Electronics

What is the best laptop for Windows?

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Dell XPS 13 vs Dell XPS 15 vs Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM

 vs Microsoft Surface Pro vs ThinkPad X1 Carbon vs Microsoft Surface Book 2 (15-inch) vs Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro vs Asus Zenbook UX501JW vs Lenovo Yoga Book (Windows) vs Surface Laptop vs Acer Aspire series

Specs

RAM

8 GB/16GB

CPU

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

GPU

Intel UHD Graphics 620

Weight

2.7 lbs

Storage

128GB/256GB/1TB SSD

Ports

2xUSB3 & 1xDisplayPort

Wireless

802.11 n & Bluetooth 3.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Card Reader

No

Screen resolution

UHD, FHD

Screen size

13.3"

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 at 2400MHz

CPU

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

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 630 / NVIDIA GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5

Weight

2kg (4.44 lbs)

Storage

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

Ports

1 HDMI 1.4 2 USB 3.0 with PowerShare 1 Thunderbolt™ 3 (2 lanes of PCI Express Gen 3) Supports: Power In / Charging, PowerShare, Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps Bi-Directional), 3.1 USB Gen 2 (10Gbps), VGA, HDMI, Ethernet and USB-A via Dell Adapter

Wireless

802.11 AC & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) / 15.6-inch UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) Touch display

SD reader

Yes

Size

14.06 x 9.27 x 0.45-0.66-inches

Battery

56 / 97WHr

Display Size

15.6 inches

Operating System

Windows 10

Release date for the most recent model

2017

Touchpad Size

4.1 x 3.1 inches

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

4GB

CPU

7th Gen i3

GPU

-

Weight

-

Storage

-

Ports

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

1080p

Screen size

-

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

1 USB3.1, 2 USB3.0, 1 USB2.0

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

4GB / 8GB / 16GB

CPU

0.9 GHz m3-6Y30 / 2.4 Ghz i5-6300U / 2.2 GHz i7-6650U

GPU

Intel HD graphics 515 / Intel HD graphics 520 / Intel Iris graphics

Weight

1.69 - 1.73 lbs

Storage

128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB SSD

Ports

1xUSB 3.0 & 1xMini DisplayPort

Wireless

802.11 ac a/b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

5MP & 8MP

Aspect Ratio

3:2

Trackpoint

No

Card Reader

Yes

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

12.3 in 2736x1824 multitouch

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

October 2015

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

8GB/16GB LPDDR3 1866Mhz

CPU

-

GPU

Intel HD 620 Graphics

Weight

2.49 lbs / 1.13 kg

Storage

512GB/1TB SSD

Ports

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card, Native RJ45 dongle port

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

1920x1080 or 2560x1440

Screen size

-

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

15.5 hr MobileMark 2014

Dimensions

WxDxH: 12.74" x 8.55" x 0.63" / 323.5mm x 217.1mm x 15.95mm

Battery capacity

57Wh

3DMark Firestrike Score

1001

CPU

Up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7

Ethernet Port

Dedicated Ethernet Port via ThinkPad Ethernet Extension Cable

Memory

-

RAM

-

CPU

8th Generation Intel Core i7

GPU

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060

Weight

-

Storage

-

Ports

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

15"

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

8GB / 16GB

RAM

4GB / 8GB

CPU

1.7 GHz i5-4210U / 1.8 GHz i7-4500U / 2.0 GHz i7-4510U

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 4000 / 4400

Weight

3.06 lbs

Storage

128GB / 256GB / 512GB SSD

Ports

1xUSB3 & 1xUSB 2.0 & HDMI

Wireless

802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Card Reader

Yes

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

13.3 in 3200x1800 IPS multitouch

SD reader

Yes

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

October 2013

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

4GB / 8GB

CPU

2.6 GHz i7-4720HQ

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce 960M

Weight

4.5 - 5 lbs

Storage

128GB / 256GB SATA III SSD / 1TB HDD

Ports

3xUSB 3.0 & 1xDisplayPort & 1xHDMI & (optional) 1x Thunderbolt

Wireless

802.11 ac a/b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Card Reader

Yes

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

15.6 in 1920x1080 / 1920x1080 IPS / 3840x2160 IPS

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

May 2015

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

-

CPU

-

GPU

-

Weight

-

Storage

-

Ports

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

4GB/ 8GB/ 16GB

CPU

Intel Core i5/i7

GPU

Intel® HD 620/ Intel® Iris™ Plus Graphics 640

Weight

2.76 lbs/2.83 lbs

Storage

128GB/ 256GB/ 512GB SSD

Ports

1xUSB 3.0 & 1xMini DisplayPort

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

14.5 h

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

RAM

-

CPU

-

GPU

-

Weight

-

Storage

-

Ports

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Card Reader

-

Screen resolution

-

Screen size

-

Display

-

SD reader

-

Size

-

Battery

-

Display Size

-

Operating System

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

Touchpad Size

-

USB Ports

-

Release date

-

Battery Life

-

Dimensions

-

Battery capacity

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Memory

-

Pros + Cons

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Pro
 Lightweight and portable

