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What are the best USB-C laptops?

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409

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Apr 1, 2023

Last
Updated

14 Options Considered

Best USB-C laptops	Price	CPU	RAM
51 Dell XPS 13	$999	8th-generation Intel quad-core i5-8250U or i7-8550U processor	8 GB/16GB
50 Dell XPS 15	$1499	Intel Core i3-7100H / Intel Core i5-7300HQ / Intel Core i7-7700HQ	8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 at 2400MHz
-- ASUS ZenBook 3 UX390UA	$769.99	Intel Core i5-7200U	16GB
-- Lenovo Thinkpad T480s	$1,429.00	-	-
-- Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium	$1844	Intel Core i7	16GB

Dell XPS 13

Top Pro

Latest generation hardware

The XPS 13 was recently updated with all the latest generation hardware which means that it won't become outdated any time soon. See More

Top Con

Battery life does not live up to claims

The battery life is still respectable in real world tests at 8-10 hours, but it's nowhere near the over the top claims of 18 hours made by Dell. See More

Specs

CPU:8th-generation Intel quad-core i5-8250U or i7-8550U processor

Storage:128GB/256GB/1TB SSD

Top Pro

Great build quality

The body has a slick and elegant design. It's a mix of aluminum, carbon fiber and magnesium which hardly ever flexes even when held with one hand. See More

Top Con

The battery wears out quickly

After some use, the battery continues to fall at an alarming rate, to only 5-6 hours after a couple of months. See More

Top Pro

Minimal bloatware

The only pre-installed bloatware is McAfee, but it is easy enough to uninstall. See More

Top Con

Phone support from Dell Customer Service could be better

Phone support is very slow. Customers have reported waiting for up to 15 minutes to get connected to someone who will be able to help solve their issue. See More

Top Pro

One of the best Windows trackpads available

The Dell's trackpad is one of the best Windows trackpads available. It has smooth and precise tracking and even supports three-finger gestures similar to the Macbook's. See More

Top Con

The touchscreen reflects light making it hard to see unless the lighting on the display is properly set

The screen for the touch-screen model is glossy instead of matte (non-touch screen). For what is a Linux notebook this does not make a lot of sense since most Linux users are the more tech savy who program. A glossy screen is more for multimedia, something Linux is not really known for excelling in. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight and portable

It's weight is only 2.7 lbs, making it very portable. See More

Top Con

Charges slowly

Top Pro

Great keyboard

The keyboard is high quality, feels great to type on and isn't too mushy or too shallow. Even though there's nothing very special about the keyboard, it's as good of a keyboard as you could want. See More

Top Con

Not useable with Thunderbold 3/eGPU for gaming

With ThunderBolt 3, i7 CPU and SSD, you might expect the laptop to be a gamer. It is not! There is no cooling built into the PC so the stated 3.6 GHz drops to 1.3 almost immediately and your game goes slow-mo. See More

Top Pro

Decent speakers

The Dell XPS 13 has above average speakers for a laptop, they get very loud but at max volume tend to distort the music a little too much. See More

Top Con

Spongy keyboard

The keyboard feels a bit spongy and also does not have a lot of travel to the keys. When bottoming out there is no feel of completion. See More

Top Pro

Toggleable and customizable keyboard backlighting

Users can turn on or off the backlighting of the keyboard as well as adjust the brightness. See More

Top Con

Not a great choice for people who use their laptops to game as well

The Dell's integrated graphics are very poor for gaming and you won't be able to play graphics intensive games on it at all. A latest-generation AAA game will run at about 20 FPS with lowest settings. While a less graphics-intensive game such as Dota 2 for example will run at 30 FPS with lowest settings. See More

Top Pro

Great Linux support

You can configure the XPS 13 to come with Linux out of the box. Even if you pick the Windows version, the XPS 13 has Linux drivers for all of its features and most users have reported that the whole process of installing a Linux distribution on a Dell XPS 13 is very simple. See More

