Apple has fantastic gifts for you come early 2015.
Cold-forged stainless steel. Formulated for strength
and beauty.
How a product is used should
determine the materials from which it’s made. Apple Watch is designed to
be worn during all your daily activities, from morning workouts to nights out.
That’s why we took a refined 316L stainless steel — an alloy that is remarkably
corrosion resistant — and cold forged it to make it 40 percent harder and less
susceptible to nicks and scratches. We also reduce impurities to achieve the
mirror finish. An additional diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer gives the space
black stainless steel its distinctive look.
Brilliantly scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
Next to diamond, sapphire is the
hardest transparent material on earth. That makes it ideal for protecting the
Retina display. To harvest the crystal, we use a very thin diamond-cutting
wire. The sapphire is then precision-machined into its final form and polished
for many hours to produce the desired finish.
Beautifully engineered bands and closures.
With designs made from fine
top-grain leathers, durable high-performance fluoroelastomer, and
custom-engineered stainless steel, the Apple Watch collection offers the
widest array of band materials and closure styles. Each one is distinctive in
its own right, yet perfectly matched to the collection.
Link Bracelet
Crafted from the same 316L stainless
steel alloy as the case, the Link Bracelet has more than 100 components. The
machining process is so precise, it takes nearly nine hours to cut the links
for a single band. In part that’s because they aren’t simply a uniform size,
but subtly increase in width as they approach the case. Once assembled, the
links are brushed by hand to ensure that the texture follows the contours of
the design. The custom butterfly closure folds neatly within the bracelet. And
several links feature a simple release button, so you can add and remove links
without any special tools. Available in stainless steel and space black
stainless steel.
Milanese Loop
A modern interpretation of a design
developed in Milan at the end of the 19th century. Woven on specialized Italian
machines, the smooth stainless steel mesh wraps fluidly around your wrist. And
because it’s fully magnetic, the Milanese Loop is infinitely adjustable,
ensuring a perfect fit.
Modern
Buckle
A small French tannery established
in 1803 produces the supple Granada leather for this elegant band. The smooth
top-grain leather is lightly milled and tumbled to maintain its refined
texture. What looks like a solid buckle is actually a two-piece magnetic
closure that’s delightfully simple to secure. We also added an inner layer of
Vectran weave for strength and stretch resistance. It’s the same material NASA
used to make the landing airbags for the Mars Rover spacecraft. This band is
available in soft pink, brown, and midnight blue.
Leather Loop
The Venezia leather for this band is
handcrafted in Arzignano, Italy. With an artisan heritage spanning five
generations, the tannery has a history of partnership with some of the most
prestigious names in fashion. A delicate milling and tumbling process enhances
the beautiful pebbled texture. This traditional craftsmanship is combined with
an innovative approach to design. Magnets concealed within the soft, quilted
leather allow you to simply wrap it around your wrist for a precise fit and a
trim look. Available in stone, light brown, and bright blue.
Classic
Buckle
From the renowned ECCO tannery in
the Netherlands, the Dutch leather used for this band is milled to give the
grain a subtle, distinctive texture. The simple closure is crafted from the
same stainless steel as the case. It’s a beautiful take on a traditional band
design. Available in black.
Sport
Band
Because it’s made from a custom
high-performance fluoroelastomer, the Sport Band is durable and strong, yet
surprisingly soft. The smooth, dense material drapes elegantly across your
wrist and feels comfortable next to your skin. An innovative pin-and-tuck
closure ensures a clean fit. Available in white and black.
While our laptop and mobile PC buying guide will give you the tools to
go out and research, shop for, and buy the perfect laptop, hybrid, or
Windows tablet, there's no harm in starting off with a few favorite
picks for 2013.
It's hard to go wrong with the latest version of Apple's MacBook Air. Both the 13-inch and 11-inch
models have updated Intel Core i5 processors and excellent battery
life. For a Windows version of something similar, check out Samsung's expensive 13-inch Ativ Book 9 Plus, which has a better-than HD screen. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro has a similar higher-res display and a flexible hinge that converts into a tablet, for less than $1,000. A very inexpensive option that's still usable for online surfing and sharing is the 14-inch HP Chromebook 14, which runs the Chrome OS from Google.
