Best Laptops, Ultrabooks and Hybrids of 2015
Best Laptops, Ultrabooks and Hybrids of 2015
1.HP Stream 11
Best Cheap Laptop
Key Fearutes:
Key Fearutes:
·
11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768
display
·
Free Office 365 Personal
subscription
·
Excellent speakers and
battery life
The HP
Stream 11 is an astonishingly cheap Windows 8.1 laptop. It
costs less than £200, and comes bundled with a one-year subscription to Office
365 Personal that’s worth £60. In short, it’s perfect for students and families
on a tight budget.
It’s attractive too and small and lights enough to comfortably carry around in any standard messenger bag. The screen is an average 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 affair, but it gets the job done and is complemented by an excellent keyboard and loud, clear speakers. The HD webcam is also more than good enough for Skype calls.
It’s attractive too and small and lights enough to comfortably carry around in any standard messenger bag. The screen is an average 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 affair, but it gets the job done and is complemented by an excellent keyboard and loud, clear speakers. The HD webcam is also more than good enough for Skype calls.
A 2.16GHz
Intel Celeron N2840 processor, combined with 2GB of RAM, keeps the Stream
going, and it’s powerful enough to cope with light tasks, such as web browsing,
word processing and HD video. The battery is great too, and can keep going for
around six hours under heavy strain.
Price: £179.99/$199.99
2. Asus Zenbook UX305
Best Ultrabook
Key features:
13.3-inch 1080p IPS LCD screen
11-hour battery life
Generous selection of ports
One of the most electrifying
laptops we’ve tested, the Asus Zenbook UX305 is an almost ideal ultra-portable
that won’t break the bank. It’s clad in great-looking matte-effect metal, and
is a super-slim 12.3mm at its thickest point. Despite its slight frame, Asus
hasn’t scrimped on connections, packing three USB 3.0 ports, a full-size SD
card reader and a microHDMI slot into the Zenbook.
The 13.3-inch, 1080p display isn’t quite a
match for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s 2,560 x 1,440 panel, but it’s still pointed
and offers good viewing angles. It’s backed up by a well-mannered pair of
speakers that aren’t the loudest we’ve come across.
Intel’s Core M-5Y10c processor keeps things
ticking over, but it doesn’t deliver the slickest performance. Its good sufficient
for general office tasks, web browsing and watching movies, but gamers would be
better off looking for something more powerful. Stamina, however, is
exceptional – the Zenbook can keep running for around 11 hours between charges.
Price: £650 / $815
3. Alienware 15
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Best Gaming Laptop
Key features:
15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, IPS screen
outstanding performance
Backlit keyboard and trackpad
Aluminium and carbon fibre build
The Alienware 15 is a powerful
machine that’s built for serious gamers. Its bold, chunky design makes it
instantly recognisable as an Alienware laptop, while a combination of aluminium
and carbon fibre ensures it retains a sense of class. It’s not the most
portable, however, coming in at 3kg and over an inch thick.
All models come with a 1,920 x 1,080 IPS
display with an anti glare finish, but you can upgrade to a 3,860 x 2,146
touchscreen panel if you have the cash to splash. We tested the lower
resolution screen, which is impressive, offering accurate colours, deep blacks
and good viewing angles. The speakers are loud and clear, but bass is a little
weak for such a chunky laptop.
The keyboard is great, while the trackpad
comes with two easy-to-press buttons instead of a clicky surface. Both are
backlit, and you can choose from a wide selection of colors.
Price: £1,099 / $1,199
4. Toshiba Chromebook 2
Best Chromebook
Key Features:
13.3-inch screen with 1080p
resolution
1.3kg, 4GB RAM and 16GB flash
storage
Two USB ports, HDMI and SD card
If you have £250 or so to spend
on a laptop then it's hard to look past the outstanding Toshiba Chromebook 2.
This 13-inch Chromebook comes with an eye-catching and high-quality 1080p IPS
screen that's rich and colorful. It's the best screen we've seen on a
Chromebook and that's not all that's good about the Chromebook 2.
Battery life of around nine hours
means this laptop will keep going throughout a working day. A 30-minute charge
adds 30% battery, too, so you it doesn't take long to top that back up.
The design is stylish for such a
cheap laptop, too, and we found the keyboard and trackpad to be a step above.
It's an all round winner that's well worth considering provided you can live
without with traditional applications.
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Price: £250
5. Surface Pro 3
Best Windows 8 laptop and tablet
hybrid
Key Features:
Detachable keyboard base
12-inch, 2,160 x 1,440 pixel
display
Intel Core i3/i5/i7 CPU
The third generation of Surface
Pro 3 is by far the best Microsoft tablet yet, if you’re after something that
can function as a real laptop. The hybrid style is still in place, but this latest
model has a 12-inch screen, rather than a 10-inch one. As well as giving you a
more expansive display to work on, this makes typing easier.
While the keyboard base isn’t
included, we think just about all Surface Pro 3 buyers should get hold of one. The
kickstand
is better this time around too. You can hold the screen at just about any
laptop-style angle. So why isn’t it just a laptop? It also offers a digitizer stylus,
turning it into a digital notepad, and it’s pretty handy as a giant web browser
tablet too.
We don't expect Microsoft to
update the Surface Pro until much later in the year, so it's a safe time to
buy.
Price: £644 (£109 for the
keyboard)
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