Top Con

Terrible webcam placement

In order to support the edge to edge display, the webcam is positioned in the bottom right corner making it very impractical to use. Unless you tilt the screen back, the keyboard will take up the bottom of the picture, and because it's so low if you are video chatting it will catch you at an unflattering angle. See More

Top Pro

Uses an SSD for faster operations on disk

Using an SSD greatly increases performance for every I/O operation, especially compared to laptops that use an HDD. The laptop will boot faster, programs that need to read and write to disk will run faster and scripts will compile much faster than on an HDD. See More

Top Pro

Great online customer service

Dell's customer service is one of the best in the industry. Especially the online customer service website. There you will find frequently asked questions which usually solve 90% of issues, if that's not enough, there's a live chat with a customer service representative, who are usually very helpful and very understanding about every issue that may arise. See More

Top Pro

Stunning display

Before buying you can choose between the 4K UHD- or full HD-resolution touch displays or a full HD non-touch one. However, Linux compatibility for super high resolution displays can be spotty at times, so you might be better off sticking with the full HD if you plan on running Linux. Display quality is very good as far as viewing angles, brightness and color reproduction go. It also has a very small bevel so the screen goes more or less edge-to-edge. It also has an output of 400 nit, putting it in the "really bright" category as far as displays go. As for color reproduction, XPS 13's display produces an impressive 107.2 percent of the sRGB color gamut. See More

Top Pro

Sleek looking edge to edge display

Dell has made the bezels on the edge of the display incredibly thin, leaving only the bottom bezel (to house the front facing camera, hinges, and display connections). It looks futuristic and very sleek. See More

Dell XPS 15

Top Con

Awkward webcam location

Like its 13" cousin, the XPS 13, the XPS 15 has the same awkwardly located webcam in the lower left corner. Low webcams are not flattering for video conversations. Depending on it's angle, the bottom of the frame may catch the keyboard See More

Top Pro

Optional password-free-sign-in via a fingerprint reader

For an additional $25 it’s possible to enjoy a password-free-sign-in by having a fingerprint reader. It will keep your laptop safe while still providing convenient access to it. See More

LearnedEiresione's Experience

Have been usiing a XPS 15 9560 and got constant problems with crashes and BSODs. Thottle problem constantly and my co-worker got BSODs problems with his XPS 15 9560. Do not pick this! See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core i3-7100H / Intel Core i5-7300HQ / Intel Core i7-7700HQ

RAM:8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 at 2400MHz

Storage:500GB HDD + 32GB Flash / 1TB HDD + 32GB Flash / 256/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD

Weight:2kg (4.44 lbs)

Top Con

9560 model's GPU has compatibility issues on Linux

The new 9560 model has some trouble accepting its GTX 1050 Ti video card while running a Linux operating system. Fortunately, the integrated Intel graphics card is capable enough to substitute it. The manufacturers are probably aware of the issue and will, most likely, release an update for it. See More

Top Pro

Amazing display

Two display choices are available for the XPS 15, an Ultra HD touchscreen or a Full HD non-touch screen. Both screens have a very wide array of colors as they cover approximately 100% of sRGB color space. Both screens have wide viewing angles. Although slight color change can be noticed when viewed from extreme angles, it isn’t even noticeable in everyday usage. With over 340 nit output for brightness, they are viable choices for outdoor usage. See More

Top Con

Audible coil whine

Coil whine can be heard when it’s generally quiet and the fans are not running. Audible when the laptop is connected to the power supply. The manufacturers have acknowledged it as a problem and, if possible, will push out an update which should eliminate it. Until then, it’s still a gripe. See More

Top Pro

Solid keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard and trackpad are reliable and solid all-around. The keyboard is responsive but is not super “clicky”, rather a bit soft. It has a white backlight on black keys that illuminates them at night. The touchpad is rather large while having no buttons. Despite this, the XPS 15 can reliably distinguish between the left and right clicks which are done on the trackpad itself. See More

Top Con

Mushy keyboard

Despite the 15" real estate, Dell didn't take advantage and introduce a more comfortable keyboard. Travel distance is a bit shorter than normal, and the keycaps wobble. The actuation of the keys feels a bit mushy, leading to slightly slower typing speeds and more errors. See More

