel's
Ultrabook platform, with less power than an Ultrabook, but offering a
reliable computing experience for a much lower price.
It lacks a
Full HD screen and doesn't have a great battery life, but connectivity,
usability and performance are strong. If you want portability and speed
without the Ultrabook price tag, then this could be the perfect
compromise.
Read our Acer Aspire V5 review
6. Asus VivoBook S200 - £450 (around AU$685/US$715)
The
Asus VivoBook S200 offers supreme good looks, touchscreen operation,
slick performance and excellent portability, all for a reasonable price.
This
laptop runs on an Intel Core i3-3217U processor, which means it
provides more than enough grunt to power Windows 8 through any
day-to-day tasks, while keeping power consumption to a minimum.
Read our Asus VivoBook S200 review
7. Medion Akoya P6635 - £550/AU$799 (around US$830)
The
Medion Akoya P6635 is the perfect laptop for the budget conscious.
Lacking a Full HD screen, coming in with a shorter battery life and a
bulkier build, it makes a few sacrifices to keep price down.
But
the easy to use chiclet keyboard, impressive connectivity options,
dedicated graphics and Core i7 processor combine to ensure all-round
excellent value for money.
8. Toshiba Satellite P855-32G - £650 (around AU$1,000/US$1,030
The
Toshiba P855 is one of the better conventional laptops we've seen of
late, offering a lot of performance for a relatively small price tag.
Though it's in the high-end section of this roundup, it's really more of
a mid-range laptop in terms of its price.
Sporting a
third-generation 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-3201M and 8GB of RAM, the P855 is
certainly no slouch. Its bright screen, Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics
card and clear Harmon Kardon speakers mean this is the perfect home
entertainment powerhouse.
Read our Toshiba Satellite P855-32G review
9. Asus N56V - £800/US$900 (around AU$1,220)
Beneath
the stylish exterior of the Asus N56V, there lies a sleeping beast - a
brand new Intel Core i7-3720QM 2.6GHz processor. This new hardware means
staggeringly fast load and response times, unfaltered HD video
playback, seamless photo editing and even high frame rate gaming.
It
features dedicated graphics and a strong battery life compared to its
rivals, along with clear Bang & Olufsen speakers and easy to use
input options. An impressive high-end machine that handles multitasking
well.
Read our Asus N56V review
10. Sony Vaio S Series 13P - £950/US$1,000 (around AU$1,450)
The
features of this laptop, not to mention the asking price, establish the
Sony Vaio S Series 13P in the top tier of ultra-portable, ultra-premium
notebooks. The boxy, executive design might not appeal to all, but
usability and portability are enviable.
If you need a powerful,
portable business machine, the Sony Vaio S Series 13P should be topping
your list. But if you want a media machine for streaming movies and so
on, look elsewhere.
Read our Sony Vaio S Series 13P review
11. Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch - £1,000/AU$1,350/US$1,200
The
mid-2012 MacBook Pro 13-inch is a significant step up from its older
brother. The new processors and their improved graphical capabilities
give it a considerable power boost over its predecessor, and USB 3.0
ports enable it to connect with high-speed storage peripherals.
The
13-inch MacBook Pro is ideal for those who need a little more
configurability and storage than the MacBook Air can offer, but also
need a very portable machine. Creative professionals and gaming
enthusiasts might be better off with a 15-inch MacBook Pro, though.
Read our Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review
12. Dell XPS 15 - £1,280/AU$2,000/US$1,600
While
the Dell XPS 15 doesn't have the skinny credentials to qualify as an
Ultrabook, it boasts a huge spec sheet, and an incredible hardware
configuration inside a great-looking chassis. We're not sure we've seen
anything as impressive on a PC as its Corning Gorilla Glass, Full HD
display, though it doesn't quite have the "wow" factor of the MacBook
Pro with Retina display.
If you're looking for a high-end PC that
marries good looks and superb performance, and are more Windows than
Mac, then you really shouldn't look any further than the Dell XPS 15.
Read our Dell XPS 15 review
13. Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display - £1,800/AU$2,500/US$2,200
The new Apple MacBook Pro's most exciting new feature is, of course, its Retina display.
