The Best Laptop To Buy 2017 \/\/TOP\\\\
Year after year, laptops continue to get better and better. They're not only faster than last year, but designs continue to improve, and prices continue to fall. Though premium options still cost a pretty penny, you can get a very capable laptop for under $500 these days.
the best laptop to buy 2017
Picking the right one for you can still be a challenge, but we've done the hard part: testing dozens of models in our labs for things like performance, portability, build quality, and battery life. These are the best laptops we've tested this year, and the ones we'd recommend first to our families and friends.
Dell's XPS 13 was a game-changing laptop when it first debuted a few years ago, offering a 13-inch screen in a very compact body thanks to a screen with almost no dead space around it. The latest versions have the same design, with faster internal components and updated ports that will keep it current for years to come.
The HP Spectre x360 isn't just one of the best 2-in-1 laptops we've ever used, it might be the best-looking laptop ever. Sleek, fast, lightweight, with a phenomenal keyboard, and a great touchscreen, the Spectre x360 has a lot going for it.
Typically, buying an affordable gaming laptop means getting one that just can't play the newest games at high settings. The New Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming turns that on its head, with price just under $1,000 and an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU.
With the "New" models also offering Intel's quad core 8th-gen processors, you're getting some serious gaming prowess at a very reasonable price. It can't quite keep up with the best gaming laptops and PCs, but it's far closer than any other sub-$1,000 laptop around.
Though we've already touched on why we love the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming laptop for gaming, we also love it as an ideal laptop for video editing. Though there are more powerful machines out there, the New Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming offers an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU with 8th-gen Intel Core processors for under $1,000.
You'll want to add more RAM and storage for video editing, of course, but with such a low starting price and an easily upgradeable design, there's almost nothing this laptop can't do. Best of all, it doesn't look like a typical gaming laptop, so it'll fit in even in more professional, staid settings.
Sleek, compact, and with an aluminum frame that is both handsome and durable, the C302CA is hands-down the best Chromebook we've tested. And with Chromebooks now able to run Android apps, there's no limit to what these machines can do. Read our review.
Though it doesn't have the premium fit and finish of more expensive laptops, the Acer Aspire E 15 runs rings around anything in its price bracket. It offers a 15-inch screen, a 7th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, and a 1TB hard drive for just $350.
While Razer has enjoyed a storied reputation as a manufacturer of some of the most coveted gaming laptops, the Razer Blade Stealth is not entirely a gaming notebook. Part Ultrabook, part modular gaming rig and completely portable, the Razer Blade Stealth is a sleek laptop with high-end internals that closely match other thin-and-light notebooks on the market.
The configurations that I've been using are: the late 2017 HP Spectre 13 with 8th Generation Intel quad-core processor (Core i7 855oU), 8GB memory, 256GB of storage. The late 2017 version of the Dell XPS 13 with the same 8th gen Intel quad-core processor and a config of 16GB/512GB. And the mid-2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with 7th Generation Intel processor (Core i5 rated base speed of 2.3 GHz), 8GB of memory, and 128GB of storage.
Winner: I'm going to give it to the HP Spectre because it's pushing the boundaries of ultra-thin industrial design but still delivers good performance. And HP redesigned the 2017 Spectre 13, using thinner display bezels, reducing the footprint. I'll add that the Dell XPS 13 has become an icon for 13-inch laptop design with its thin display bezels and compact 12-inch laptop form factor. The only problem is, the design is beginning to age a bit. The MacBook Pro looks slightly dated against the HP but still looks great.
Performance: I will focus on the biggest gap in performance. That is, the gap between Spectre/XPS and the MacBook. In other words, HP and Dell have updated their offerings with the latest Intel 8th Gen quad-core. Apple has not: the latest MacBook Pro 13 uses 7th gen dual-core processors. This is a pretty big deal because, for the first time, svelte 13-inch laptops are able to tap into Intel quad-core performance.
Ports: [UPDATE] the XPS 13, HP, and MacBook Pro all do a decent job with ports considering how thin, compact, and light all the laptops are. They all have USB Type C Thuderbolt 3 and USB 3.X ports (Type C).
Price/bang-for-buck: this, for obvious reasons, is paramount for most people. After all, any vendor can charge a lot of money for a spec'd out laptop with a UHD display, fast processor, 16GB of RAM, and a big solid-state drive. The trick is hitting the sweet spot. That means a decently configured system at a reasonable price with good quality.