Top Pro

Slick design

The whole design is quite stylish. The aluminium chassis provides a very clean look while the black carbon fiber palm rest with an almost borderless display cements it as a visually modern laptop. All of this is made with a premium build quality. See More

Top Con

Palmrest collects sweat

The palm rest is made from carbon fiber which attracts fingerprints and sweat. After some time it gets kind of unpleasant to touch and needs to be cleaned. See More

Top Pro

Operates well on a Linux system

All essential things, like network connectivity, ports and sound, work right “out-of-the-box” with a Linux operating system. There is a compatibility issue on the new 9560 model with its graphics card but the laptop is still very usable with its integrated Intel graphics card. See More

Top Con

Some ghosting in games

The display is not intended for gaming purposes so it can produce an effect called “ghosting”. Ghosting is when the pixels are not able to change their colors fast enough, so the color of the preceding frame can still be slightly seen on the next frame. This causes a blurring effect. Note that it only happens on high framerates coupled with fast objects. See More

Top Pro

Very well-rounded laptop

The cheapest configuration is a great choice for general non-intensive use - things like internet browsing, watching movies and similar tasks. Whereas the more expensive configurations are gradually more capable of intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming. It’s not as good as a specialized computer built for a specific purpose, like a video editing laptop with an enormous RAM size or a gaming laptop with a superior graphics card, but it’s a very well-rounded, reliable laptop. See More

Top Con

Noisy fans

The laptop is very quiet during idle and light usage but when there is some workload, the fans get quite loud and distracting. See More

Top Pro

Can run most modern games

Being an excellent all-rounder, it can be used as a gaming laptop for games that are not exceptionally demanding, like Overwatch or Dota 2. Unless you’re using the cheapest model, you can expect a reasonable 60 frames per second for almost all modern games, provided that you’re willing to lower the game’s settings. See More

Top Con

Battery doesn’t hold long with the Ultra HD screen

If you’re choosing the configuration with an Ultra HD screen, expect a very short battery life of around 6 hours for general usage. With more intensive tasks it's even less than that. See More

ASUS ZenBook 3 UX390UA

Top Con

Only one USB-C port

The Zenbook 3 comes with just one USB-C port that acts as a port for the charger as well. This means that you need to use a dongle in case you want to charge your laptop and use peripherals at the same time. See More

Top Pro

Charges entirely over USB-C

The Zenbook 3 fully implements USB-C charging and charges at full speed without needing a separate AC cable. See More

Specs

CPU: Intel Core i5-7200U

Storage:512GB SSD

Top Con

The wrist rest area flexes a little

The area where the wrist is supposed to rest has a little flex due to the chassis being made of plastic. See More

Top Pro

Decent screen

The 12.5inch screen has a FullHD panel and reaches a maximum brightness of 270nits. Color coverage is rather average unfortunately, at just 85% of the sRGB color gamut. One interesting feature of the Zenbook 3 are the thin bezels around the screen which give it a very premium feel. See More

Top Con

Keys are a little shallow

While the keyboard is large and (most of the time) pleasant to use, the keys themselves are a little shallow which introduces a weird feeling that can lead to frequent typos. See More

Top Pro

Great speakers

Zenbook's speakers are certainly a highlight of the laptop. The music is clear and has some depth to it. The sound enhancement software that comes with the laptop does a pretty good job of adding a little bass to the drum beats. See More

Top Pro

Extremely portable

Weighing just 910g and being only 12mm thick, the Zenbook 3 is a very portable laptop that you can easily carry around in a backpack and forget it's there. See More

Top Pro

Finger print reader for quickly logging in

Top Pro

Backlit keyboard

Top Pro

Has good keyboard key travel for its size

Top Pro

Has the world's smallest fan

Top Pro

Powered by powerful i5 or i7 CPUs

Top Pro

Up to 16 GB of RAM for double the price

Lenovo Thinkpad T480s

Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium

Top Pro

Overall good price/quality ratio

At this price, the Eluktronics P650RS offers a lot of features, performance, and quality compared to competitors. Gaming laptops with a GTX 1070 usually cost $100 or more and might not have the same level of build quality or other features found in this laptop. See More