With a 2880 x 1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch, it crams over 5.1
million pixels into its 15.4-inch screen. That's over three million
more than an HD TV.
However, it does mean that after-market upgrades are almost impossible,
and sacrifices have been made, such as the lack of a hard drive,
optical drive and Ethernet or FireWire 800 ports. Clearly aimed at video
editors, photographers and graphics professionals, the Retina screen is
beautiful, but the laptop's high price tag will put some off.
14. Lenovo IdeaPad U410 - £600/US$700 (around AU$915)
Sure,
there is plenty of room for super-skinny, super-slick, ultra-desirable
machines with hefty price-tags, but there is also a demand for more
affordable portable notebooks. That's where the Ivy Bridge Core
i5-toting Lenovo IdeaPad U410 comes in.
Ultrabooks aren't great if
you're looking to do some high-end gaming or intense HD video editing,
but for everything else this is a brilliant machine that is perfectly
suited to meet your digital media demands, with an extremely tempting
price tag.
Read our Lenovo IdeaPad U410 review
15. Toshiba Satellite Z930 - £780/AU$1,290/US$1,200
The
Toshiba Satellite Z930-10X manages balances power with affordability.
Thin, light and powerful enough to handle a wide range of tasks
simultaneously, it boasts a wide range of connectivity options and an
Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor.
If you want an Ultrabook
exclusively for entertainment then we'd recommend looking elsewhere,
since it lacks a Full HD resolution and has integrated graphics and
fairly weak audio compared to other Ultrabooks. But as a mobile
workstation for offices, the Toshiba Satellite Z930-10X is an excellent
purchase.
Read our Toshiba Satellite Z930 review
16. MacBook Air 2012 - £930/AU$1,100/US$1,100
Although
not technically an Ultrabook, previous iterations of the MacBook Air
were the machines that inspired the creation of Ultrabooks, so we felt
it deserved to sit alongside these rivals. The 2012 MacBook Air is just
as inspiring, with an Intel Core i5 processor, faster RAM and better
connections.
It's easy for us to recommend the newest MacBook Air,
because it's a fantastic machine. But, unlike last year, there are
other impressive lightweight options out there.
Read our MacBook Air 2012 review
17. Gigabyte U2442 Ultrabook - £970/US$1,100 (around AU$1,480)
A
very strong first laptop offering from Gigabyte, which usually makes
components, the Gigabyte U2442 Ultrabook has a lot to recommend it.
Gamers and power users will appreciate the Nvidia graphics and 8GB RAM,
while everyday users will respond well to the lack of bloatware and
clever features such as Smart Manager.
Adding power through
boosted RAM and extra graphics while keeping the chassis down to a slim
and portable size is what this Ultrabook is about, while the screen is
well suited to both entertainment and processing tasks.
Read our Gigabyte U2442 Ultrabook review
18. Acer Aspire S5 - £1,250/$1,400 (around AU$1,910)
The
Acer Aspire S5 is one of the top-end Ultrabooks, packing genuine power
and marking a change for the manufacturer. If you're looking for a
primary laptop that can handle the rigours of everyday life, but be as
light and svelte as humanly possible, you've found your ideal laptop.
But
it's not perfect, with some niggles and less impressive specs,
including a storage shortage and build quality issues with the MagicFlip
I/O port. A powerful Intel Core i7 processor and bright screen make up
for such shortcomings, though.
Read our Acer Aspire S5 review
19. Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A - £1,350/AU$1,700/US$1,420
When
Ultrabooks were first introduced by Intel, one of the first models to
show us that it could stand up to the gauntlet laid down by the MacBook Air was the Asus Zenbook UX21.
The Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A continues the styling of its predecessors,
and adds a Core i7-3517U processor, Intel HD 4000 graphics and 4GB of
RAM.
But the most notable change is its screen - a 1080p IPS
wonder that dwarfs its competition's resolution. It falls down on
battery life, so you should consider if that's a big issue for you. It's
also expensive, but its performance is admirable.