Since the 2012 version of our buying guide, a couple of big-picture things have changed. Windows 8 (recently updated to Windows 8.1)
is now the default operating system, and its tile-based interface means
that touch screens are now standard in nearly every new laptop. And,
after years of few if any Windows tablets, the Win 8 era has given us
dozens of them, and many are not just basic slates, but ambitious
hybrids with flipping, rotating, or even detachable screens.
Most buying guides and shopping advice tend to get bogged down in the
specs, mechanically listing subcategories within subcategories. Instead,
I'll break out the most important things to know when looking for a new
laptop, with deeper explanations available in any of our in-depth
system reviews. To start with, here are my three cardinal rules for buying a laptop.
Three rules for buying a laptop
1. Don't buy too much laptop
Go
back several years, and $1,000 was considered a good price for a budget
laptop. Today, that's considered premium, and only one company, Apple,
gets away with regularly charging much more than that (but that doesn't
stop others from trying).
So when a reader e-mails us to say
something along the lines of: "I'm looking for a laptop for school, and
I've only got $1,500 to spend," we generally tell them to ease up on the
gas pedal and look at a mainstream slim laptop for $700-$800 or so as a
starting point.
And it's not just underpowered plastic boxes in
that price range, either. Intel Core i5 CPUs and touch screens in slim,
reasonably attractive bodies, with 128GB SSD hard drives are available
in that price range -- which is more than adequate for most users,
unless you're planning on editing a lot of HD video or playing very
high-end PC games.
Long story short, consumers have been buying
too much laptop for years. The brief era of $300 Netbooks took them too
far in the other direction, and now we've comfortably settled at a happy
medium. Touch screens and hybrids have moved average prices up a bit,
but $999 or less can still snag you an excellent premium laptop or
hybrid.
Sarah Tew/CNET
2. Think about traveling light
The
first question I have when someone asks, "What kind of laptop should I
buy?" is this: How many days per week to you plan on carrying your
laptop around with you?
The answer to that should determine what
screen size your laptop should have, which largely defines the system
size and weight. Frequent commutes suggest a lightweight 13-inch
ultrabook (similar to the MacBook Air).
Making a surprising comeback are ultraportable laptops with 11.6-inch
screens, including several recent 11-inch hybrids and Windows tablets,
where you may only have to take the screen with you and leave the
keyboard base at home or the office.
More common midsize
laptops, such as the 15-inch model probably sitting on your desk right
now, are really not much fun to lug around more than once a week or so.
Lastly, if you're convinced you're never going to need to take your
laptop along with you, or at best very, very rarely, then a big 17-inch
or larger desktop replacement is a viable option. Keep in mind that most
of these big laptops can't run for very long away from a power outlet,
and very few we've seen so far in the Windows 8 era have touch screens.
3. Design is king
If
there's one thing we've learned from benchmarking and testing hundreds
of laptops, it's that under the hood, a lot of these systems are awfully
similar. I'd go so far as to say that, with most laptops constructed
from the same pool of stock CPUs, hard drives, RAM, and video cards,
it's dangerously close to being a commodity product.
That's where design comes in. If most laptops within a given class, and
with similar components, are going to run similarly, it's the look and
feel that's really going to push you toward one model over another.
Think of a laptop as a very visual extension of your personality. You
may carry it around with you all day, or even all over the country. You
send e-mails from it, store personal photos and documents, and use it to
connect with people on social networks.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Like
any personal accessory, such as a jacket or a pair of glasses, you
should choose a laptop with a style and design that works for you, as
well as one with a keyboard and touch pad you find comfortable and easy
to use. That's what Apple nails really well -- the parts inside of a
MacBook are not that different from other laptops (although the
operating system is another story), but the human interface tools are
fantastic, and the design has become a standard for what a lot of people
think a laptop should look like.