Top Con

Terrible battery life

Even when using this laptop for light activities such as web browsing, watching movies, or editing documents it averages at about three hours of independent use. This was measured at about 40% screen brightness so it would be much lower at a higher brightness. When it's used for gaming then the average battery life drops to less than two hours of independent use because of the relatively high resource requirements that both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 have. See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core i7

Screen size:17.3inch

GPU:NVidia GeForce GTX 1080

Top Pro

Excellent build quality

The case is made from a very durable plastic with a metal finish that does not feel cheap or flimsy to the touch. See More

Top Con

The display should be better for this price

The Eluktronics P650RS uses a IPS display panel which is decent in itself but could and should probably be better for this price point. Where it lacks specifically is in terms of contrast, colours, and response time. There's also some light bleeding when looking at a completely black screen. See More

Top Pro

Excellent gaming performance

Both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 versions of this laptop offer excellent performance when gaming. The P650RS consistently hits 80+ FPS in most AAA games at ultra settings. For example, the GTX 1070 version can play Total War: Warhammer at 100FPS on 1080p with ultra settings. While the GTX 1060 version can play Battlefield 4 at 80FPS on ultra settings. Even the relatively cheaper version of the P650RS with the GTX 1060 can pack a punch. See More

Top Con

The touchpad has issues with two-finger use

When trying to scroll up or down by using two fingers there are some synchronization issues with the touchpad. See More

Top Pro

Good keyboard

The keyboard is pretty good. It's backlit with programmable colors. The tactile feedback is decent across all keys and the travel length is about the average (1.5mm) for this kind of laptop. See More

Top Con

Has some issues with heat

Since the cool air is sucked from the bottom of the laptop, the bottom needs to stay above the sitting surface at all times. But even when this advice is followed, the P650RS still has some issues with overheating. The center and left parts of the keyboard are the most problematic ones. It's not unusual for the keyboard to heat so much as it starts being a bit uncomfortable to use. See More

Top Pro

Quality speakers

The two speakers packed in this laptop are pretty good, especially when compared with previous models. They provide reasonable bass and the mids have both good richness and deepness to them. See More

Top Con

The speakers are not very loud

Even though they provide good sound, the P650RS-G speakers are not loud at all. See More

Acer Aspire S13 S5-371T-78TA

Top Pro

Good build quality

Most of the chassis is covered by a textured nano-imprint cover which adds a very "premium" feel to it and is great to the touch. The keyboard and wrist area are made of aluminium, which looks great when the laptop is opened. See More

Top Con

The thick plastic bezel around the display is a bit off-putting

The display is surrounded by a thick plastic bezel which should have been avoided as it makes the laptop seem cheaper and less attractive than it should be. See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core i7-7500U

Storage:256GB SSD

Screen size:13inch

Ports:2xUSB 3.0, 1xUSB Type-C, SD Card Reader

Top Pro

Has a top-notch display

This laptop's display outshines most of the competition, from various lab tests it managed to score 106.8% sRGB color gamut. Which is better than the average for this display size (83%). The display is quite bright as well. At 327 nits you can clearly see what's on the screen even under direct sunlight. See More

Top Con

The touchpad has accuracy issues

This laptop's touchpad works fine with two-finger scrolling but has issues when navigating around the desktop. There's some slight stuttering with the cursor and it's easy to accidentally select text if your palm brushes the touchpad by accident. See More

Top Pro

Has both touch and non-touch display options

The Aspire S13 can be ordered with either type of display. They are both 1080p but the non-touch version is a bit brighter. See More

Top Con

White version looks great when new but turns grubby eventually

Mine has become stained around the corners and even some parts of the top cover after several months. See More

Top Pro

Good performance for casual use

The Aspire S13 is a decent laptop for most day-to-day activities for students or normal users. The 8GB of RAM and i7 CPU work amazingly well for web browsing, watching videos or working with files and documents. See More

