Top 10 Notebooks Now
November 1st, 2011 by LAPTOP Editors We here at Laptopmag have once again updated our list of the best notebooks available right now. For your convenience they are sorted by how you would use them, so you can be sure you’re getting what you need. As newer and better machines come out, rest assured we’ll update this list accordingly.
Best Value Notebook: HP Pavilion G4
For a very affordable $379, mainstream users who want a solid system for web surfing, checking email, and streaming media get a 14-inch laptop with great chassis design, a spacious keyboard, and SRS Labs-backed stereo sound.
Lowest Price: $379.99
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November 26th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Good stuff.
November 28th, 2011 at 7:13 am
I have owned four Lenovo laptops and was always satisfied until I bought my latest one, an x100e in late 2010.
I have only used it for an hour or so in the last 11 months because it is beset by problems–problems that I have been unable to solve by numerous requests to Lenovo US, Lenovo Finland and Lenovo Argentina.
A few months ago while I was working in my Helsinki office I had numerous discussions with Lenovo about the ultraportable. Finally, they agreed to pick it up via DHL and ship it to their service facility in Germany.
The first schedule pickup never happened and they didn’t have the courtesy to phone me.
When they finally picked it up, they shipped it to Germany and returned it to me in Helsinki with the same barely operative trackpad that had made the machine unusable.
Last week I called a friend in New York from my Buenos Aires location and he reported that he had the same, exact problem with his identical Lenovo ultraportable.
A Finnish friend who is an IBM executive then told me that she and her colleague at IBM were’t able to get competent service any longer at Lenovo and she had just bought a Mac PowerBook.
Is this the end of an era of Lenovo excellence?
It is sad.
Richard Tihany
December 18th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
I am reading this from my Seoul, Korea apartment, trying to decide which laptop to buy my mother, who lives in Texas, for Christmas. Of course, I’ll have to fly to Hong Kong to finish up work before my trip to New York where we’ll have Christmas as my sister just moved there from DC. I travel a lot, don’t know if you noticed.
Another thing you might not have noticed is that the HP Pavilion G4 does not cost $379.99 as this site claims. Actually, it cost $490 from Best Buy and $457 from Amazon. This is a price increase of 29% at Best Buy / 20% at Amazon. LapTop, why you deceive me!?
December 24th, 2011 at 1:57 am
I just purchased a ThinkPad x220, and the experience has been great. I called customer service just once before I actually received the laptop because I was interested in installing a mSata. Overall, it has been great switching from a Mac to ThinkPad for me.
December 29th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
I was using a 17″ laptop while working aboard the international spacestation and I noticed that the lack of gravity made it feel incredibly light. I want to get my sister one on my way to Swahili (she lives in Osaka, but I’m a heart surgeon/astronaut) to perform an operation. I don’t have a lot of friends, I don’t know if you can tell.
Another thing you might not be able to tell is that the price of a laptop looks a lot more expensive in Yen than it does with the Euro. Did I mention I’m shopping at Tarjey in France for my mother who lives in Enid, OK? Anyhoo, my father-in-law, a Texas billionaire, thinks this laptop is junk but that it should be absulutely fine for anyone in the 99% club.
December 31st, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I just purchased a ThinkPad x220, and the experience has been great.
January 6th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
@Dave, just curious as what made you switch from mac -> pc?
January 11th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Very Good. It is an excellent computer for my son because it has a processor ideal for college work HP is a good quality product, the offers are tempting impossible to miss … shipping and delivery are excellent
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q9T7IW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=emjay2d-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004Q9T7IW
January 13th, 2012 at 8:49 am
sony and hp goooooooooooooooooooooood
January 13th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
I lv sony Bcz of its disply quality
January 17th, 2012 at 3:50 am
I made the switch because I was having tons of issues with my last few MBPs, and with the amount of money I have spent on Apple products, it just wasn’t worth it anymore. During the past 20 years, I believe my computer ownership 90% Macs vs. 10% PCs. After using my x220 for the past six months, I can say that it has bested my last few Macs in overall experience for less than $900 (though for some reason it is hard to find an i5 x220 at that price right now). Even Windows has improved to the extent where I find OS X superior in some ways but inferior in others. I won’t go into my issues with MBPs in detail, but some of issues with MBPs generally can be researched and discovered through Mac forums (search battery bulge, overheating, noise, Lion installation, etc.). I think reviewers tend to overlook many of these issues with Macs vis-a-vis PCs. My x220 has not exhibited any of those issues thus far. Knock on wood. It also helps that it has a much better screen (I forgot how much an IPS matte bests glossy).
