The Best Laptops 2018

[Julio Franco]

When choosing the right laptop it all comes down to what you are willing to spend and what you plan to use it for. After looking at several of the best devices this year and analyzing dozens of professional reviews and user opinions, we bring you the best of the best in a handful of popular categories.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/bestof/laptops/

 

[theruck]

"Apple makes fine laptops, usually pricier, but very well built and running macOS which is unique to them."

BS detector alert!
You can run any OS (even more Windows versions) on Apple laptops while you can not run any OS on the Surface laptop which is even pricier than a MBP.

 

[Squid Surprise]

"Apple makes fine laptops, usually pricier, but very well built and running macOS which is unique to them."

BS detector alert!
You can run any OS (even more Windows versions) on Apple laptops while you can not run any OS on the Surface laptop which is even pricier than a MBP.

But if you're replacing MacOS on your MacBook with Windows, you're a fool.... You're paying a premium for that laptop - most of which is because it has a proprietary OS... If you'e going to put Windows on it, you may as well buy some of the fantastic alternatives that sell for far less and give you far more...

The line "unique to them" did NOT mean you couldn't put any other OS on them... it means that you can't put MacOS on any other laptop!! --> At least not without a lot of hassle and losing out on certain features...

As for the Surface, you also pay a premium for that - for good reason! Unlike a MacBook, you can detach the screen and use it as a tablet.... They're not even in the same league.... Not to mention the Surface also has vastly superior hardware... you're comparing apples to oranges (or Apple to Microsoft actually!).

 

[thelatestmodel]

Which laptop is that in the article title? With the yellow letters on the keys?

 

[Squid Surprise]

Which laptop is that in the article title? With the yellow letters on the keys?

Not sure... think it's the Zenbook... but could definitely be mistaken

 

[Julio Franco]

Which laptop is that in the article title? With the yellow letters on the keys?

Older Zenbook.

 

[Darth Shiv]

I'm looking at getting the MSI GS65 because I've read a lot of reviews from dissatisfied Zephyrus buyers. Mostly build quality issues like screen issues.

 

[Vrmithrax]

Wish you guys also rated the best professional workstation laptops... We are replacing SolidWorks destops with laptops more and more these days, nice to know the best options for that scenario.

 

[MarkHughes]

Wish you guys also rated the best professional workstation laptops... We are replacing SolidWorks destops with laptops more and more these days, nice to know the best options for that scenario.

I'm a coder for Trimble Tekla Structures and our workstation laptops have all been replaced with XPS15's and honestly they are quite up to the task. It gets a bit warm during a big build but it runs the CAD software just fine and I am enjoying the light weight and long battery life when on the move. Might be worth you taking a look.

 

[Vrmithrax]

I'm a coder for Trimble Tekla Structures and our workstation laptops have all been replaced with XPS15's and honestly they are quite up to the task. It gets a bit warm during a big build but it runs the CAD software just fine and I am enjoying the light weight and long battery life when on the move. Might be worth you taking a look.

Thanks, might have to check that out. We tend to do very large complex assemblies, so we really push the pro level graphics cards hard in those poor laptops - so much so that we'll often take slightly lower specs if the laptop has superior venting and cooling features.

But the down side to the mobile workstations with pro cards (Quadro or FirePro) is that you usually have to use the laptop manufacturer's custom drivers, and those can seriously lag behind. My Dell Precision 7510, for example, had long lapses with no video driver updates, and SolidWorks constantly threw up errors and warnings that my video driver was out of date. Very irritating when you are paying a bit of a premium for a "workstation class laptop" that isn't being updated regularly... At least the XPS models would probably have more regular graphics driver updates, since they are more mainstream.

 

[TechnoHippie]

Wow, every single one you mentioned has poor cpu security and nothing with real power! Give me a ryzen laptop with some real compiling and rendering power and a secure architecture and I will pay twice as much everytime. But that's okay, you obviously neither know or care about security or power users.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Wow, every single one you mentioned has poor cpu security and nothing with real power! Give me a ryzen laptop with some real compiling and rendering power and a secure architecture and I will pay twice as much everytime. But that's okay, you obviously neither know or care about security or power users.

You do know this article is a few months old right? What "secure" Ryzen laptops were available to recommend then?