Top Con

Slight sound distortion on high volume

There is some slight sound distortion when volume is over 90%. Below that level everything sounds perfect. See More

Top Pro

Great design

The Aspire S13 comes in two colors, obsidian-black and white. Both of them have a nano-imprint cover, which gives the laptop a nice and slick aesthetic. See More

Apple Macbook Pro

Top Pro

The default macOS is very developer friendly since it's a Unix

OSX is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on OS X. There's a large selection of great development tools available for OSX. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing OSX and iOS software, for free. See More

Top Con

Hard to repair or upgrade the hardware

The battery and other components are glued in, and the battery blocks access to other parts. The battery will wear out eventually, and the fact that it's glued in means that Apple prevents you from easily repairing or upgrading a MacBook Pro. See More

InfluentialOdqan's Experience

As a professional developer, osx catalina and the touchbar has taken apple from my absolut favorite weapon of choice, to the most frustrating part of my work life. And the keyboard is an absolut disaster, had it replaced twice in less than 1 year. See More

Top Pro

Great keyboard

The 2016 Macbook uses the second generation of the "butterfly" keyboards first introduced in 2015. They feel different to use than most laptop keyboards as they are very shallow, but most people report really enjoying the keyboard after getting used to it. See More

Top Con

You need dongles or a dock to connect USB-A devices

There are no USB-A ports, so you'll need a dongle or a dock to use things like webcams. See More

Top Pro

Universal Accessible Charging

You can charge it anywhere with a USB port. See More

Top Con

Terrible Linux support

The 2016 hardware has zero Linux compatibility due to new standards used by Apple. Until drivers are released for Linux, which there has been no news of, the 2016 Macbooks cannot be used for Linux at all. See More

Top Pro

Very light and thin

The 13" MacBook Pro is just 0.71 inches thin and 4.49 pounds light. See More

Top Con

The keyboard is unique in how it feels and some people may need some time to get used to it

The keyboard on the Macbook is unique and some people may not like the way the keys feel to press or not having physical function keys. See More

Top Pro

Great battery life

You can expect 9-10 hours of battery life with regular use See More

Top Con

Glossy screen

Apple has deleted the matte-screen option from its lineup, an unfortunate decision that reduces the usability of the computers and means you get less work done. You won't realize how much time you spend moving your head around to get reflections off whatever you're trying to see until you switch to a matte screen. Those "deep blacks" and "rich colors" that you were supposed to get from a glossy screen are not present, since they're buried behind a sheen of reflection under all lighting conditions. See More

Top Pro

One of the best SSDs that can be found on a laptop

The read and write speeds of the SSD used in the Macbook Pro are the best in the market by far. This doesn't just mean opening/saving files is quicker, but this has a pretty huge impact on general application performance. See More

Top Con

Limited gaming performance

The Macbook lacks a dedicated GPU, so gaming performance will be limited. That said it comes with the best integrated graphics on the market and will be able to play modern games on low settings well. See More

Top Pro

Great performance

The combination of a 4th gen i5 CPU and an 5200 integrated GPU makes for a powerful laptop. See More

Top Con

Only has a single USB-C port

If you regularly need to use pen-drives, SD cards, or connect to a display, you will need to purchase a dongle ($79 for the official dongle) and carry it around. See More

Top Pro

One of the best trackpads around

The Macbooks are renowned for having the best trackpad out of any laptop. It has full gesture support, you can configure in the software how much pressure you want before it physically clicks and the finger tracking is perfect. See More

Top Pro

Amazing build quality

The MacBook Pro has an all-aluminum body that looks great and is sturdy enough that worries of accidentally damaging are mostly alleviated. It has a robust lid, well-spaced back-lit keyboard with speakers on each side of the keyboard and an excellent button-less trackpad. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic display

The 13" MacBook Pro has a sharp, color accurate 2560 x 1600 IPS display. It's bright at 286 nits, has great viewing angles (viewable at up to 178 degrees) and capable of displaying 87.3% of sRGB color gamut. See More

Top Pro

Good customer support

Apple offers support over the phone worldwide, provides support in Apple retail stores and authorized resellers and has community forums where users can help users. See More