The current fad for thin
ultrabooks backs this up, as well as the hype that high-design laptops
such as the Samsung Ativ 9 or Asus Transformer Book inevitably generate.
A laptop is a big investment that you'll probably have to live with
every day. If it comes down to choosing between a design you love and a
minor difference in specs, I'd point out that nearly all mainstream
laptops are powerful enough for everyday computing tasks, so go with a
great design.
The categories
There are many ways to categorize
laptops, and we've seen systems chopped into multimedia, gaming,
thin-and-light, ultrabook, ultraslim, and ultraportable. You'll see the
term "ultrabook" used a lot. It's not technically a
laptop category, but instead a trademarked Intel marketing term,
bestowed on laptops that meet Intel's requirements. Most are
MacBook-Air-like thin 13-inch laptops, but you'll also find 14- and
15-inch ultrabooks. We sometimes call systems that are similarly thin
but don't meet Intel's sticker requirements "fauxtrabooks," or just
ultrabook-like.
As a way to cut through the clutter, we use
screen size as the primary category definition for laptops -- which ties
nicely in with our advice above on choosing a laptop based on how often
it will travel with you. Here are the most common laptop categories
you'll find on CNET.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Ultraportable (11-to-12-inch displays)
Ultraportable systems with 11- and 12-inch screens are making a
comeback, thanks to new laptop entries from Sony and Apple, and hybrids
from Lenovo, HP, and others. These typically have low-voltage Intel Atom
CPUs, or sometimes AMD E-series chips. The 11-inch Windows 8 tablets
can start for as little as $499, and go up from there, usually asking
another $100 or so for a keyboard dock. 13-inch laptop
The only screen size distinctive enough to earn its own category, these
systems occupy a unique space in the industry. A 13-inch laptop is the
smallest size we'd be able to work on comfortably all day, and at the
same time, the largest size we'd consider carrying around more than once
or twice a week. Apple's MacBook Pro and Air and the Sony Vaio Pro 13
are popular examples.
As previously mentioned, "ultrabook" is a
trademarked Intel term, but it's largely taken to mean a lightweight
13-inch laptop that's under 18mm thick, with SSD storage. We're almost
at the point where most, if not all, 13-inch laptops are nearly
ultrabook-thin, and the use of the marketing term may fade. In other
words, when everything is essentially an ultrabook; it won't need a
special name.
Some hybrids and convertibles also fall into the
13-inch category, although a 13-inch tablet screen is a bit on the
unwieldy side. Midsize (14-, 15-, and 16-inch displays)
The traditional 15-inch laptop, along with its less-common 14- and
16-inch offshoots, make up this category. Although technically mobile
products, mainstream or midsize laptops tend to stay anchored to one
location, or only move around within a single home or office.
Most midsize laptops have dual-core or quad-core CPUs, most commonly
from Intel's Core i-series line, along with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and large
hard drives with at least 320GB of storage space. High-end extras such
as discrete GPUs and Blu-ray drives are uncommon but available. Intel
also allows for some 14- and 15-inch laptops to use the ultrabook name,
if they meet certain size and spec requirements, but that's rare.
The midsize category covers the widest ground in terms of price and
features, starting at around $500 and going well past $1,000. Most
typical are $800 to $1,000 configurations. Desktop replacement (17-inch or larger display)
These massive 17-inch and larger laptops are meant to literally replace
your old desktop, monitor, and keyboard combination with a single
device that can also be easily transported in a pinch.
Quad-core
CPUs are common, as are discrete graphics cards from Nvidia or AMD. We'd
ask for a full 1080p screen, which is 1,920x1,080 resolution, and
perfect for playing back Blu-ray or high-def digital content.
While 17-inch screens are more common, there are a handful of 18-inch
models, and these large desktop replacement laptops make good hybrid
entertainment centers for the den or dorm room, putting your computing,
video, and music devices in a single box. We've also seen 18-to-20-inch
all-in-one desktops with detachable screens that become, in essence,
giant tablets of varying portability.