Winner: Dell XPS 13. It's now priced at $1,149.99* (usually $1,299) with a config that has an FHD display, 256GB SSD, and quad-core processor. As I mentioned above, I am not using that exact configuration. I have the fully spec'd XPS config (QHD+ display, 16GB, 512GB) that's priced at about $1,650. That's also a very good price for those specs. And would also win if I was doing a comparison between the Dell, HP, Apple laptops with those high-end specs.
The Dell wins on battery life, performance (along with HP) and bang-for-the-buck. As I said above, it's gorgeous, tried-and-true, and well-built. And it would win even if the specs on the Spectre and MacBook were jacked up to 16GB and 512GB SSD and if the HP was configured with a UHD display. One footnote: for better or worse, consumers (and reviewers) like to see a laptop's design get updated after 3 or 4 years. Will that happen in 2018 for the XPS 13? We may find out at CES 2018.
HP wins for being eminently totable (2.45 pounds) and for its durable industrial design. It's costly to build an incredibly thin/light laptop that's sturdy. And the Spectre is drop-dead gorgeous, to boot. And it is not a fingerprint/body oil magnet (compared to the XPS palm rest, which is). You also get quad-core (i7 8550U) performance (which includes Intel UHD 620 graphics), a good FHD (1,920-by-1,080) display, very good audio**, reasonable battery life, and a 256GB SSD. One drawback I didn't like was the display hinge, which won't allow you to tilt the display as far back as the XPS and MacBook displays can go.
The MacBook Pro 13 (mid-2017) is a very high-quality laptop and you can find one these days (discounted) for about $1,150 with a 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM, and Intel 7th gen processor. Up the SSD to 256GB, however, and the price jumps pretty considerably. Price and the absence of Intel's latest quad-core processors are the only things holding the MacBook back.
Speaking of hefty laptops, gaming laptops have a reputation for size and weight. Those discrete graphics cards and extra cooling hardware must go somewhere, right? Asus aims to buck that trend with the latest refresh of its popular Republic of Gamers lineup.
The Hyte Y60 is one of the best PC cases on the market, and it's getting a big upgrade in the form of an official DIY mod kit. The Hyte Y60 LCD DIT kit is available now for $120, allowing you to replace one of the tempered glass panels of the case with a programable screen.
Lenovo is performing its annual update to its Legion laptops and desktops at CES 2023, but this year is different. The new Lenovo Legion Pro 7 and Legion Pro 5 (along with their Intel variants) include a dedicated AI chip that Lenovo says performs "graphical wizardry."
The chip in question is Lenovo's LA AI processor, which it claims is the world's first dedicated AI processor in a gaming laptop. Combined with the Lenovo AI Engine+ software, the chip leverages machine learning to tune system performance in real time.
With almost the same specs as of the Dell XPS 13, the Asus Zenbook UX310UA delivers great performance within a cheaper price. Powered by a 7th Gen Kaby Lake processor, the laptop gives an all rounder performance. However, the same cannot be said for the battery. With an all-aluminum body, users have the option to choose between a full HD, 1080p display and an even higher 3,200 x 1,800-pixel, QHD+ screen. General specs of the laptop are listed below.
Termed as a 2-in-1 laptop, the Lenovo Yoga Book is something you should buy if you are looking for a minimalistic laptop which just gets you through the day. Lenovo has given users the choice to buy the Windows 10 version or the Android 6.0 version of the laptop. However, both have amazing displays along with a pretty good keyboard. On the other hand, the laptop is not suitable for heavy computing as the Intel Atom inside is optimized to save power but not to deliver great processing speeds.
The Acer Swift 3 Ultrabook is a refined version of the Acer Swift 7. With a full aluminum body, the Swift 3 has the specs that can compete with the Macbook Air and even win that competition. Apart from its cheap price, the laptop delivers great performance. However, in order to sell it in this price, Acer had to compromise on the display as well as the sound quality of the device. Other than that, the Swift 3 has a processing speed that rivals that of the Surface Laptops!
After a few years where many so-called experts said tablets and phones would replace the PC, 2017 is shaping up to be one of the best years for laptop innovation yet. At CES 2017, we saw some of the most powerful notebooks ever made, including the Acer Predator 21X, which packs a massive curved display. We also saw some incredibly eye-catching design elements like the carbon-fibre XPS 13 2-in-1 and the sleek silver EliteBook x360. We even saw a laptop with three 4K screens.
Below you'll find the best laptops from CES 2017, along with the best accessory and innovation from the show. However, you won't find any standalone tablets on our list, because no major company released any, due to waning interest in the category. So much for the "experts." 041b061a72