Top Pro

Can run up to 3 external monitors and output 4K

With 2 Thunderbolt (DisplayPort) plugs and 1 HDMI, MBP can run up to 3 external monitors and output 4K over HDMI. See More

Top Pro

Plenty of RAM for multitasking

The MacBook Pro has up to 16 GB of RAM. That much RAM is perfect for running IDEs, emulators, and virtual machines. See More

ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW

Top Con

Gets warm

While they keyboard doesn't get hot, it does get warm (33C or 91F), and temperatures on the exterior exhaust fan can reach 48.5C (119F) which is higher than comparable laptops. See More

Top Pro

Quiet fans

The fans produce at most 43.9 dB(A)of sound, quieter than virtually all of its gaming competitors. During idle, it is very quiet at just 28.9 dB(A). See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Quadcore CPU (turbo to 3.5GHz)

Weight:5 lbs (2.27 kgs)

Screen size:15.6"

Top Con

Poor speaker volume

Basses are virtually non-existent, and the volume doesn't go very high (although at high volume the sounds aren't distorted). See More

Top Pro

Good display

The UHD (8340x2160) IPS panel is a touchscreen model. It's average brightness is 250.2 cd/m² which is reasonable, but not ideal for outdoor use. The glass layer used is thicker, muting colors a bit more than other laptops. sRGB achieves 89%, and AdobeRGB scores 58% - both reasonable results, however not extraordinary. The screen is glossy, and provides great viewing angles. See More

Top Pro

Good performance

The i7-6700HQ processor paired with 16GB of RAM and accompanied by the GTX 960M offers good performance for just about any task, although machines with similar hardware can be found for considerably less (although they don't come with USB Type-C). The CPU scores 113 in CineBench R15 - a disappointing result. It's expected that that the system throttles down below its maximum setting before finishing the test. For storage speeds, this laptop is great. It uses NVMe SSDs that are more common on extremely high end hardware. It can achieve 1633 MB/s read, and 1579MB/s write. Gaming performance is very good, with games running on high settings with ease. Ultra settings will bring down FPS to below 30 for some games, however lighter titles can still run up to 77FPS (StarCraft 2). See More

Top Pro

Good battery life

At full load, the ZenBook Pro can last for 1h57m, and when surfing the web it lasts 6h19m. These are good results for a gaming focused gaming laptop. See More

Razer Blade Stealth

Top Pro

Allows you to boost graphics power by connecting to an external GPU over Thunderbolt 3

The Razer Blade Stealth can be connected to an external GPU enclosure using the Thunderbolt 3 port, taking advantage of the new port's bandwidth to allow a desktop graphics card communicate with the laptop to provide top performance. See More

Top Con

Poor construction quality

This is my second unit, the first one having been replaced just before the warranty expired. Still, wifi board is dead, case is warped, screen connector is flaky causing the screen to constantly flicker. See More

AdventurousHippolytus's Experience

horrible design. case warps, my battery expanded and caused the track pad to stop working. The Wifi board went out so I have to carry a wifi dongle and the screen connector is flaky so the screen constantly flickers. All in all I give this unit a 1 out of 10 after having used it for 4 years. See More

Top Con

Inconsistent software

Razer's preloaded software is generally a poor replacement for default windows tools. First generation models suffer from freezes / crashes that software updates have failed to fix. See More

System76 Oryx Pro

Top Pro

4k is available

Upgrade the graphics card and processor, 4k is available. See More

Top Con

Customer service could be much better

System76's technical support is pretty bad. When there's a problem that should be solved by them, they usually resort to sending replacement parts instead or blaming third-parties (even if those third-parties are not at fault) of something that they should be fixing. See More

Specs

Storage:Dependent on display size 15″: 1× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 5 TB total 17″: 2× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 6 TB total

Weight: Dependent on display size 15″: 4.37 lbs (1.98 kg) 17″: 6.61 lbs (2.99 kg) Base weight. Varies on configuration

Display:15.6″ or 17.3″ 1920×1080 144 Hz refresh rate or 3840×2160 4K HiDPI, Matte Finish