Hybrids, tablets, and convertibles
The majority of mobile PCs with screens that detach, flip over, or fold
down to a slatelike shape have screens between 11.3 and 13.3 inches,
and behave largely like traditional clamshell laptops in the
corresponding groups above. Some, such as Lenovo's Yoga series, really
do look and feel like regular laptops most of the time, while others,
including Microsoft's Surface Pro, are meant to spend more time in
tablet mode.
Intel Atom and Core i5 CPUs are common, which is
why some hybrids cost $499, and others more than $1,000. Few models are
really ready to be mainstream consumer products yet, largely because
Windows 8 still doesn't feel fully baked as a tablet OS. Plus, many of
the detachable keyboards and touch pads for these systems are terrible.
That said, if you're looking for a smaller laptop, we'd definitely
recommend checking out a few hybrids of the same size, in addition to
clamshell laptops.
CPUs/processors
Like it or not, you still have to
pay at least some attention to specs and components. Here are the
current Intel and AMD processors, and where you're most likely to find
them. AMD
This company (also the parent of the GPU maker formerly known as ATI) has recently launched new generation of accelerated processing units. Rather than CPU, or central processing unit, AMD
these days uses the term APU, or accelerated processing unit, meaning
that a CPU and discrete-level GPU are combined.
You'll most
likely find the new AMD A4, A6, A8, and A10 chips in upcoming systems
from Acer, HP, and others in spring 2014, offering welcome options for
the budget- and midpriced-PC shopper. Note that far fewer laptops are
available with AMD processors than Intel ones. AMD has a list of current processors here. Intel
If you're looking at a laptop, tablet, hybrid, or even a desktop PC,
chances are it has an Intel CPU in it. The current line confusingly has
the same product names as the previous three generations. But the new
chips, launched starting in June 2013, are also known by the code name Haswell(the previous generation was Ivy Bridge).
These
2013 fourth-generation CPUs are easy to spot, as most have a part
number that begins with the number 4. For example, Sony's new Vaio Pro
13 has a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U CPU. A more detailed list of
processors is available from Intel here.
The
performance difference between last-gen and current-gen CPUs is modest.
However, Haswell has offered significant battery life improvements in
the first wave of laptops we've tested so far, passing 12 hours in the
13-inch MacBook Air. There's a real-world battery life payoff in seeking
out a Haswell-equipped laptop, and we'd wait for whatever model you're
looking at to be updated if it's going to be used frequently on the go.
Intel
Core i3 -- Found in many budget and midrange laptops, this dual-core CPU is fine for everyday computing.
Core i5 -- Intel's mainstream processor, found in many 15-inch, and even some 17-inch laptops, usually between $600 and $1,000.
Core i7 --
Available in quad-core versions, expect to find this in more expensive
performance machines, although unless you're a gamer or serious video
editor, it's unlikely you need this much power.
Pentium, Celeron, and Atom --
Yes, Intel still makes these low-power chips, which have been the bane
of our Labs testing team for years. If at all possible, avoid laptops
with Pentium and Celeron chips. The latest version of the Atom, formerly
code named Bay Trail, offers decent performance and excellent battery
life for smaller tablets and hybrids.
Xeon
-- High-end workstation chips. You'll basically never run across these,
unless you're interested in Apple's new cylindrical Mac Pro desktop or
some other nonconsumer system.
Hard drives and storage
Your
new laptop is going to have either a traditional spinning platter hard
drive (HDD), or a solid-state hard drive (SSD), which is flash memory,
similar to what you'd find in an iPhone or SD card. We've also seen a
few examples of hybrid drives, where a small SSD (perhaps 20GB or 32GB)
is paired with a larger HDD. In theory, this lets the system boot faster
and helps apps open quickly, but stores bulky music and video files on
the standard hard drive.
HDD -- Still found
in the majority of laptops, platter hard drives are large and
inexpensive, but also add weight, heat, and lots of moving parts to your
laptop. Look for at least a 320GB hard drive, even in a budget system.