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

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Pro
 Toggleable and customizable keyboard backlighting

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

Pro
 Non-glossy

The build is non-glossy, so no fingerprint markings all over the thing.
Comment

Pro
 Plenty of RAM for all programming needs

Building software typically takes more resources than running the final product. Having a lot of RAM helps building big complex applications faster.
Comment

Con
 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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Con
 Spongy keyboard

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

Con
 Trackpad hardware (touch/feel/operation) is noticeably worse if coming from MacBook/MBP

Part of this is the hardware, and part seems to be the drivers. It's very unforgiving when accidentally brushing the trackpad with a different finger. Certain actions like double-clicks (tapping with two fingers) and scrolling (with two fingers) doesn't work reliably. This is true with other windows based laptops too. Not an issue if you spend a lot of time in a terminal/shell.
Comment

Con
 Webcam located in an odd place

Due to the narrow bezel of the infinity display, Dell moved the webcam to the bottom left corner. This results in an odd viewing angle and the webcam getting blocked while typing.
Comment

Con
 The battery does not last as long as advertised

The laptop never performs to the promised 11-15 hours, average usage is around 7-8 hours.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Pro
 Good battery life if you pick the 1080p display

Models with the 1080p screen last about 10 hours with general usage. Naturally, if more intensive tasks are involved, the battery will be drained faster.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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. The viewing angle is around 170 degrees. However, at 45 degrees, slight color change can be noticed. With around 350 nit output for brightness, it’s a viable choice for outdoor usage. All of this makes it an amazing display.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Con
 Awkward webcam location

The webcam is located under the screen instead of on top. It means that your face will be shown from a lower angle which can seem a bit weird. It also means that your fingers can partially obstruct the webcam while you’re typing.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

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.
Comment

Pro
 The display produces the best images for this price range

At less than $400 it's pretty rare to find a laptop with a 1080p display and yet, the Aspire is just that. The display offers sharp images with vibrant, accurate colours. The display produces 159% of the RGB colour gamut which is well above the 94% average for laptops. At that score, it also vastly outperforms direct competitors for this price range.
Comment

Pro
 Solid build quality

The chassis is made of a sturdy black plastic with faux aluminium finishes. It has a great build quality with a sturdy body that does not creak or buckle during use.
Comment

Pro
 Can be used for a long time unplugged

Depending on what it's used for, it can stay up to 10 hours unplugged.
Comment

Pro
 Large HDD

Has a 1TB HDD.
Comment

Con
 The webcam image shows too much noise

The 720p webcam stands out as a poor one even in a market saturated with laptops that take poor images. Pictures taken under fluorescent lighting are filled with visual noises and details are hard to make out.
Comment

Pro
 3:2 aspect ratio makes the device easier to hold and use

With a 3:2 aspect ratio the device is not as top heavy when holding in portrait and is easier to reach parts of the screens with the users thumbs when in landscape.
Comment

Pro
 Works as a tablet or a laptop

Surface Pro can be used both as a laptop and a tablet. Being that it can be used as either makes it extremely convenient to those that want power on the go.
Comment

Pro
 New redesigned keyboard and touchpad attatchment

The keyboard attachment has been redesigned form earlier versions with a larger touchpad.
Comment

Pro
 Comes bundled with a great stylus

N-trig pen feels like a real pen and is natural to hold. There is a top button on the pen that allows for an eraser function as well as use for a wake up function.
Comment

Pro
 Lightweight yet powerful

Comment

Con
 Not a lot of ports

1 USB 3.0, microSD Card reader, Headset jack, Mini DisplayPort.
Comment

Con
 Keyboard doesn't come with the device

You have to pay an extra $130 for the type cover keyboard.
Comment

Pro
 Built-in support for Amazon Alexa

The 2018 model of the X1 Carbon has far-field microphones built-in to work with Amazon Alexa. This will allow you to give commands to Alexa from across the room.
Comment

Pro
 Excellent display

The X1 Carbon comes in two different versions. With a 1080p or a 1440p display, with the latter being $70 more. Both displays are excellent. The image is sharp and the colors are very noticeable. Although, understandably, the 1440p display has images that are a bit sharper than its 1080p counterpart. According to colorimeter tests, both versions of the display can produce 104 and 103 percent of the sRGB color gamut, respectively. That's very impressive when compared to the average for 14" displays (83%). The 1080p screen is noticeably brighter than the 1440p screen (292nits vs 257nits) and the colors generally start fading only at about 45 degrees viewing angle.
Comment

