Holiday Buyer's Guide: Notebooks
by Dustin Sklavos on November 15, 2010 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Guides
- Holiday 2010
Enter the MacBook
For each of the categories we've listed (well, outside of inexpensive netbook perhaps), there's an Apple alternative, and generally speaking those Apple alternatives are solid. Brian and Anand both use MacBook Pro 15s while they're in the field (and you'd be amazed how often we go in the field, so to speak), and having watched them I can see why.
If you're looking for an ultraportable, the new MacBook Airs are odd chimeras. There's a general distaste around here for Apple opting to continue to use ancient Core 2 processors instead of Arrandale-based chips, but the flipside is that the GeForce 320M integrated graphics are remarkably powerful for these tiny notebooks. If you want something iPad sized but with a physical keyboard, the 11-inch Macbook Air may be what you're looking for.
Really, the big winner in the Apple stable seems to be the MacBook Pro 15. As I said, both Brian and Anand use them, and it's understandable. The Pro 15 has a lot of performance under the hood and brings with it one of the best notebook screens you can find at a time when good displays are at a premium. It's not really a matter of preferring Apple at this juncture; the Pro 15 simply has one of the best blends of form factor, performance, and usability on the market today.
The only reason you'd want to potentially hold off is Sandy Bridge. Apple is expected to update its MacBook Pro lineup sometime next quarter and Sandy Bridge should make a very potent mobile chip.
As for the rest of the lineup, maybe the less said the better. The vanilla MacBook just isn't worth the money anymore with the MacBook Pro 13 available, although the MacBook Pro 17 can make a convincing case for itself if you need a notebook that's that much bigger.
Overall it's going to be a matter of whether or not you're willing to pay the Apple tax (and it can be a steep one) and if you want to make the jump to using Mac OS X. These are certainly capable notebooks as Windows 7 machines, but that's not necessarily what they were intended for. Also keep in mind that connectivity on Apple notebooks is fairly poor compared to their PC brethren: you're going to have to live with just two USB 2.0 ports, no eSATA, and a single Mini-DisplayPort. Bumping up to a MacBook Pro 17 will finally get you an ExpressCard slot and a third USB 2.0 port.
Apple has a tendency to cling to legacy hardware a little longer than maybe they should, but on the flipside, Apple kit also tends to keep a high resale value. The choice is yours.
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DBissett - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
This model doesn't come up on Dell's website. How about a CURRENT model number?nirolf - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
It's the XPS 15. I too had this problem, as even searching their website for "L501x" returned inconclusive results. Maybe a correction could be made in the article.plewis00 - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
This is partly Dell's fault - you'll find their machines with names like 'new Studio 17' but the actual model number will be Studio 1745, etc.If you search for XPS 15 on the net, you inevitably end up with websites misnaming and listing the XPS M1530 15" notebook computer which was a 2008 model (albeit a very nice looking one! And, in my opinion, better looking than the new 2010 XPS 15).
Evil_Sheep - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
-Interesting that only Dell and Asus got top PC recommendations. Actually I respect that: most websites have a manufactured diversity of brands in their recommended lists, probably to appease their advertisers. But also maybe it reflects that Anandtech seems to review a lot of Asus's and Dells. Where are the HP's, Lenovo's and Sony's?-I noticed you co-recommended the Asus U30Jc and U35Jc after you fairly slagged the U35 in your review and said the U30 was the preferred choice. Is this a subtle change of heart?
-The alternative recommendation in that category was the Toshiba Portege R700 but I don't think it makes sense to consider them as competitors since they aren't really in the same market. The R700 is in the "Macbook Air" category (funny how Apple has a way of creating its own market space): ultra-light and ultra-portable with power limitations, ideal as a 2nd computer for someone who wants more than a netbook, or as a primary computer for an undemanding user. The U30/35 on the other hand are clearly in the Macbook 13 space: a full-powered notebook that is still very portable. This is the so-called "thin and light" category, though I wish someone would come up with a name that is less awkward and ambiguous.
-There is a workstation recommendation...nothing wrong with that except it seems a bit unnecessary since there are only 3 self-described competitors in that space (HP, Dell, and Lenovo) and you can't go wrong with any of them. And the number of people looking for workstation recommendations are probably quite small (as you mentioned) since IT depts often procure them, and in addition few need those capabilities in the first place.
-No DTR/17" multimedia recommendation? Seems like an important category.
Not to be overly critical. I like the picks and it's a good overview generally.
Powerlurker - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
HP is widely regarded as pretty much the bottom of the barrel reliabilitywise.Dug - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
I think the MSi GX640 or 660 series should be at the top for gaming.It is fairly lightweight compared to others and has an ATi 5870 or 5850.
I personally like the 640 because of the 1680x1050 resolution and i5 processor.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Having tested the GX640, the keyboard is one of the worst I've personally encountered... almost to the point where I'd prefer the Acer keyboard. It just feels all around horrible when you consider the cost of the laptop, and it should be trivial to change it out, since just about anything would be an improvement. I can't comment personally on the GX660 or GX740 though, so perhaps they're better.Jeff7181 - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
I love Lenovo ThinkPads... it's going to be a tough sell to get me to buy a different brand when I upgrade. I can't believe none even made it as a runner up or alternative. My R61 is great... has the power and memory run several virtual machines for my studies, can do media encoding and light gaming and barely gets warm to the touch while staying quiet. AND it gets 4-5 hours of battery life on the battery that came with it in Feb. of '08.MrMist - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
I think the Asus 1018P with the N550 CPU is an interesting ultraportable, and it would be interesting to see it compared with the other alternatives here.erwos - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
You do realize that the 1015PN does not have Optimus out of the box, right Jared?