Laptop Review

Picking the best laptop for you

The best laptop is one that meets your computing needs. If you use a computer primarily for surfing the Internet or composing documents, a mainstream laptop costing $800 or less will probably be just fine. For the most basic computing tasks, a netbook is an affordable and portable option. These computers are covered separately in our reports on cheap laptops and netbooks. If you are interested in a Mac laptop, or can't decide between an Apple and Windows laptop, see our report on Apple laptops and desktops, which includes information on Apple laptops that are competitive with the ones covered in this report. Finally, tablet computers, including the Apple iPad 2, are covered in our report on tablet computers.

This report covers full-featured laptops suitable for serious work or serious play. Business users and frequent travelers may want to look first at ultraportable laptops. These lightweight notebooks weigh less than 5 pounds, and they typically have very good battery life. On the flip side, they're not the most powerful laptops, so experts don't recommend them for gaming or intensive number crunching, graphics rendering or multimedia tasks. We're also starting to see the introduction of ultrabooks: Windows-based laptops that are sleek, powerful and designed to be an alternative to Apple's MacBook Air line of ultraportables. While the first models are only starting to hit the streets, critical response has been largely positive.

If you're a fan of high-end gaming, a dedicated gaming laptop is a wise choice. Though typically bulky and heavy, gaming laptops combine high-powered processors with discrete graphics chips so you can fire your way through the most intense first-person shooters.

Finally, multimedia laptops have large displays and extra features such as Blu-ray drives to appeal to those who want to watch movies or stream music. Technology that lets you stream HD video to a TV with an appropriate adapter is also becoming available; examples include Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) and WirelessHD. We are also seeing more 3D-capable laptops, which ship with 3D glasses for a more immersive gaming and movie-watching experience. While reviewers say this feature works well -- especially for watching 3D Blu-ray movies -- gamers might be disappointed. According to reviewers, these high-tech 3D displays require decreasing the resolution or settings on popular games in order to maintain acceptable frame rates. That is a trade-off that some serious gamers might not be willing to make. Another downside? Not all movies or games are available in a 3D-compatible format at this time.

Laptop reliability

Reliability is another important buying consideration, and PCMag.com's annual reader survey is a good starting point for evaluating the major brands. The 2011 survey is now available, and Apple tops the ratings in the laptop category, as it has for the past several years. For those who prefer Windows computers, Samsung and Sony earn Readers' Choice awards, while Asus and Dell's Alienware brand score an Honorable Mention.

PCMag.com asked more than 12,000 people to rate the laptops they own on several criteria, including reliability, technical support, rate of repair and customer service. Overall, respondents were more negative towards the major laptop manufacturers this year, which is expressed in their overall satisfaction ratings. "Comparing the results to last year's survey, we saw satisfaction ratings trending downward, especially among laptop PC vendors where the average ratings decreased for all measures except the percent of units needing repair," says Ben Gottesman.

Although it can't match Apple's scores, Samsung scores very well on reliability, and only 5 percent of Samsung owners say their laptop required a repair at some point. Alienware gaming laptops also receive enthusiastic support, even though their rate of repair is significantly higher at 21 percent. Asus' ratings slipped from last year, but the company still receives high marks for reliability. However, owners are pretty negative about Asus' customer support, giving it one of the lowest ratings for customer service, second only to Acer.

While Samsung, Alienware, Asus and Sony all have something to smile about, opinions on the other major brands are not as positive. HP and Dell fall in the middle, with below-average ratings for reliability, repairs and likelihood of recommending. However, survey respondents are more likely to recommend these brands than they are to recommend Gateway, Fujitsu or Compaq laptops, which receive the lowest ratings in PCMag's survey.

When evaluating laptops, we look to mainstream computer publications that conduct hands-on testing. Laptop Magazine, PCMag.com and ComputerShopper.com provide some of the best reviews, complete with numerous benchmarks, ratings and comparisons to similar laptops. These sources also test more laptops than other publications, although good reviews are also available at NotebookReview.com, CNET, PC World and AnandTech.com. NotebookCheck.net is notable for its extensive testing, and the site (which is translated from its native German) has gotten easier to read than in the past. ConsumerReports.org is also worth checking, but offers only limited commentary to accompany its ratings. Several retailer sites offer user insights, including BestBuy.com and Newegg.com.