My brother has an MacBook Air, which I think is slick, and frankly, is the only Mac that is worth the price in my opinion. It is kind of weird to think to I used to be so gungho Apple before. I wouldn’t be opposed to purchasing another Apple product (I am in fact looking for a laptop for my wife and am thinking about a MacBook Air (but leaning towards a ThinkPad or Vaio)). At the same time, it is hard to justify paying the Apple tax when I personally find Windows 7 to be overall superior (albeit very slightly) and hardware that usually bests Apple hardware from a cost benefit perspective.
January 17th, 2012 at 4:02 am
@fadi It’s been 3 not 6 months so who knows if my initial favorable experience will change by this time next year.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:00 am
@fadi
I’m going to post only one more time because I just hit an epiphany while laying on my couch primarily web surfing and editing photos on my x220. Right now, with just a pillow underneath, I am using my x220 at about 70% brightness, playing music on Foobar, with Corel Paintshop Pro, Picasa and seven tabs in Chrome open. Prior to this, I was watching a YouTube video, watched parts of a game using NBA League Pass, had a large Excel spreadsheet open, and played a bit of Fallout 2. The battery is still at a healthy 50% (on a 9-cell), and I still have about 5 hours of juice left. Not once did the x220 get uncomfortably hot during this time. I haven’t heard the fans blaring for any significant amount of time. In fact, they are silent now (no hard drive noise either since I installed a mSata), and all I hear is the nice sound of travel from a ThinkPad keyboard. I cannot get this experience from a Mac, period. It would be too hot, too noisy, too slow and suck up juice way to quickly. My wife is sitting on the couch next to me watching the tv, and she is also amazed that she doesn’t hear the noise or feel the heat that my previous laptops have exhibited. I know not all PCs are like this, but damn, I really didn’t know what I was missing!
January 22nd, 2012 at 2:10 am
My budget is US$ 600. Could you help me which laptop would you recommend to me? Thank you please send to my email. madesudarsana2002@yahoo.com.
Thank you
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:01 pm
you people are pathetic. Google it and make your own decision. Are you still being bottle fed at home????????????/
January 24th, 2012 at 2:51 am
Apple is junk mbp is over priced for the equipment in it. But they have a great marketing department so people that dont know much about computers buy them. Btw these were the top 10 laptops? Based on what? Too random of a selection
February 6th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Any Apple users here??? want to get a pc in bout a mnth. Im thnking Apple macbook pro 15, mac air 13 or dell xps 15. whats the best choice?
February 9th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
I am in the middle of the most heinous customer service nightmare with Dell over a laptop. DO NOT GO DELL!!! It broke within the first week, HD fail. When I sent it back, they LOST it, sold it to someone else from their outlet, wouldn’t talk to me at first because my product key# didn’t match their name and address, privacy issues ya know. ??!! Later told me they didn’t have contact information for the name they had.
Then 2 1/2 months later (Bought it from Costco Nov. 3rd 2011) when I finally get the refurbished one with ‘upgrades’ they sent to make up for all my extreme hassle, it’s defective too. The promised upgrades are not there, and while typing, the cursor randomly goes up into other text I’ve typed and inserts itsself! Every few words I have to backspace, fix it, bring it back to where I was. It’s been horrible. Every new barely understandable tech person tells you they will fix it. They never do. It’s like I’m caught in Groundhog Day for laptops. If their tech support ever says they’re going to “escalate your case”? Know that you are screwed. It will only pass by more supervisors, you’ll be called by yet another person that promises to call back, after approval from yet another supervisor, and it just goes on until you get your next defective peice of garbage. DO NOT BUY FROM DELL. You’ve been warned.