| Top Rated | What the Research Says |
| • Dell XPS M1710 (starting at *est. $2,300) >> Where to buy | Desktop replacement and gaming laptop.Reviews say the Dell XPS M1710 is a fantastic laptop for 3D gaming. What's good for games is also good for office multitasking and video editing: Intel Core Duo processor up to 2.33GHz, a top-of-the-line graphics card, up to 4GB RAM and a beautiful 1920 x 1200-pixel 17-inch widescreen display. The Dell laptop's screen has a glossy coating that boosts brightness and could glare under office lighting. This laptop is powerful, but not very portable, since it weighs more than 9 pounds. Although this Dell computer is an older laptop, it continues to receive top reviews. (compare prices) |
| • HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC (starting at *est. $3,000) >> Where to buy | Luxury entertainment laptop.With a 20.1-inch display and a 15.5-pound system weight, the HP Pavilion HDX can barely be called portable. Still, if you're looking for an entertainment laptop that can competently replace an HDTV and DVD player, reviewers say you might be able to justify the cost of this top-performing HP laptop. Price and marginal portability are the obvious drawbacks, and battery life is under two hours. The base model ships with an HDTV tuner, remote control and standard DVD drive/burner. A high-definition HD DVD player is optional (*est. $325). (compare prices) |
| • Dell XPS M1330 (starting at *est. $1,300) >> Where to buy | Best ultraportable laptop.If light weight and performance are your priorities, reviewers concur that the 13.3-inch Dell XPS M1330 is the best in its class. With the Intel Santa Rosa/Centrino Duo processor platform and a dedicated video card, performance is extraordinary for an ultraportable laptop. With the stock 4-cell battery, the XPS M1330 weighs just 4 pounds. However, battery life is short (about two hours). The optional 9-cell battery runs longer, but adds .5 pound to the weight. Reviewers are very impressed with the stock features and options -- you can even choose from three colors. The 13.3-inch widescreen HD display is said to be spectacular with the LED backlighting option. (compare prices) |
| • Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (starting at *est. $930 [14.1-inch] or $1,070 [15-inch]) >> Where to buy | Best business laptop.Four reviewers select the solid Lenovo ThinkPad T61 as the best option for business users looking for a balance of light weight and a usable screen size. The 14.1-inch widescreen version is a little bigger and heavier (5 pounds) than an ultraportable like the Dell XPS M1330, but it’s also much more durable. Lenovo supports this durability with a three-year limited warranty, and the company has the highest reliability and customer support ratings by a wide margin in large surveys of laptop owners. Performance is superb in tests, and the laptop runs cool. It includes Intel's Santa Rosa capabilities, which reviewers note is especially a boon to battery life. (compare prices) |
| • Asus G2 (starting at *est. $1,995) >> Where to buy | Best value, gaming laptop.You can spend twice as much on a gaming laptop like the Dell XPS M1710 or HP Pavilion HDX, but reviewers say the Asus G2 is a very good gaming laptop for the price. Configured at the same price as the Dell, the Asus gives you more hardware for the dollar, and it comes with a two-year limited warranty. The glossy 17-inch display is praised most often, although it can be reflective. Battery life isn't great, but reviewers say it is average for a gaming laptop thanks to the new Intel Santa Rosa/Centrino Duo technology. (compare prices) |
| • MacBook Pro (starting at *est. $2,000) >> Where to buy | Apple laptop computer.The MacBook Pro is newly upgraded with Intel's Santa Rosa technology and an Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics chip. Most reviewers see it as a reasonable value, but it becomes very expensive if you want to run Windows (add $190 or more) or want long-term support, since included tech support is only 90 days, and the limited warranty is just a year. Display options range from 15.4 to 17 inches. CPU choices are 2.2 or 2.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo processors. (compare prices) |
| >> Comparison Chart | |
This report covers full-featured and specialty laptops suitable as a replacement for a desktop computer. If you want a very lightweight notebook or a laptop that's powerful enough for gaming, those notebook computers are covered here. If you’re looking for a student or budget laptop under $1,000, see our companion report on cheap laptops .
We found the best laptop reviews at NotebookCheck.net. The reviews are awkwardly translated from German, but incredibly comprehensive. The notebook computer reviews are augmented by multiple photographs and charts showing detailed benchmark results with comparisons to similar models, a lengthy list of similar notebook computers and ratings in a dozen subcategories, as well as lists of pros and cons. PC World and Computer Shopper also have very good, thorough, up-to-date reviews of new laptop computers. TrustedReviews.com, PC Magazine, Laptop magazine, NotebookReview.com and CNet.com are also up-to-date and review many models. However, we find that laptop reviews from those sources are lacking in depth, credibility or comparisons when contrasted with the best review sources noted above.