Battery:Dependent on Display 15″: Embedded 4 Cells Polymer battery pack– 55Wh 17″: Embedded 4 cells Polymer battery pack 66Wh

Top Pro

Inexpensive Upgrades

You can deck this bad boy out with 64 GB ram, HK i7 processor, 1tb NVMe evo, 1070 8 gb Nvidia. This is the best laptop and machine for the money. You will not find a better laptop with these kinds of quality upgrades without being gouged. Don't buy a Lenovo or a MacBook, they do not have the hardware to back it up. See More

Top Con

Very heavy and bulky

Weighing at 5.5lbs for the 15.6" version it's relatively heavy and it's one inch thicker than the XPS 13. But the extra space is not put to waste, considering how it has an Ethernet port, SD card slot, 2 Mini DisplayPrts, HDMI port, 2 USB 3.1 Type-C ports, 3 USB 3.0 Type-A ports and headphone and mic jacks. The GTX 1070 version also includes a headphone amplifier. However, the power brick that comes with the charger is ridiculously large at 2lbs which understandably adds to the weight of the laptop since most of the time you have to carry both with you. See More

Top Pro

Good speakers

One of the bonuses of having a larger body is that you get to use good speakers instead of some small ones stuck underneath the laptop. They are also angled toward the user and the sound is crisp and loud enough, even though it lacks some bass. See More

Top Pro

Good for gaming

The Oryx Pro is probably the best laptop with Linux support out of the box that is great for gaming as well. This is mostly because of the NVIDIA graphics cards. It comes by default with the GTX 1060 but for $289 more, you can add a GTX 1070 instead. The default 8GB of RAM is good for gaming but the 16GB RAM is ideal. See More

Top Pro

Amazing overall performance

The default 6th generation i7 Processor coupled with the 16GB of RAM (even better with the versions with 32GB and 64GB) make for an absolutely amazing machine. It has a dedicated SSD for the OS only which massively increases startup time and for anything else you can choose up to two SSDs or HDDs of varying sizes. The Oryx Pro is perfectly capable of doing some heavy-lifting including 4K video editing and gaming at highest settings without a hitch. See More

Top Pro

Good keyboard

The keyboard is very nice, it's not amazing by any means but quite comfortable to work with. The keys are pretty thick, thicker than what you may find in laptops today and with a nice springiness to them. The keyboard also supports multicolor backlighting. See More

Top Pro

Great Linux support

All System76 laptops come with Linux out of the box. The Oryx Pro comes with either Ubuntu 16.04 LTS or Ubuntu 16.10. But that does not mean that other Linux distributions are not supported, quite the contrary. Most Linux distros should work without any major problems with the Oryx pro and most (if not all) drivers are available. See More

Top Pro

Good display

Has a 1080p matte display with an optional IPS matte display version. With great colors and brightness and almost no eye strain even when it's used for extended periods. See More

Top Pro

Very customizable

Before buying the System76 Oryx Pro from the System76 website, you get to customize almost every aspect of the laptop as far as specs go. The price depends on what you choose to put inside your laptop and prices vary from $1475 for the basic version to $7000 for a laptop with a 17.3" Matte IPS Display, a GTX 1070, 6th Gen i7 CPU, 64GB RAM, and two SSDs of 5TB and 4TB respectively. See More

Dell XPS 12

Top Con

When using in laptop mode you can't tilt the screen to your liking

Since there's no hinge, you can't tilt the screen to your liking. It stays fixed at a 110 degrees angle. See More

Top Pro

Unique design

Like other laptops in the XPS series, the XPS 12 is not any different in the design department. It's a beautiful piece of hardware albeit a little strange for convertible laptops since it doesn't have anything that holds the screen and keyboard together. There's no latching mechanisms or prongs like in other similar devices. The screen slots in place and a combination of magnets, friction, and gravity holds it in place. It may seem a bit unnerving at first but it works and it's very secure while still allowing the user to easily lift the screen off. See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core M 6Y54 1.1 GHz

