Keep Running: Evaluating Battery Life
A big battery can be your best friend on a lengthy flight or a long commute. Business laptops usually come with multiple battery options. Some enterprise-class laptops have two or three different kinds of batteries . More cells means longer battery life, all else being equal. The “equal” is the tricky part this isn’t always the case with laptops that use 4K displays or other power-hungry components. A big battery adds some heft, but being able to run it unplugged from dawn ’til dusk is worth the weight gain.
Most ultraportable laptops have non-removable, sealed-in-the-chassis batteries. Laptops with removable batteries do still exist, but they are increasingly uncommon, limited mostly to rugged tablets and laptops designed for extreme conditions.
If you think you’ll need more battery life than a single charge can offer, look for an external battery pack rather than limiting yourself to a model with a swappable internal battery. Combined with the internal battery, these external solutions can help deliver battery life in the 19-to-24-hour range. Just be forewarned that these extra-life batteries can weigh down your system by an extra pound or more.
Dell Xps 17 9710 Laptop
The XPS 17 features a massive 17-inch display, but thanks to its thin bezels, its body is the size of many 15-inch laptops. It pairs that large display with powerful internal options for creators.
- No 4K display option
- Aggressive coil whine
In a market saturated with quality thin and light 13-inch Ultrabooks, the HP ENVY 14 does things differently. It packs in up to a NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q discrete GPU alongside the 11th Gen Core i5-1135G7 or Core i7-1165G7 CPU, allowing creators to get more done while still traveling with a compact PC. It weighs just 3.53 pounds , measures 0.71 inches thin, and has an undeniably attractive design that you’d usually find in a more expensive laptop.
The 14-inch display has made the intelligent move to a 16:10 aspect ratio, allowing you to see more. And though it tops out at an FHD resolution, it’s colorful and a total joy to use. It would be nice to see an anti-reflective coating here, but its 403 nits of brightness is generous.
The keyboard is comfortable for those who type all day, the Precision touchpad is large for easy productivity, and ports include Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, 3.5mm audio, microSD card reader, and HDMI 2.0. Can’t forget about battery life, which can hit up to 13 hours if you’re taking it easy.
Best Windows Laptops Under $500
Also great
| Tested battery life: | 9.5 hours |
Why we like this one: If the other options are unavailable or cost more than $500, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-45-R9YK is another solid 15-inch Windows laptop. Its fast enough to handle most workloads, and its 15-inch 1920×1080 screen looks vivid and bright, which is an achievement compared with many Windows laptops in this price range. It has a decentbut not great, and not backlitkeyboard with a built-in number pad, a responsive trackpad, and one USB-C port. The Aspire 5 also has a few more hours of battery life than our other Windows picks it lasted 9 hours 41 minutes in our tests.
Where it falls short: The Aspire 5 is big and heavy, so despite its long battery life its not especially convenient to use on the go. And like most inexpensive Windows laptops, it comes with a ton of unnecessary bloatware that takes up space and slows down performance. We recommend running Microsofts Refresh Windows tool to remove those unnecessary programs and make your laptop feel faster, and to help it be more secure. It also lacks a fingerprint reader, and its keyboard isnt as satisfying as that of the Asus VivoBook models above.
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What Are The Biggest Problems With Windows 10
Installation problems with October 2020 Update Inconsistency design complains with October 2020 Update Microsoft Edge integration complains with October 2020 Update Upgrade confusion with October 2020 Update Positive reactions with October 2020 Update
What are pros and cons of Windows 10?
4 Pros of using Windows 10. Overall,the pros will be much more than the cons and the first one in the list of pros of using windows 10 is
What is the best laptop for Windows 10?
Dell XPS 13. The Dell XPS 13 is one of our favorite laptops thanks to its excellent performance,beautiful display,and svelte design.
The Best Cheap Tablets And Hybrids: 2
Tablets rose in popularity throughout the 2010s, and though we have plenty of reviews of thosetake a look at our overall roundup of the best tablets, as well as our favorites running the Windows and Android operating systemsthey are sufficiently different from traditional clamshell-style laptops that they don’t always make good substitutes. Some come with detachable keyboards, but most of these are far less comfortable for typing on your lap than a conventional laptop.
Convertible 2-in-1s, however, do make a good substitute for traditional clamshells. These machines let you flip between a laptop and a tablet, by folding the keyboard out of the way. You should consider one of these convertible systems if you primarily want the typing capability of a laptop, but occasionally would appreciate the lie-back, passive-consumption convenience of a tablet.
See our guide to the best 2-in-1 convertible and hybrid laptops for more information about this popular segment of the market. In part because of their added complexity compared with traditional clamshell designs, you won’t find quite as many affordable ones, but there are a few Windows and Chrome OS-based models that cost $500 or below. They come in both permanently attached designs, and in detachable-keyboard designs.