Most drives run at 5,400rpm (revolutions per minute), but some run
faster, at 7,200rpm, useful for streaming data quickly from the hard
drive when editing video or playing games.
SSD --
These drives run cool and quiet, and produce less heat, but they're
also much more expensive, with smaller capacities. Apple's 11-inch
MacBook includes only a 64GB SSD for $999, but most have a 128GB drive,
with a 256GB upgrade available at significant extra cost. SSD is
doubtlessly the future of computer storage, but for now, the small
capacities mean they aren't ideal for things like large video
collections.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of ports and extras do I need?
A couple of USB ports are a minimum. Most laptops now include at least
two USB 3.0 ports, which are faster than the older USB 2.0 version, but
only when used with compatible USB 3.0 devices, such as external hard
drives. An SD card slot should be non-negotiable, as well as an HDMI
video output. Every laptop includes Wi-Fi now, and will be compatible
with virtually any Wi-Fi signal or router.
Sarah Tew/CNET
What kinds of ports and extras can I skip?
The old-style VGA video output still shows up on most laptops, but
unless you need to connect to something like an old CRT monitor, it's
not required. DisplayPort for video or Thunderbolt (another high-speed
data connection) are only needed if you have compatible hardware. An
Ethernet jack often gets skipped on the thinnest laptops in favor of
Wi-Fi. It's better to have it for emergencies, but it's not the end of
the world if you don't have it. Bluetooth is useful, but only if you
have a Bluetooth mouse, speaker, or headset you plan to use; otherwise
skip it or turn it off to save battery life. Do I need an optical drive?
The answer is trending toward "no," and a good number of thin,
lightweight laptops now skip the optical drive. We haven't missed it,
but some people are definitely still tied to CDs or DVDs as a storage or
media playback format. That said, there are still many people tied to
optical media, so for them, it's a must-have. Do I need a graphics card?
Unless you plan on playing serious PC games on your laptop (Skyrim,
Metro: Last Light, and so on), you can get away with using the graphics
capabilities built into laptops by default. Intel's current version is
called HD 5000, and while it's not for serious gamers, you should be
able to get away with playing casual or older games, or even newer games
if you keep the visual settings set to Low.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Should I get a tablet or a laptop?
Windows tablets have disappointed for years, but the current Windows 8
generation is definitely showing signs of life. Especially because Win 8
is built for touch-screen use (although it's far from perfect), and
most Windows 8 tablets and hybrids have a laptoplike mode or accessories
that make them more universally useful. If you're doing a lot of typing
or touch-pad navigation, I'd still stick to a traditional laptop, or at
best a very laptoplike hybrid, such as Lenovo's Yoga line. What's better, Windows or Mac OS X?
That's a loaded question if there ever was one. Windows users
appreciate the flexibility of that operating system, allowing for
extreme tweaking and personalization. It's available on a nearly
limitless variety of hardware, and with Windows 8, Microsoft has created
a much more touch- and tablet-friendly OS, with a slick, modern look
that's a big break from the past.
Apple's operating system, on
the other hand, is only available on a handful of desktops and laptops.
That said, the joint hardware/software platform makes for a much more
stable/predictable overall experience, and many prefer the user-friendly
OS X layout and controls. Finally, Windows has a much larger available
software library, especially when it comes to free software and games. Should I buy now, or wait for the next update/upgrade/OS/CPU/etc.?
That's the million-dollar question, and it applies to nearly every
technology category. Every new piece of hardware is a step closer to
obsolescence with each passing day, and there's always a new version
coming at some point in the not-too-distant future. Once you accept
that, it's a lot easier to just relax and buy a product you'll enjoy
using, without succumbing to upgrade envy. Where can I find the latest laptop and hybrid reviews?
All the newest mobile PC news and reviews can be found here at CNET.com/laptops.
UK satellite
telecommunications company Inmarsat has announced a nine-figure
investment to boost broadband connectivity in aeroplanes over Europe.
The London-based firm will link aircraft to the internet via
cellphone towers on the ground that have been modified to point
skywards.