Pro
 Great speakers

The X1 Carbon has bottom-mounted speakers which provide excellent audio output. The sound is loud enough to fill a large room and there's clear separation of sound coming from the speakers, making them great for any sorts of recreational activity involving audio be it listening to music, watching movies or playing videogames.
Comment

Pro
 Very portable

At around 2lbs this is a very light laptop. Especially when you compare it to other Thinkpads. It's light enough to carry in one hand and when it's carried in a backpack it's easy to forget that you are carrying a laptop because of how light it is.
Comment

Con
 Missing an Ethernet port

The X1 Carbon is missing an Ethernet port, so people who prefer having that option as well are forced to use Wifi only.
Comment

Con
 Extended dual battery adds weight

6-cell extended battery adds 0.4 pounds to take this ultrabook's weight far above that of the ultrabook standard (<3 pounds).
Comment

Pro
 Great battery life

The battery supports over 10 hours of light activity like web browsing, watching videos and editing documents. This can be doubled to 20 hours by swapping in the extended, 6-cell battery, which can be hot swapped without turning off the laptop since it also has an internal 4-cell battery.
Comment

Pro
 Excellent typing experience

Like most Thinkpads, the X1 Carbon has an excellent keyboard as well. The keys have about 1.8mm of travel and provide great tactile feedback. Their gently curved keys also make it very easy to target without looking at them. The keyboard also has optional backlighting which can be turned on or off with a simple key press.
Comment

Pro
 Great build quality

The Carbon X1 is a very light and durable laptop. It has the characteristic raven-black finishing of other Thinkpads on top of a carbon-fiber reinforced chassis. The carbon fiber increases the overall durability of the laptop, making it a great fit for people who travel a lot since it can withstand a lot of physical damages.
Comment

Con
 Poor build quality

There is no shortage of reports from owners (or former owners) claiming about the cheap quality of their X1 Carbon. Complaints include faulty screens, and loose cases.
Comment

Con
 No SD card reader

There is no SD card reader in this device, something that can be found in competing device such as a Macbook.
Comment

Con
 Computers may have man-in-the-middle adware installed

Lenovo is shipping computers preinstalled with man-in-the-middle adware called Superfish. It's a web proxy that can hijack any web session, including encrypted/https sessions. And since the root certificate is the same for everyone with private key present on the machine that's now publicly known, anyone can spoof any site to people using Lenovo laptops. Currently, it affects IE and Chrome browsers with Chrome expected to push an update that will block the certificate soon. Uninstalling Superfish won't remove the certificate. Lenovo are standing by their choice to install adware.
Comment

Pro
 One of the best performances found on a 15-inch laptop

Equiped with an Intel Core i7-8650U CPU, 8GB (or 16GB) of RAM and an SSD that goes up to 1TB, the Surface Book 2 certainly packs a punch. It handles multitasking perfectly; you can open dozens of Chrome tags, stream video, and draw using the built-in software without experiencing any lag even once. As far as benchmarks go, on the Geekbench 4 overall performance benchmark, the Surface Book 2 got a score of 12,505, better than the 15-inch laptop average (11,004) coming third after the Dell XPS 15 (13,911) and the MacBook Pro (15,170).
Comment

Pro
 Gaming performance on-par with gaming laptops

The 15-inch version of the Surface Book 2 comes with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This is a powerful, VR-ready card that handles intensive gaming tasks. As for real-world performance, Hitman (1920 x 1080, ultra) runs at 71.9 frames per second, Grand Theft Auto V runs at 45 fps. It should also be mentioned that you need to be using the dock in order to do graphic-intensive tasks since that's where the GPU is located; using the laptop in tablet-mode will yield poor results in this regard.
Comment

Pro
 The battery easily lasts a full work day on a single charge

The Surface Book 2 lasts on average 12 hours on a single charge. This should be more than enough to get anyone to the end of their workday on a single charge.
Comment

Pro
 Great tying experience

Even though the keyboard is rather shallow (just 1.2mm of travel), the typing experience is excellent. Keys have a great amount of feedback when clicking and you rarely (if ever) bottom out when typing.
Comment

Pro
 Great display for creative professionals

This laptop's display is bright and vivid, making it perfect for people who do a lot of drawing, design, or video editing work. The display offers an excellent coverage of 131% of the sRGB colour gamut (the average for this price range is 101%). The colour coverage and the bright display which measures an average of 417 nits really makes colours truly pop out and offers lifelike pictures.
Comment

Pro
 The hinge is quite stable as far as 2-in-1 laptops go

The new fulcrum hinge that Microsoft used for the Surface Book 2 is much more stable than the one found on the previous Surface Book or even other 2-in-1 laptops for that matter.
Comment

