Laptop Reviews: Finding the Best New Laptops of 2010
Laptops and notebooks and netbooks- oh my!
2010 has been a great year for new laptops. There are models from well-known manufacturers like HP and Toshiba, Asus and Sony, along with many other manufacturers.
This year, there has has been an explosion in the capabilities of many laptops, as Intel’s new processors brought more power into portable packages. Bright Hub has examined numerous new laptops in 2010, and here we give you the cream of the laptop reviews.
Laptop computer reviews: Informed decisions
Whether you call your portable computer a notebook or a laptop or a netbook, you want the best value you can find. Quality, features, and price are always important, and the same laptop may not meet the needs of everyone- luckily for the many manufacturers.
Some things, however, are fairly universal in the search for the ideal laptop for your needs.
- Dependability, so you don’t have a laptop constantly needing repair because yet another feature has failed.
- A build sturdy enough to handle your expected use.
- A CPU powerful enough to provide the speed and processing power you need.
- Battery life if you will be using it in places you can not attach the power cord for some length of time.
- Weight. Are you going from office to home, or do you have a ‘“have laptop, will travel” mentality?
- SIze - whether you need a netbook to slip into your bag or want a screen large enough to display two documents side by side.
Laptops with Desktop power - and portability
Travel from your office to your desk at home and nowhere else means a pound or two may not be important. What matters is the processing power and the screen real estate. Sony Vaio laptops come in several sizes, and the Sony VAIO F Series Laptop VPCF12XHX/B is a big powerful and pricey computer that should handle almost any business- or multimedia- need you have.
<img src="https://images.brighthub.com/c4/6/c46fc1b7a6d72b4b4ab6bfa4ebfc878eb525763e_small.jpg" alt="Article Image" title="Article Image"> image from Choosing the Best Sony Laptop for Your Needs
image from Buyer’s Guide to the Top 5 Dell Studio Laptop Computers - Dell XPS Studio 16
Other choices for desktop replacements include an option packed edition of the Dell XPS Studio 16, which is still portable, and the number one choice in that article. Adding an upgraded Intel Core i7 720QM Quad Core, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a RADEON HD 4670 video card, and Soundblaster X-Fi High Definition Audio, rounded out with a 9-cell 85 Whr primary battery, you will pay upwards of $1600, but you can handle virtually anything.
Business laptop reviews
Business laptops are often meant to go along on business trips, and so some of the best have 14 inch screens. Rather than expansive screen space, they offer rugged builds, good graphics, and truly high end performance. Some also offer better than usual battery life. However, they may be heavier than the average 14" laptop to provide those features.
Among the serious contenders in this group are the HP EliteBook 8440w, meant to fill a top corporate laptop niche. It is encased in metal, and has a resolution of 1600x900, which means you can put up two documents side by side on a 14" screen. HP considers it a mobile workstation.
image from List of Tablet PC Laptops - HP TouchSmart tm2
Another option that may be helpful for business users is to review laptop computer tablets. Among the best available are the Dell XT2 and XT2 XFR, from $2000- $3000, with providing a solid build and rigid format for travel and the other an extremely durable and rugged tablet which can function well in extreme environments. Fujitso, HP, Sony and Lenovo also offer tablet format laptops that are built to survive and deliver powerful performance.
One the next page of our best laptop computer reviews, we look at different gaming laptops and choices for children’s laptops.
Best new Mac: A review of the MacBook Air 13
Macbooks have a rep, and Apple fanboys - and fangirls defend them vigorously. Style, yes- everyone gives Apple points for style. However, that style comes with a hefty procetag. If you are not an Apple partisan, you may be convinced there are a number of brands making portable computers equivalent to the Macbook and the MacBook Pro for quite a bit less money. <img src="https://images.brighthub.com/81/8/81871880586349f49b512f1df9f698420155b742_small.jpg" alt="Article Image" title="Article Image"> image from review of the MacBook Air 13
Recently Steve Jobs introduced two new Macbook Air computers. These are sylish, light, and and reasonably powerful. The contender that makes the list of favorite laptop reviews is the MacBook Air 13. Portability, great resolution, serious battery life, 128 GB SSD and the 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU are the basivc package, and you can up the specs - and the price. For Ultraportability and a screen bigger than a netbook, Apple gets a positive laptop review for this particular new offering.
Gaming laptop reviews
It used to be that to have a computer powerful enough to play the current crop of PC games, you choices were a desktop, or - wait for it… a desktop. Here we review laptops that have power enough to make your gaming as portable as you want.<img src="https://images.brighthub.com/43/a/43afb2ca9f36840f059d9f32cc2bfd4af7a177c4_small.jpg" alt="Article Image" title="Article Image"> image from Best Gaming Laptops - 2010 - Alienware M17X
Take a look at a review of the best gaming laptops of the year - price no objection. First is the Alienware M17X, a name that needs little more introduction to the PC gaming world. It is a case of getting what you pay for - and while you are going to pay $2500 or more, depending on additional options you choose, you get incredible performance with an Intel i7 quad core processor, resolution, graphics, a 17" screen and a 500 GB hardrive. Oh, and 6 GB RAM.
There are also a couple more excellent gaming laptops reviewed in the article.
And, while on the topic of gaming laptop reviews, there is an an unusual category - the ultraportable gaming laptop. Gamers on the go do not need to cart a backbreaking bag, or settle for minimal FPS while trying to play games when traveling. Again, these are not cheap laptops, but this review gives you three great and very portable choices. These include an Alienware laptop, a MacBook, and a Sony Vaio Z.
<img src="https://images.brighthub.com/1e/e/1ee349a2c904c9366c29ec5fbc03ca2e64076a98_small.jpg" alt="Article Image" title="Article Image">ASUS G51JX-X3 laptop image from best inexpensive gaming laptops
Those choices are meant for people who are not worried about their budget. For the segment of the population that does need to pay attention to their budget - which includes me - here are some laptop reviews for the best inexpensive gaming laptops. While you end up sacrificing some of the top line features found on the best gaming laptops, gaming performance does demand a minimum set of features. These cannot be considered cheap, but your choices are all under $1000. Read about the Lenovo Ideapad Y560, the miniature Alienware M11x, and the ASUS G51JX-X3 laptop**.**
Laptop computer reviews for the best in children’s portables
Children use computers too. Giving a child a laptop is one of the best ways to prepare them for live in a technology filled and global world. <img src="https://images.brighthub.com/2a/b/2abdcfd0c9a7eac45736483af23edd3002e1b1e6_small.jpg" alt="Article Image" title="Article Image">V-Tech Touch Tablet image from Best Laptops for Children
There are a few laptops made specifically for use by children, with extremely rugged builds. There are also some suitable netbooks, ideal for child sized hands. In this review of the Best Laptops for Children, the cream of the crop is examined. Choices range from a good quality netbook, the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA, a tablet computer built specifically for children, the Intel Classmate PC, and an inexpensive child sized computer that is does not have a lot of power, but makes a great introductory choice for a child’s first computer, the V-Tech Touch Tablet. The last retails for under $100.
We hope this roundup of the best in laptop reviews for different needs is helpful as the holiday season begins. If you know of a recent laptop that deserves to be in this list, leave a comment, and we’ll see if we can get it reviewed.