Read our Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A review
20. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon - £1,500/US$1,500 (around AU$2,290)
The
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a fantastic business Ultrabook, with one
of the most comfortable keyboards we've ever used. Fantastic build
quality and lightweight design meet top performance and a range of
useful features, such as a long battery life, huge SSD drive, super-fast
boot times and blistering processor performance.
A few niggles
with the screen and connections aside, if we chose one Ultrabook to be
our business companion, we'd pick the comfortable, high performance and
long lasting Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon every time.
21. Scan 3XS Graphite LG5 - £590 (around AU$900/US$935)
Designed
from the core up as an ultra-portable gaming laptop, this packs a punch
in the processor and graphics. The Intel Core i5 3210M is a capable
workhorse of a chip that will handle all the games you throw at it, and
chew through more serious work as well. The GeForce GTX 640M GPU and low
native resolution enable you to hit great frame rates, but the
11.6-inch screen is small.
The SSD is also too small, but that's
easily rectified online. The undersized screen isn't as easy to fix
though, and we'd advise anyone looking to do work to look elsewhere.
However, as a gaming system there's a lot to love here.
Read our Scan 3XS Graphite LG5 review
22. Alienware M17x 2012 - £1,090/US$1,275 (about AU$1,665)
The
Alienware M17x has had an Intel Ivy Bridge flavored refresh for 2012.
The most notable addition is the inclusion of a third-generation Intel
Core CPU. The model we reviewed packed an i7-3610QM processor, a
four-core monster clocked at nominal 2.3GHz, which can be pumped full of
Intel Turbo Boost steroids to achieve a top speed of 3.3GHz.
Combine
this with a seriously powerful GPU courtesy of the latest Nvidia or AMD
graphics technology and you're looking at a top-end gaming machine more
than worthy of its hefty price-tag. There's also Intel HD 4000 graphics
as part of the Ivy Bridge package, meaning DirectX 11 support.
23. Samsung Series 7 Gamer - £1,350/US$1,900 (around AU$2,060)
The
Samsung Series 7 Gamer laptop has the hardware and performance that
gamers care about, and a price tag that we would deem fair. Samsung's
custom UI, however, mostly detracts from the overall experience, short
of one or two niceties, such as being able to disable the trackpad and
Windows keys. It's also quite heavy.
From a purely processor to
pennies perspective, the Series 7 Gamer is worth the money. It's a
gaming machine capable of playing the latest titles at respectable
settings. All its case lights and fancy UI, though, make it a bit like a
party guest who arrives overdressed. You're glad they showed up, but
the bow tie they're wearing just makes them look silly.
Read our Samsung Series 7 Gamer review
24. Toshiba Qosmio X870 - £1,440/AU$3,200/US$1,400
The
Toshiba Qosmio X870's price renders it the preserve of hardcore gamers
and 3D aficionados who require the kind of power this laptop can
generate. With both the Ivy Bridge processor and Nvidia GPU firing, the
results are astounding.
Graphics are crisply rendered on the
17.3-inch screen and the Blu-ray capability and stereoscopic 3D give
this entertainment scope beyond just gaming. This is a fully-featured
entertainment machine, and although we quibble at the battery life and
divisive design, when it comes down to sheer performance, this has got
most other gaming laptops beat.
Read our Toshiba Qosmio X870 review
25. Razer Blade - £2,000 (around AU$3,050/US$3,170)
The standout feature on the Razer Blade is its Switchblade touchpad interface - a unique feature that turns the Blade's touchpad
into a fully functioning small second screen that you can use to check
your email, watch YouTube videos or amplify your gaming experience.
The
Intel Core i7-3632QM CPU is powerful, and the sound is crisp, but it is
expensive, the keyboard is a little stiff and the touchpad placement to
the side takes some getting used to. But its long battery life and
comparatively lightweight chassis makes portable, quality gaming
possible.
Comments
1 comments to "Top laptops: 25 best laptops in the world"
6 يناير 2014 في 2:41 ص
Nice and very helpful information i have got from your post. Even your whole blog is full of interesting information which is the great sign of a great blogger.
HP - ProBook 4440s 14" Laptop - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Metallic Gray (c9k59ut)
HP - Refurbished - 15.6" Notebook - 4 GB Memory - 500 GB Hard Drive - Black
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