Storage:256GB SSD

Screen size:12.5inch

Top Con

Middling battery life

The XPS 12 has an average battery life of 3 hours. See More

Top Pro

Amazing display

The XPS 12 has a 4K display that's one of the best in its class. The sRGB color space is covered by 100% and the screen brightness is great as well. See More

Top Con

Works comfortably only on a desk or lap

When keeping the laptop on a flat surface such as a desk or one's lap, the viewing angles are good. But working with it in any other position (such as when lying down) you will have a hard time with the viewing angles. There's also the issue of the screen tumbling forward since it's not held in place by anything other than some magnets. See More

Top Pro

Great keyboard

The keyboard is on the same level as some business-grade laptops. Keys feel great to the touch and they have a slight curvature which makes hitting keys easier. They also offer a travel distance of 1.9mm, more than any other convertible laptop on the market. See More

Top Pro

Doesn't rely on a flimsy hinge

This 2-in-1 laptop has a rigid keyboard base on which you place the tablet part. This avoids using a flimsy hinge like other 2-in-1 laptops and offers a great tactile typing experience found in business-grade laptops. See More

Top Pro

Great build quality

Both main parts (the keyboard and the screen) are made of high-quality magnesium alloy and the device is coated with a pleasant layer of soft touch paint. See More

MacBook

Top Con

Not very powerful

With an Intel Core M processor, the Macbook isn't a serious development laptop. While it will get the job done for lighter tasks, it will struggle with heavier jobs. See More

Top Pro

Decent keyboard

Specs

CPU:1.1GHz Intel Core M Turbo Boost 2.4GHz / 1.2GHz Intel Core M Turbo Boost 2.6GHz

Storage:256GB / 512GB PCIe SSD

Weight:2.03 lbs

Top Con

It's a bit hard to get used to the keyboard

The keys are pretty shallow, with a travel length of just 0.5mm. They still provide good feedback and the writing experience itself is not bad, but it's just a bit hard getting used to, especially if you are coming from a laptop that's not a MacBook. See More

Top Pro

Completely silent operation

Thanks to the Core M processor (which doesn't require a fan) and the SSD storage, there are no moving parts the in MacBook. It will operate in complete silence. See More

Top Con

Connecting more than one thing requires a hub

The laptop comes with a single USB-C port that's used for charging as well as any other peripherals or external storage devices. Connecting more than one thing at a time requires using a USB hub. See More

Top Pro

Amazing display

Everything about the display is very good - from its high resolution (2304x1440) to the brightness (325 nitts), uniform brightness distribution (90%), and high contrast ratio (1000:1) with over 95% of the sRGB spectrum. Overall, a great display which will come in handy for people who work with visual arts. See More

Top Pro

Available in 4 colors

The laptop is available in space gray, gold, silver and rose gold (pink) finishes. See More

Top Pro

Very good speakers

The speakers, found above the keyboard produce loud and clear sound with minimal to no distortion whatsoever. They can be used for both listening to music and watching movies with no problem at all. See More

Top Pro

Extremely portable

The laptop weighs just 2 pounds and is 13.1 mm thin. It's one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on the market and it's extremely portable and easy to carry around. See More

Top Pro

Decent battery life

The battery lasts around 7h30m of continuous web browsing which is about average for this class of laptops. Where this laptop's battery truly shines though is under heavy stress where it manages to last an impressive 2h35m under a total stress test (maxed out brightness and processor usage - circumstances that you are likely never going to encounter in the real world). See More

Top Pro

Excellent trackpad

The MacBook has a large 4.4 x 2.7-inch Force Touch trackpad with a Taptic Engine that delivers haptic feedback whenever the user taps on it to give them the impression that they are actually clicking on it. It also supports gestures and multi-finger swiping. The accuracy is almost perfect and there's virtually no lag or stutter when using the trackpad. See More

Top Pro

macOS is developer-friendly

macOS is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's a certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on macOS. There's a large selection of great development tools available for macOS. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing macOS and iOS software, for free. You can also install Homebrew, an extremely useful package manager. See More

ThinkPad E14

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