For most people, a laptop's reliability is the most important buying consideration. Notebook computers get very hot, and human error sometimes results in laptops hitting hard floors or pavement. Relatively good brand reliability doesn't guarantee you'll never have a problem, but we find the support and reliability surveys conducted by PC Magazine, Consumer Reports and British consumer magazine Which? to be very valuable. We can speculate about why the surveys produced some conflicting results, but we also found some important consistencies. Lenovo laptops have one of the lowest instances of repair according to all such surveys. That information should be very up to date, because Lenovo only became an international brand after acquiring the IBM brand a couple of years ago.
While no particular laptop stands out as a poor choice in multiple reviews, HP Compaq laptops receive a higher percentage of unfavorable reviews than any other brand. Compaq owners have reported higher-than-average instances of repair in the PC Magazine survey for years, even predating the merger with HP. Which? subscribers also report lower satisfaction with HP Compaq computers.
In Laptop magazine, reviewer Jeffrey Wilson struggles to recommend the HP Compaq 6515b (starting at *est. $850) . Its virtues include light weight and impressive wireless Internet performance, but short battery life and other weaknesses make this a modest recommendation. At NotebookReview.com, Kelvin Vine concludes that the HP Compaq nc2400 (starting at *est. $1,550) is light and durable, but "because it performs very badly in every respect…this laptop is not recommended."
If your priority is price above all, see our report on cheap laptops , which includes budget laptops priced at about $1,000 or less. An inexpensive laptop will not have any special capabilities, such as high performance for gaming or multimedia. It won't be extremely light, have extended battery life or have uncompromised performance for running Vista's Aero interface. Yet, if you want a basic laptop for word processing, e-mail and web surfing, a cheap laptop might be a better value. This is especially true if your laptop will not be your primary computer. ... Continued
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart. The Consensus Report also appears in the Full Story.
Manufacturers released a slew of new laptops in the past two months, and many will continue to be reviewed in the coming months. No single model enthralls all reviewers. Many of the notebook computers that are highly recommended by one or two reviewers receive mixed reviews from others. The 20.1-inch HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC is an extreme example. While all reviewers agree that it's a fine computer, some question its value or purpose, because it’s very expensive (typically reviewed at about $4,000) and weighs at least 15.5 pounds. In spite of a few criticisms, the Dell XPS M1330's strengths make it a clear favorite in the ultraportable category among reviewers. No other ultraportable has strong support from more than one reviewer. However, the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 is more highly favored as a general business laptop, and it's arguably a better value. The Dell Latitude D630 is another contender for business use, but a couple of reviewers specifically prefer the ThinkPad T61. From an absolute standpoint, the HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC (a.k.a. "The Dragon") is the best laptop in the desktop replacement, gaming and multimedia categories, according to reviewers. The older Dell XPS M1710 continues to receive very favorable reviews as a gaming laptop, but it’s also commonly reviewed at about $4,000. The Asus G2Pc and Toshiba Satellite X205 are cheaper alternatives. Both are only available in a couple of pre-configured versions. The revised versions of the Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro earn fairly equal support among reviewers and users, but the Pro is favored. Vista, Santa Rosa, and wild designer styling are changing the face and innards of laptops. They are extensively covered elsewhere in this report. Widescreen displays have nearly taken over the market, even for business laptops. Unless a laptop is your only computer, a widescreen display can be a disadvantage. The unit will be bulkier, and you have a smaller vertical workspace, which means more scrolling in text documents and on web pages. Although your options for models with conventional displays are compressed, they still exist. One controversy isn't really a buying consideration, but recent studies show that heat from laptops (when used on a lap) can cause male sterility. If you are concerned, NotebookCheck.net measures heat emissions in its reviews. You can also buy a notebook cooler. It's a flat device that sits under a laptop, and it’s meant to prevent the hardware from overheating.
| # of Picks | Model (with retailer links) | Details from Amazon.com |
| 4 | Lenovo ThinkPad T61 15-inch (starting at *est. $930 [14.1-inch] or $1,070 [15-inch]) | details |
| 4 | Dell XPS M1330 (starting at *est. $1,300) | - |
| 3 | HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC (starting at *est. $3,000) | details |
| 2 | Asus G2Pc (starting at *est. $1,995) | details |
| 2 | Dell XPS M1710 (starting at *est. $2,300) | details |
| 2 | Dell Latitude D630 (starting at *est. $850) | - |
| 2 | Toshiba Satellite X205 (starting at *est. $2,000) | details |
| 1 each | Apple MacBook Pro , Lenovo ThinkPad 60T 15-inch, Lenovo 3000 V200 , Gateway NX860XL, Dell XPS M1210, Alienware m9750m | |
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