BEST LAPTOPS AROUND

Find the BestS Laptop for You

Best Laptop Overall: MacBook Air 13-inch (2013)The 2013 edition of the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch is the best overall laptop, because it's simply a joy to use. These days, there are dozens of super-light, uber-thin notebooks, but the 3-pound, 0.68-inch thick MacBook Air 13-inch stands out because of its sharp screen, responsive keyboard, superior touchpad and iconic design. OS X Mountain Lion is also a breeze to use, offering a Notification Center, iCloud and Mac App Store. Best of all, the MacBook Air 13-inch lasts 9.5 hours on a charge.
Starting Price: $1,099
MacBook Air 13-inch Review

Best Ultrabook: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 CarbonAmong business laptops, Lenovo's ThinkPad line is at the top of the org chart because of its best-in-class keyboards, accurate pointing sticks, solid security and durable designs. At just 3 pounds and 0.74-inches thick, the 14-inch ThinkPad X1 Carbon provides all the ThinkPad goodness you've come to expect in a lightweight chassis that's still tough enough to meet MIL-SPEC standards. Throw in a brilliant 1600 x 900 display, a comfy soft-touch palmrest, optional touch support and nearly 8 hours of endurance, and you have the ultimate Ultrabook for any purpose.
Starting Price: $1,214
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review

Best Budget Laptop: Dell Latitude 3330Dell's 13-inch Latitude 3330 may be marketed to business uers, but it offers a fantastic user experiene and superior build quality that any consumer will love. While many budget systems cut corners on usability, this low-cost  laptop has a comfortable keyboard with strong tactile feedback, an accurate touchpad and a colorful screen with wide viewing angles. The Latitude 3330 starts at just $419 with an Intel Celeron processor, but you'll want to pay extra for a Core i3 CPU and a faster hard drive.
Starting Price: $419
Dell Latitude 3330 Review

Best Chromebook: Samsung Chromebook Series 3If you're looking for a simple, lightweight laptop that's good for surfing the web, streaming videos and using online productivity tools such as Google Drive, the Samsung Chromebook Series 3 is an excellent choice. Running Google's browser-centric Chrome OS, this 2.4-pound laptop lets you take full advantage of all the web has to offer for just $249. Better still, the Chromebook Series 3 lasts over 7 hours on a charge, long enough for a student to use it through a long day of classes.
Starting Price: $249
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Review

Best Multimedia Laptop: Lenovo IdeaPad Y510pGreat for gaming or movie watching, the 15.6-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p sports a brilliant 1080p screen, attractive red-backlit keyboard and plenty of performance. With a quad-core 4th generataion Intel Core i7 CPU and optional dual Nvidia GeForce GT750M graphics cards, the Y510p is capable of playing today's most demanding titles without a hitch.
Starting Price: $1,099
Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 Review

Best Workstation Laptop: Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina DisplayWhether you're a graphics professional, an executive with fine taste or a home user who needs plenty of pop, the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch is the best mobile workstation you can buy. While its quad-core Core i7 power, Nvidia GT650M graphics and speedy SSD provide plenty of oomph, the laptop's greatest strength is its eye-popping 2880 x 1800 Retina display. With the MacBook Pro, your high-res videos and photos will look fantastic and transcode or filter in the blink of an eye.
Starting Price: $2,199
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina Display Review

Best Gaming Laptop: Alienware 17Alienware laptops have long been the gold standard for portable gaming, and the current-generation Alienware 17 shows why. In our tests, the laptop's high-end Nvidia GTX 780M graphics and 2.7-GHz Intel 4th Generaiton Core i7 CPU were powerful enough to play "BioShock Infinite " at 106 fps and "World of Warcraft" at 144 fps. Alienware's sci-fi-inspired design and customizable keyboard, grille and touchpad lights make the 17 as exciting to look at as it is to use.
Starting Price: $1,499
Alienware 17 Review

Best Hybrid Laptop: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13Since the launch of Windows 8, we've seen plenty of laptops with detachable screens and slide-out keyboards, but we haven't seen anything else like Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga. A laptop first and tablet second, the Yoga has a lid that folds back a full 360 degrees. You can use this device as a tablet, bend it into tent mode or flip the screen around into presentation mode. With a stunning soft-touch chassis, a high-res 1600 x 900 screen and a snappy keyboard, the Yoga 13 is one of the best Windows 8 hybrid laptops money can buy.
Starting Price: $999
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Review

Best Mainstream Laptop: Acer Aspire M5-583P-6428The Acer Aspire M5 proves that you don't have to buy a high-end laptop to get all-day battery life. This $699, 15.6-inch system features a powerful Intel Core i5 CPU, a classy aluminum chassis and 8 hours and 55 minutes of endurance. Throw in a bevy of helpful utilities such as Acer Cloud Docs, Clear.fi Media sharing and SocialJogger social media aggreater and you have a winner.
Starting Price: $699
Acer Aspire M5-583P-6428 Review

Best Small Business Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E431A productivity-centric laptop that won't break the bank, the ThinkPad Edge E431 provides a comfortale keyboard, accurate pointing stick and easy-to-use security, conferencing and manageability utilities that small business users will appreciate. With its strong performance, attractive design, the Edge E431 is equally helpful for 300-person companies and sole proprietorships. Best of all, you can still configure the laptop with Windows 7.
Starting Price: $599
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E431 Review


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