THE BEST OF THE BEST
Finding the best laptop can feel overwhelming when you're staring at a sea of brands and specs. That's why we put each laptop we review through a bevy of tests that not only measure its performance, but answer the questions that matter most. Does the laptop have a comfortable keyboard? Is the screen colorful or washed out? And does the touchpad work reliably?
Even if it gets all the little things right, no laptop is right for everyone. Most shoppers opt for a notebook with a 15-inch screen. But if portability is your chief concern, you'll want a 13- or 14-inch laptop that weighs less than 5 pounds. And if you want a machine for serious gaming, you'll likely prefer a beefier system with powerful discrete graphics. Whatever your needs, we've identified the best laptop in each category to narrow your search.
Best Laptop Overall: MacBook Pro 13-inch With Retina Display
The MacBook Pro 13-Inch with Retina display combines strong performance with long endurance and a best-in-class display. Starting at $1,299, this laptop provides an eye-popping 2560 x 1600-pixel Retina display with stunning colors that are good enough for artists and media mavens alike. A 4th-generation Intel Core i5 processor and blazing-fast Flash storage drive make the MacBook Pro with Retina display a speed demon, while a lightweight, 3.46-pound chassis and 9.5 hours of battery life let you carry it all day.
Starting Price: $1,299
Longest Battery Life Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X240
Have an 18-hour flight to Asia coming up? No problem, if you've got the 12.5-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X240. With its extended battery, this 3.6-pound business system lasts more than 20 hours on a charge -- the longest of any laptop on the market. With an optional 1080p touch screen, responsive keyboard, accurate TrackPoint pointing stick and speedy performance, the ThinkPad X240 helps you make the most of all those minutes.
Starting Price: $860
Best Hybrid Laptop: Dell XPS 12
Most hybrid laptops promise the best of both worlds but end up giving you a heavy tablet and a subpar laptop for more than the cost of both. However, the Dell XPS 12 stands out from the crowd by providing a gorgeous, 1080p display that flips backward within its bezel to turn this lightweight laptop into a 12-inch Windows tablet. Add in a comfortable keyboard, large touchpad and more than 9 hours of battery life, and Dell has a winner.
Starting Price: $799
New and Notable Hybrid: ASUS Transformer Book Duet
It's the world's first quad-mode dual-operating laptop and tablet convertible. What exactly does that mean? The ASUS Transformer Book Duet TD300 lets you instantly switch between Android and Windows 8.1 with a push of a button thanks to Bluestacks preloaded software. A 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080-pixel IPS touchscreen display can be detached easily and run off its own 128GB SSD. The keyboard dock, on the other hand, offers 1TB of storage space. Combined the two weigh a hefty 4.2 pounds, but thanks to a slick design this is one good-looking combo.
Starting Price: $599
Best Ultrabook: Acer Aspire S7 (2013)
The very definition of sleek, the 3-pound, 0.5-inch-thick Aspire S7 features a stylish, all-aluminum unibody chassis with a white glass lid. The 10-point touch , 13-inch, 1080p screen provides vivid blues, yellows and greens at a very-high brightness level of 329 lux. An Intel 4th-generation Core series CPU and SSD provide strong Windows 8 performance. Plus, a huge 6,280-mAH battery provides nearly 9 hours of endurance.
Starting Price: $1,299
Best Budget Laptop: HP TouchSmart 11z
Who says touch screens have to be expensive? For just $399, the 11.6-inch HP TouchSmart 11z provides a responsive touch screen that helps you make the most of Windows 8 / 8.1 in an attractive, 3.4-pound package. With more than 6 hours of battery life, this affordable portable will have you pinching and swiping for most of a day.
Starting Price: $399
Best Business Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T440s
Lenovo's ThinkPad T series line of business laptops have long been known for their powerful performance, long battery life and superior usability. The 14-inch ThinkPad T440s builds on that rich tradition, offering a gorgeous, 1920 x 1080-pixel touch screen; a durable, MIL-SPEC-tested design; and the most responsive keyboard on the market. With more than 14 hours of endurance with the extended battery, this lightweight powerhouse lets you get your work done in style, anywhere at any time.
Starting Price: $1049
Best Chromebook: Toshiba CB35-A3120
It's not the smallest Chromebook or the least expensive, but Toshiba's 13-inch CB35-A3120 provides a ton of value and performance for its $279 price tag. With a colorful display, loud audio output, a slick design and a powerful Intel Celeron processor, the CB35-A3120 outperforms other sub-$300 Chromebooks. Even better, its 8 hours and 2 minutes of battery life beats its closest competitors by close to two hours.
Starting Price: $279
Best Multimedia Laptop: ASUS N550JV
Who needs a home theater when you can have the ultimate media laptop? The ASUS N550JV's gorgeous 1080p IPS, 10-point touch display provides bright images and wide viewing angles. It can also bend backward a full 180 degrees. A quad speaker array with a subwoofer and Waves MaxxAudio provides thumping bass at loud volumes, while an Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics chip gives the system enough oomph to play taxing games such as "BioShock Infinite."
Starting Price: $999
Best Workstation Laptop: Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina Display
Apple's refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display is ideal for graphics professionals or anyone who needs a notebook with equal doses of speed and endurance. This 4.5-pound juggernaut packs Intel's latest quad-core Core i7 processor, blazing PCIe solid state storage and Nvidia GT750M graphics, making quick work of any task-or multiple tasks at once. Plus, you still get an eye-popping 2880 x 1800-pixel display. With the 15-inch MacBook Pro, your high-res videos and photos will look fantastic, and you can edit and transcode in the blink of an eye. Add about 9 hours of battery life and you have the best mobile workstation money can buy.
Starting Price: $1,999
Best Gaming Laptop: Alienware 17
Alienware 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
Best Mainstream Laptop: Lenovo IdeaPad U430 Touch
If you're looking for a lightweight, touch-friendly notebook that lasts all day on a charge and won't break the bank, you'll find it in the Lenovo IdeaPad U430 Touch. The 14-inch, 4-pound laptop features a sharp, 1600 x 900-pixel touch screen; a speedy Intel 4th-generation Core i5 processor; and more than 8 hours of battery life.
Starting Price: $628
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