A new spacecraft will augment the system, ensuring passengers experience an unbroken onboard wi-fi service.
Inmarsat says its hybrid network will also support a range of other services.
These are likely to include high-resilience communications
that can be used by government agencies in security situations or in
disaster response.
For the in-flight application, British Airways is in advanced discussions to be a launch customer.
It will be hoping that the ability to drive connections
through a ground tower-infrastructure, rather than just through a
traditional satellite network, can increase dramatically the capacity of
those connections while at the same time substantially reducing the
cost of the wi-fi tariffs offered to passengers. Major projects
Inmarsat, whose role in the search for the lost Malaysian jet
MH370 has brought it international prominence, is Britain's biggest
space company.
It is currently in the process of rolling out its £1bn
($1.6bn) next-generation mobile satellite communications network called
Global Xpress.
This is series of big spacecraft that are being placed around
the planet to provide connectivity to customers in remote locations.
Inmarsat is talking about 300 towers being needed across the EU nations
These will include ships at sea, oil and gas installations,
deployed armed-forces, aid agencies in disaster areas, and TV news crews
reporting from trouble zones.
It will also include aeroplanes, but the project announced on
Thursday will be a very different proposition - geographically, because
it is restricted to Europe; and technically, because of its use of cell
towers.
This so-called "air-to-ground" architecture mirrors the
approach taken by GoGo in the US, which has been providing in-flight
broadband internet to commercial jet liners since 2008. AT&T is now
developing a rival system in North America.
Inmarsat is expecting first-mover advantage as it seeks to bring a hybrid, satellite/air-to-ground system to Europe.
It is able to do this because it has access to the necessary tranche of radio frequencies.
These are in the S-band. The European Commission granted
Inmarsat a licence to operate in this part of the spectrum in 2009, and
it has been looking for the right business opportunity ever since.
"The ability to deploy terrestrial technology to serve
aeroplanes gives you dramatic capacity and cost-per-bit advantages [over
traditional satellite only services]," explained Rupert Pearce, the CEO
of Inmarsat.
"We can deliver over 40 gigabits per second across an
air-to-ground network in Europe. That translates to incredible capacity,
so the whole plane can get out their device and start furiously using
the internet. We've seen American consumers taking to the GoGo
experience in droves - they love being connected on aircraft, and they
get a really rich experience at a decent cost," he told BBC News. National challenge
The new satellite that forms part of the integrated network
will be called Europasat. Its construction cost will be shared by
another, but non-competing operator, Hellas-Sat, who will use the
platform to deliver TV to homes. The manufacturer will be Thales Alenia
Space and it should be ready for launch in 2016.
Inmarsat says that planes using the S-band
satellite/ground-to-air network will be switched to Global Xpress
seamlessly when they leave European airspace.
Of all Inmarsat's revenue streams, aero services are
currently growing fastest - in double digits. Market-watchers expect
that trend to continue.
The cost of 5.9-tonne Europasat will be shared between Inmarsat and Hellas-sat
Inmarsat's total outlay for the new network, it told investors, is likely to be near £450m.
Its confidence will be seen as further proof of the health of the UK space sector.
Government ministers have identified satellites as one of the
"eight great technologies" that can help rebalance and grow the
economy.
They have committed to put in place the absolute best
conditions to enable large, medium and small-sized space companies to
flourish.
Government and industry have challenged themselves to build a
sector that is exporting products and services that are valued at £25bn
per year by 2030.
Science and space minister David Willetts said: "I am
delighted that UK-based Inmarsat is leading the creation of a network to
provide airline passengers with in-flight wi-fi.
"Today's announcement is an important investment in new
infrastructure that will promote productivity and growth in the UK and
across Europe. I welcome the fact that this service has been enabled by
the EU's approach to harmonising the necessary spectrum across EU member
states.
"This approach enables companies to build business cases that can deliver Pan-European benefits". Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Google
has hurriedly rushed out a link to D-Day material after failing to
honour the 70th anniversary in its famous daily doodle.