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System Memory: In This Range Go Eight
Given an around-$1,000 budget, 8GB is the minimum RAM you should settle for. Most sub-$1,000 machines with dedicated graphics won’t go any higher, but that’s an adequate amount for most moderate use and mainstream gaming. The occasional cheap gaming laptop manages to squeeze in 16GB of memory these days, but it’s still the exception to the 8GB norm in this price range.
Whether the laptop’s RAM is user-upgradable later on, and what the ceiling is, are further facets to investigate. That said, even if you can upgrade the memory, the laptop may come with memory modules occupying both slots, which would mean replacing them both when upgrading later. It’s best to get what you need up front.
How To Choose The Best Laptop For You
Performance: If you only need something basic for surfing the web, consider a Chromebook or a cheap Windows laptop with an Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. If you plan on getting more intensive work done, consider starting specs such as a Core i5 CPU, 8 to 16GB of RAM and a 256GB to 512GB SSD.
Graphics and gaming: Most mainstream laptops feature integrated graphics, which can handle lightweight titles such as Minecraft and Overwatch but aren’t ideal for intensive AAA games or heavy visual work. For that, you’ll want a laptop with a discrete graphics card, such as an Nvidia GTX 3000-series on the higher end.
Size: Consider how mobile you want your laptop to be. Machines such as the Dell XPS 13 and HP Elite Dragonfly are feather light with slim designs, while gaming notebooks such as the Alienware m15 R4 have more heft to them .
Operating system: Laptops typically come in three flavors: Windows 10 , macOS and Chrome OS . Windows 10 is the most common operating system, while macOS is more ideal for folks already tied into Apple’s ecosystem. Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system built to allow for cheap, fast systems, though it has gotten a bit more robust over the years with support for full Android apps.
Whichever system you decide on, you may also want to pick up the best mouse for your particular work situation.
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The Best Laptops In 2021
Zenbook 13 OLED
The best laptops are the ones that help you stay on top of all your different projects and gadgets. Once you’ve equipped yourself with the right one, you’ve acquired the speed to power you through all of your assignments, and the battery life to make it through a day of work without worrying about the nearest power outlet.
Finding the best laptop for you can be tricky, because you’ve never had more choices. There are top rated laptops for basic web surfing, mainstream machines with premium components and attractive designs, and beastly gaming laptops that will let you play the hottest PC games the way they were meant to be played.
- These are the best Windows laptops on the market
- The best laptops under $500 can help you stay productive on a budget
Assessing Graphics: Integrated Vs Dedicated
Most business PCs come with integrated graphics chips, which are a lightweight graphics-acceleration solution that’s part of the main CPU. These integrated GPUs are usually fine for business laptops, since you won’t be playing 3D games on a computer meant for work. Most professionals who require discrete graphics will use them for specialized tasks such as GPU acceleration in Photoshop, high-definition video creation in Adobe Premiere Pro, or 3D graphics visualization in architectural drawings and CAD software. Mobile-workstation-class laptops will usually come with some sort of discrete graphics, either for their 3D capabilities or to drive multiple monitors.
When evaluating graphics solutions, it’s easy to tell what tier of business laptop you’re looking at. Integrated graphics silicon is usually dubbed “Intel HD Graphics,” “Intel UHD Graphics,” “Iris Plus,” or “Iris Xe” and indicates a mainstream business machine. In contrast to integrated solutions, the most common dedicated graphics chips in laptops, as a whole, are from Nvidia’s GeForce line, but they are not usual fare in business machines. GeForce GTX or RTX chips tend to be reserved for higher-end consumer or gaming systems, though some business machines will include one of Nvidia’s lesser GeForce MX chips to give graphics a little boost. A higher-end workstation machine will tend to use dedicated graphics chips from Nvidia’s Quadro or AMD’s Radeon Pro line.
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Warranty And Other Considerations
We recommend all the laptops here: there isnt a duff one among them. However, we urge you again to read through the full review before spending your hard-earned cash. None is perfect and what will best suit your needs might not be the device ranked at number one.
Battery life and warranty vary between laptops. The latter may differ depending on where you buy the laptop from, too. John Lewis, for example, tends to offer longer warranty than rivals.
After-sales service is something you should consider for everything you buy. Check whether the company has a UK-based support line, and forums are an ideal place to ascertain whether a manufacturer is generally good or bad at carrying out work under warranty.
What’s An Ideal Size And Weight
Most people searching for a general-purpose laptop should choose one that measures about half an inch thick and weighs 3 pounds or less. In general, these are the maximum dimensions and heft a laptop can have for us to consider it an ultraportable, and for most users, portability is the key to maximizing use and enjoyment.