Con
 Disappointing audio performance

The audio that comes out of the speakers is quite average. It's enough to fill a small room but that's it.
Comment

Con
 No Thunderbolt port

For a laptop aimed at creative professionals, the missing Thunderbolt 3 port is surprising considering the fact that Thunderbolt 3 is used to connect a laptop to peripherals such as external GPUs or power-dual 4K displays.
Comment

Con
 The pen must be bought separately

If you want to use the Surface Book for drawing then you will probably have to buy the Surface Pen which unfortunately does not come bundled with the laptop (it costs an additional $99).
Comment

Pro
 Great value for money

You can pick up the baseline specs for around $1,000 USD, which is considerably cheaper than a lot of the competing models while remaining competitive with specs and build quality.
Comment

Pro
 Great build quality

Sturdy lid and hinge with an excellent keyboard.
Comment

Pro
 Good, back-lit keyboard

Solid 6-row back-lit keyboard.
Comment

Pro
 Versatile design

One of the most useful features of the Yoga 2 Pro is how vertistle the design is. It can be used as a standard laptop, as a tablet and in the stand/tent configurations. The solid hinge means there's no fear in adjusting it to find whatever position feels best.
Comment

Con
 Poor battery life

Battery life is average at best. It drains in about 5 hours of typical use.
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Con
 No Ethernet or 802.11ac

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro lacks an Ethernet port.
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Con
 Computers may have man-in-the-middle adware installed

Lenovo is shipping computers preinstalled with man-in-the-middle adware called Superfish. It's a web proxy that can hijack any web session, including encrypted/https sessions. And since the root certificate is the same for everyone with private key present on the machine that's now publicly known, anyone can spoof any site to people using Lenovo laptops. Currently, it affects IE and Chrome browsers with Chrome expected to push an update that will block the certificate soon. Uninstalling Superfish won't remove the certificate. Lenovo are standing by their choice to install adware.
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Pro
 Reasonable battery life

UX501 battery lasts 5 to 6 hours.
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Pro
 Good backlit keyboard with a keypad

UX501 is one of the rare laptop keyboards with a keypad. The keypad is slightly squished, but usable without any hiccups. The chiclet keys are backlit and comfortable to use.
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Pro
 Great 4K touch display

The UX501 has a 15.6" UHD touch display with vibrant colors and wide viewing angles.
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Con
 Glossy screen

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Pro
 Fantastic, flexible pen input

Because the touch surface replaces a traditional keyboard, it is very large and allows easy pen input. More interestingly, if you flip the screen over and lay a piece of paper over the touch surface, it will take your paper-and-ink notes and transcribe them on-screen as well. From start to finish, this product was built around pen input.
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Con
 Poor value considering mediocre specs

Other laptops in the $500ish range will offer much more compelling specs, usually with at least Intel i3 processors. By comparison, the Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor is very lucklaster, and the included 64GB of storage is paltry as well. This product is priced at a premium because it's the first of it's kind.
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Con
 Limited OS functionality

Out of the box the Surface Laptop is running Windows 10 S, which is a lighweight version of the OS that only allows to run apps that have been downloaded from the official Windows store. To upgrade to the more lenient and functional Windows 10 Pro is going to cost extra $50.
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Pro
 Excellent, smooth performance

Great hardware combined with the streamlined Windows 10 S and Microsoft-vetted apps from the Windows Store provide excellent performance even on lowest available specs (starting at $999). With i5/i7 Intel® Core™ processor and up to 16 GB of RAM, this computer is perfectly suited for dealing with resource-hungry software and multitasking.
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Pro
 Unique, stylish design

The Surface Laptop has a distinct look thanks to the Alcantra microfibre material that covers the keyboard. It has a soft, pleasant texture and it's durable enough to stay intact for years to come. The computer comes in 4 uncommon colors that easily stand out among the usual black or silver devices.
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Pro
 Highly portable

This laptop weighs only 2.8 lbs and it's .57 inches thick.
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Pro
 Excellent battery life

One full charge gives 14.5 hours of video streaming.
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Pro
 Gret battery life

It's worth noting that the battery life is remarkable, even after a long time. For example, an Acer Aspire over 3 years old can still manage to get 7-8 hours of autonomy in battery saving mode. This makes it a very suitable laptop for college.
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Pro
 Good quality

In contrast to most competitors, the Acer Aspire laptops usually feel like they're made out of better materials than the cheap plastics that most manufacturers use and they're very easy to clean. Acer Aspire laptops tend to have relatively few issues that are quality related and tend to last long. Every model needs to be individually evaluated, but in general Aspires are very well built laptops.
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