Initially the UK homepage of the search engine had a doodle honouring a Japanese Go player.
It admitted to the Daily Telegraph that that had been uploaded in error, and quickly removed it.
Beneath its logo there is a now a link to letters, photos and maps of the Normandy landings.
The original doodle honoured the 185th birthday of Honinbo Shusaku
There was anger on Twitter about the goof.
"What were you thinking #Google?" asked one.
In response Google's director of communication Peter Barron
said: "We always intended to highlight a new exhibition of imagery and
archive material commemorating D-Day on our homepage.
"Unfortunately a technical error crept in and for a short
period this morning an international doodle also appeared. We're sorry
for the mistake, and we're proud to honour those who took part in D-Day"
The link to D-Day material takes users to the Google Cultural
Institute, which has content on the Normandy landings and access to
more than 400 records, some of them published for the first time.
The idea of marking cultural moments via the Google logo was
born in 1998 when Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google's founders, placed a
stick figure drawing behind the second 'o' in Google as a message to
users that they were out of the office.
Later in the year a turkey was added on Thanksgiving Day, and two pumpkins were made out of the o's in October 1999.
Since 1998 there have been over 2,000 doodles on its home
pages around the world, honouring major anniversaries and the birthdays
of famous people including Albert Einstein and Michelangelo.
Google now has a full time doodle team of illustrators, animators and artists.
Choosing your perfect laptop
There
are hundreds of laptops available to buy, so how do you start narrowing
down the options? From the cheap and cheerful to the sleek and
expensive, we'll tell you how to go about finding the perfect model for
you. A good starting point to thinking about what type of laptop you
need is to consider the following:
What do you want to use your laptop for?
Are you looking for a model that can cope with day-to-day tasks such as
browsing the web, word processing and basic picture editing? Or do you
want a more powerful laptop that can whiz through more demanding tasks
such as editing film or playing advanced games?
Where do you want to use your laptop?
Are you planning to get a model that will stay at home as a desktop
computer replacement, or a more portable device to take out and about?
In
the rest of this guide we take a closer look at the different types of
laptops and what makes a good one, including which features to look out
for, and which you can compromise on.
We test laptops in every category so you can find the perfect one for you. Take a look at our latest laptop reviews to see the most recent models rated and reviewed by the Which? experts.
Find the ideal notebook for you with our guide to the best laptops around
Our continually updated list of all the best laptops available today.
With Windows 8 around and the Windows 8.1
update, Ultrabooks taking off in popularity and laptop-tablet hybrids
seeing more releases, choosing the right laptop is even more confusing
than ever.
Cheap laptops are more powerful and capable
than ever before, while high-end devices are often perfectly good
replacements for your desktop computer, able to cope with more intensive
programs.
Those after a fast boot up time and a lightweight machine to carry might drool over an Ultrabook.
Serious
gamers will want a machine tailored to their graphical and processing
needs, while those after flexibility might fancy a convertible
laptop-tablet hybrid. Speaking of hybrids, check out some of our picks
for the best of 2013 in this video:
Get moreThe latest computing news and features from TechRadar
All
of the machines listed here are laptops. Although we have listed the
convertible laptop-tablets that fall more on the side of laptop than
tablet, we haven't listed those that are more tablet-like. You can find
those in our tablet reviews page and buying guides. Similarly, all-in-one touchscreen computers and other desktop PCs are in our PC and Mac desktop reviews page.
Our
list contains the best laptops that really excelled in our extensive
testing processes this year. We've arranged them into categories to help
you find the one that best suits your needs. Soon, you'll also be able
to find the best deals on these laptops through a future update.
How a product is used should
determine the materials from which it’s made. Apple Watch is designed to
be worn during all your daily activities, from morning workouts to nights out.
That’s why we took a refined 316L stainless steel — an alloy that is remarkably
corrosion resistant — and cold forged it to make it 40 percent harder and less
susceptible to nicks and scratches. We also reduce impurities to achieve the
mirror finish. An additional diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer gives the space
black stainless steel its distinctive look.
