By Okpo Favour
We live in a world where smartphones are
ubiquitous, tablets are commonplace, and even smartwatches are a thing that
people talk about on the regular. But throughout all of these advances, the
laptop has remained and for good reason. When it comes time to actually get
something done, whether that's editing photos, writing a lot of emails,
composing documents, or staying in touch with colleagues and family, the laptop
is often the ideal device for the job.
That isn't to say there haven't been
advancements in the world of laptops or notebook computers. We don’t have to
deal with inch-plus-thick clunkers that weighed upwards of seven pounds and
lasted less than two hours away from an outlet. The modern laptop is
lightweight, sleek, efficient, easily portable, and powerful enough to get most
any computing task done.
It's getting harder to buy a truly bad
laptop, but what separates a good laptop from a great one is how it balances
power, efficiency, portability, and comfort. It should have a fantastic
keyboard and trackpad — after all, those are the two biggest reasons you'd
choose a laptop over a smartphone or tablet. Its display should be easy on the
eyes, bright, and sharp enough that you aren't distracted by jagged edges and
visible pixels. It should be powerful enough for almost anything short of
intensive video editing and advanced gaming. It should be easy to carry around
from place to place, and it should be able to last all day without needing to
be plugged in.
Naming “the best laptop” is a little
different than naming the best phone or tablet. People’s needs for their laptop
can vary widely. Some people need to do intense video editing and should pony
up for a pro machine. Others just need a reliable keyboard and a few windows,
so something less powerful will do. Some might want a super light laptop that
can sometimes double as a tablet. Here, we’re talking about the best all-around
product: a traditional laptop that will work well at most things for most
people, and even stretch to handle more intensive tasks on occasion.
There are a lot of laptops that have some
of those qualities, but if you're looking for a laptop that hits enough of
those marks, the obvious choice turns out to be the right one.
THE BEST LAPTOP RIGHT NOW:
MICROSOFT SURFACE LAPTOP
Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop is the best
laptop for most people because it blends power, portability, and battery life
better than any other computer. It has a great keyboard and trackpad; a
beautiful, high-resolution touchscreen; and comes in four different colors. It
uses Intel’s latest processors and can be specced out with up to 16GB of RAM
and 1TB of storage.
The Surface Laptop isn’t cheap — the model
most people should get runs for $1,299 — but it feels like a premium computer
should, and if you spend most of your day working on a computer, you should
spend a little more to get a good one.
The one big drawback to the Surface Laptop
is it comes with Windows 10S, Microsoft’s limited version of Windows that only
allows apps from the Windows Store to be installed. You can easily upgrade the
Surface Laptop to Windows 10 Pro, however, and then you can run any Windows app
you can find. That upgrade is free through at least the end of the year.
Microsoft says it will charge $50 for it at some point in the future, but has
not specified exactly when.
THE MAC OPTION: APPLE MACBOOK PRO
If you don’t like the Surface Laptop’s fun
colors or the fact that it runs Windows, the best laptop for you is Apple’s
MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro has a compact and light design, premium build
quality, and the largest trackpad we’ve ever seen on a laptop.
The MacBook Pro comes in a variety of
flavors, but most people should go with the 13-inch model that starts at
$1,299. It has a standard keyboard and lacks the controversial Touch Bar found
on the more expensive versions, but we don’t think that’s a big loss, as the
Touch Bar hasn’t yet proven its worth. The one thing that the higher-end
MacBook Pros offer is more USB ports. The entry-level version only comes with
two USB Type-C ports, which means plugging in accessories will likely require
an adapter or two, so be prepared to spend money on at least one dongle.
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