A laptop is a portable computer, including everything you need for work. It has a screen, a keyboard, a trackpad, many ports and usually a webcam and microphone.
Some are optimized for work, and some are better for gaming. When choosing a notebook, look at the processor power, screen diagonal and amount of memory. Those things are the most important qualifiers in a notebook. However, no less important are the buyer reviews, because they will show you the real picture about the device you are buying.
Now that we have seen what to consider, let’s review the best 10 notebooks – 5 best work laptops, and 5 best gaming models.
With a 1.8 GHz processor this model is able to do all tasks you could want from a laptop. The model has a videoadapter - Intel HD Graphics 6000, which is able to render all but the most complex graphics, so the laptop qualifies as a great laptop for jobs and can even do most kinds of gaming too.
The hard drive is a 128 GB SSD, so all loading times will be very short, and documents will open in under a second. With 8 GB of RAM the notebook can load complex documents or schematics, even if they include thousands of details.
With two USB 3.0 ports this model can transfer information to Flash drives or HDD at excellent speeds.
The monitor is 13.3 inches in diagonal – a good size for portability. The resolution of 1440 x 900 is a universal scale, good for just about anything.
Pros:
- Excellent battery life
- Very good combination of powerful processor, RAM and SSD for any kind of work
- With a weight of 1.3 kilograms and a diagonal of 13.3 this is great for traveling with
Cons:
- The high price is the only negative, but you can expect that from Apple
The processor installed in this laptop is very powerful. It is able to give up to 3500 hertz. The screen of this laptop has a diagonal of 15.6 inches, and the display uses the IPS technology to get a bright and high-quality image. The keyboard is additionally backlit, so you can work conveniently at night.
The screen gives a good resolution. The AMD Vega 3 gives the graphics exceptional quality. The wireless module for 802.11ac makes for exceptionally fast Internet connection and phone synchronization. The accumulator generates enough power for 7.5 hours of stable work with bright screen and heavy processor usage.
The SSD hold up to 128 GB and this allows for a very quick boot time. The RAM holds 4 GB of DDR 4 memory. The model has 3 USB ports – one USB 3 and 2 USB 2 ports. The HDMI port supports HDCP.
Pros:
- The powerful processor gives this model extreme performance abilities
- The RAM and SSD are all top-notch, as well as the wireless chip and motherboard
- The assortment of possible ports is very good
Cons:
- Low RAM
This model with a 14-inch screen has a fairly large resolution - 1366 x 768/ This makes it good enough for any job, and its 2.4 GHz 1.2GHz Cortex A8 Processor can handle any job as well. And with the large 8GB RAM it can load very complex graphics or games. The graphics processor is a separate 2.4 GHz Intel Core i3, offering very good acceleration. This allows it to both do office work and run many lighter games that do not require a strong graphics card.
The computer arrives with a 128 GB SSD that is more reliable and much faster than a HDD. It allows quick start up and short loading times.
The model is equipped with both an HDMI and an Ethernet port. The slot for SD cards allows you to extend the memory if you need to. Also has a headphone jack and three USB ports.
Pros:
- Boots up in a few seconds and loads documents very quickly
- Has a wide variety of ports for all kinds of connections
- Mediocre processor and video card with a large RAM make it great for any office job
Cons:
- Arrives with an excessive amount of preinstalled bloatware and useless programs
The powerful processor used here - Pentium Silver N5000 – has four cores that give 2.7 GHz each. The screen has a diagonal of 15.6 inches.
The screen responds to touch, so it can be used like a smartphone’s touch screen. The resolution is 1366 x 768, and that offers a fairly deep and colorful picture.
The model is equipped with a 1TB hard drive, that is a bit slower than SSD, but offers a lot of storage space.
The 8 GB RAM can be used to open complex graphics and load large amounts of content. Tis makes it a very effective office computer, also able to do most kinds of gaming. Also has no problems playing videos and browsing in the Internet.
The model has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for Internet connection and uses HDMI to connect to a wider screen.
The model weighs 4.4 pounds.
