The Best Notebooks Of The Year So Far

Laptop Mag June 18, 2011 3:00 AM

To find out the best laptops of 2011 so far, we checked in with Mark Spoonauer who, as editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com, oversees 140+ notebook and netbook reviews every year. If you’re buying soon, buy one of these.

Best Value Notebook

HP Pavilion G6x

Sweet sound, an attractive design, and a comfortable keyboard make the HP Pavilion g6x one of our favourite budget notebooks.

Price: from $599.00 | Read Review

Best All-Purpose Notebook

HP Pavilion dv6t
The sleek HP Pavilion dv6t delivers a strong multimedia experience with a fast processor, bright display, and Beats audio.

Price: from $999.00 | Read Review

Best Thin-and-Light Notebook

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (2011)

The most well-rounded 13-inch notebook gets a serious speed boost and lasts even longer on a charge than its predecessor.

Price: $1,399.00 | Read Review

Best Netbook

Samsung NF310

One of the best-looking netbooks yet combines sleek lines with a dual-core CPU and a high-res display.

Price: $549 | Read Review

Best Ultraportable Notebook

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (2010)

Apple’s ultimate ultraportable combines a barely-there profile with a high-resolution display, instant-on functionality, and long battery life.

Price: $1,599.00 | Read Review

Best Gaming Notebook

Alienware M17x (2011)

Record-breaking performance, superslick design, wireless HD streaming, and five hours of battery life. Yup, this gaming notebook is pretty much perfect.

Price: $3,399.00 | Read Review

Best Business Notebook

Lenovo ThinkPad X1

Thanks to its fast performance, superior keyboard, ultra-bright display, and much-improved audio quality, the ThinkPad X1 is the best all-around business ultraportable.

Price: $2,684.00 | Read Review

Best Multimedia Notebook

Dell XPS 15

A 1080p display, Blu-ray, Nvidia graphics, awesome audio—the Dell XPS 15 has it all.

Price: $1,818.00 | Read Review

Desktop Replacement

ASUS G73SW

Retaining the stealth-like design of its predecessor, the ASUS G73SW-A1 has more power under the hood than ever.

Price: $2,579.00 | Read Review

Laptopmag.com brings you in-depth reviews of the hottest mobile products, the latest tech news, helpful how-to advice, and expert analysis of the latest tech trends.

Discuss

(4 Comments)

[–]
Dave
Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 11:01 AM
A better specced apart from GPU [555 vs 460] XPS 17 for $1800 is the better dekstop replacment.

[–]
Will
Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 11:05 AM
Got the HP pavilion dv6-6024 the other day, i7 with AMD 6770M with switch-able graphics, and upgraded the ram to 8GB. Its an amazing multimedia laptop with pretty damn good gaming capacity. No real need to get a dedicated gaming laptop these days, because Hi end multimedia laptops do it all. Much recommended.

[–]
Lillee
Monday, June 20, 2011 at 10:25 AM
I have both 13″ Macbook air and 13″ Samsung Series 9 and the Series 9 is leagues ahead. I’ve had to return the air 3 times for warranty issues. The Series 9 IMO is much tougher. SSD can be upgraded for one which is a problem with the Air, and I find the Series 9 screen is so much better outdoors.

[–]
Ben Thomas
Monday, June 20, 2011 at 1:15 PM
I have a Macbook Air and have not had to return it for warranty work at all since I bought it 6 months ago.
Therefore, the MacBook Air is perfect.