Aiming for that weight and thickness, in most cases, will limit the laptops screen size to 13 or 14 inches, although a few models with 15-inch or larger screens now fit into the ultraportable category. At most of these screen sizes, you can find models in either the conventional clamshell laptop shape or a 2-in-1 convertible design. The latter has a hinge that rotates the screen 360 degrees so you can use it as a makeshift tablet or prop it up like a tent for watching movies.
Some Windows and Chrome OS laptops do have smaller displays, such as 10 or 11 inches. Some of these are not technically laptops in the pure sense, but rather tablets with detachable keyboards. Unless youre specifically looking for a part-time tablet or the lightest possible laptop, avoid these designs. Theyre lighter than most 13-inch ultraportables, often less than 2 pounds, but theyre not as good at being tablets as the Apple iPad is, and their detachable keyboards mean theyre not much good at being laptops, eithertyping on most of them tends to be subpar.
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The Best Budget Laptop Deals This Week*
*Deals are selected by our partner, TechBargains
All of these CPUs also host the silicon that runs the laptop’s graphics. The newest integrated graphics solutions can hold their own in browser-based games and even some online games like World of Warcraft. The higher demands of AAA titles, though, still require a discrete GPU, which you won’t find in this price range.
In years past, many of the barest-budget Windows laptops would come with just 2GB or 4GB of main system memory, but nowadays, at least in the Windows sphere, most come with 8GB. In terms of batteries, an ideal budget laptop has one with six cells or more. The battery life for a cheap laptop should come in at a minimum of seven or eight hours, and these days, many will last quite a bit longer.
When it comes to storage, some inexpensive systems still use spinning hard drives, with capacities often at 500GB, but increasingly, inexpensive Windows machines opt for small-capacity solid-state drives of 128GB or 256GB capacity. If you can get by with the capacity of a small SSD, we strongly favor opting for one, even over a roomier platter-based hard drive, for their durability.
In terms of features, budget laptops will come with at least one USB 3.0 port, and possibly a USB 2.0 port or two. You also may get an SD card slot. A Wi-Fi radio that uses the speedy 802.11ac protocol is also the norm now.
Other Laptops We Tested
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch
The M1-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro was our previous upgrade pick for Apple users, thanks to a slight bump in maximum graphics performance over the M1 MacBook Air. However, it has since been replaced by the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, which offers a much bigger leap in overall performance, has far better ports, and ditches the annoying Touch Bar for a more practical set of physical function keys.
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch 2021
The 16-inch MacBook Pro has everything we love about our upgrade pick in the 14-inch model, just with a larger screen and a few more configuration options for really maxing out the processor. Its a great choice if those two things matter to you , but we think the 14-inch MacBook Pros lower starting price and more portable design make it the better pick for most power users.
Acer Aspire 5
Acers Aspire 5 surprised us with its performance, especially when you factor in its low price. Overall, however, the build quality, display and battery life held it back. Out of all the laptops we tested, the Aspire 5 had the worst battery life, clocking in at five hours and 30 minutes in our benchmarking. The plastic housing helps with the overall weight but at the cost of feeling cheap. About performance: The Aspire 5 kept up with the Dell XPS models we tested, and even some of the MacBooks, so we have confidence that this model will be able to get the job done. Just keep your charger handy.
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
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Asus Zephyrus G15 Review: The Best Windows Laptop For Power Users
Price: £2,599 |
Asus has been knocking out high-power gaming laptops in 2021 like there’s no tomorrow and every one of them has been impressive. The Zephyrus G15, however, is the most impressive of the lot, especially if you don’t get on with the unapologetic gamer aesthetic of the Asus Strix Scar 15.
It comes with a stunning 165Hz QHD display and a full array of top-flight componentry — the model we reviewed came with an AMD Ryzen 5900HS CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU — ensuring that no game or application is beyond it.
And it’s relatively slim, light and compact as well, making it one of the best ever laptops we’ve ever tested for power-hungry users on the move. The catch? Apart from the high price, very little.
Key specs – Screen size: 15.6in Screen type: IPS Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS Graphics adapter: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 RAM: 32GB Storage: 1TB Dimensions, mm : 355 x 243 x 19.9mm Weight : 1.9kg
Hp Envy 13 Great Value Core I5
Pros
- Expensive i7 model
- Disappointing trackpad
The HP Envy 13 looks decent, its got a superb screen, and it has rock-solid everyday computing power in its Core i5 guise. Its also got a solid keyboard and good battery life. In many respects, its an impressive everyday ultraportable.
HPs core laptop has been a favourite of ours for years but the 2021 model has taken a dip and the 2020 model is now hard to find.
Its still a good laptop and comes at an affordable price unless youre looking at the i7 SKU, and you might not enjoy the lack of HDMI and Thunderbolt either. You can find sturdier designs elsewhere and better trackpads, too.
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