Pros:
- Not too heavy for its size, pretty thin and not a bad model for traveling with
- The touch screen really works well
- Good combination of large RAM and the processor makes it a great office laptop
Cons:
- The processor is slow, and even though good for office work, can’t do gaming
With a screen only 11.6 inches in diagonal this model is one of the smallest, and its display has a resolution of 1366*768. The 4 GB of RAM are sufficient for most work with office documents and even some games.
The hard drive is a 16 GB SSD, and even though that is very small for a hard drive, it can be extended with any SD card you put in the slot.
The model has a basic Chrome operating system installed, which takes up almost no space on the small SSD.
With the 1.8 GHz AMD processor you can get pretty good performance. ARM Mali-T764 allows you to have even better graphics.
The device uses Wi-Fi to connect to the internet. The battery is able to keep the small screen on for a long time – 10 hours of video or browsing. The computer has two USB ports and a wired earphone jack.
Weighing only two pounds this device is one of the lightest and is recommended for traveling.
Pros:
- Very small and portable design, with minimal weight and dimensions, also quite nice-looking
- Good keyboard and responsive touchpad that can be used instead of mouse
- Extremely long battery life
Cons:
- Small SSD to start with
This device has the newest i7 processor that allows up to 2.8GHz and can go up to 3.8 GHz with the boosting technology. The model comes with preinstalled Windows 10.
The 15.6 inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and works on IPS. The keyboard is backlit with red LED to allow work at night. The screen is matte.
With a preinstalled videocard – the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 – and 6 GB of VRAM in the videocard, this computer is able to take on any game with high graphic settings. There are 16 GB of regular RAM DDR4, which is plenty enough for any purpose.
The model arrives with a preinstalled 256 GB SSD drive. The accumulator allows up to 7 hours of work without recharging. The cooling system has been given a lot of thought and works pretty well.
The model uses Wi-Fi for connection to the Internet, and has four USB ports, two of which are USB 3.0.
Pros:
- Vast amounts of RAM – 16 GB of DDR4 and 6 GB of dedicated video card memory
- The battery can keep the powerful processor and large screen alive for 7 hours
- The price is actually quite acceptable for this kind of computer
Cons:
- Gaming quality and speed go down when on battery power
With a powerful Ryzen processor, the Ryzen 5 r5-3550h, this computer can run any game on maximum settings on its 1920x1080 IPS screen with a diagonal of 15.6 inches.
The device ships with a 256 GB SSD and 8 GB of DDR 4 RAM. It runs preinstalled Windows 10 Home.
The 15.6-inch screen has a refresh speed of 120 Hz, which removes motion blur in videogames and movies.
The laptop is notably sturdy and tough – it is built in compliance with MIL-STD-810 standards for military-grade equipment.
The dual fans do not accumulate dust and allow the CPU to continue working at full efficiency.
The keyboard with backlighting is certified for 20 million strokes and the light color can be adjusted.
Pros:
- The processor and RAM are ideal for gaming and offer enough power to game on maximum settings
- Light and durable construction, with a weight of only 5 pounds
- Affordable price for this level of quality
Cons:
- Pretty poor speakers for this price.
This model is shipped with a large 512 GB SSD and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. The video card used here is the newest NVIDIA GeForce - GTX 1650. The graphics card itself has 4 GB of dedicated memory.
The screen has a diagonal of 15.6 inches and with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 it is able to display any game graphics. It works on IPS, allowing it to display rich and deep colors.
The new Dolby Audio speakers are also present, and they help make the gaming much more immersive.
The model can switch between gaming and working modes, and in work mode its fan makes almost no noise at all. In game mode the fan works at full power.
The battery is a great point here – it allows up to 9 hours of work. The computer weighs 4.8 pounds, which makes it pretty light and easy to travel with.
Pros:
- Very powerful gaming setup – processor, video card and large RAM
- The keyboard is great – the keys are pleasurable to press and will last a while
- Very high quality of sound
Cons:
- The computer’s body is glossy, and dirt sticks to it easily