How to select the best portable PC
Laptop computer world has burst into a cornucopia of niches. Specialized Chromebooks, Ultrabooks, and laptop-tablet hybrids have muscled into the territory of traditional notebooks in a bid to more closely target your needs and stand out from the traditional portable-PC crowd.
Ultrabooks
Now let’s take a walk on the high end! Ultrabooks are Intel’s Windows-based answer to the MacBook Air, and the company controls the requirements for these pricey portables with an iron fist to ensure high-end consistency.
Basically, Ultrabooks are meant to be powerful, yet portable. Newer Haswell-based Ultrabooks have to measure less than 0.9 inch thick, wake from sleep quickly, provide at least six hours of HD video playback, and pack a touchscreen, Intel’s Wireless Display technology, and support for voice commands. Haswell Ultrabooks also include antimalware software by default.
Ultrabooks frequently—but not always—sport fancy touches, such as a metal chassis, 1080p or better displays, and backlit keyboards. These models are the Cadillacs of computers, folks—though their slim designs mean most Ultrabooks offer skimpy port selections, and most lack discrete GPUs and optical disc drives.
Hybrids, convertibles, and two-in-ones
If you’re on the fence about just how mobile you want to go, a hybrid, convertible, or two-in-one might be right up your alley. These are all terms for the same type of device. Hybrids straddle the fence between PC and slate, offering laptop functionality when you need to get things done, and tablet-style form factors when you want to kick back and relax with a touchscreen.
You’ll find two types of hybrids. “Laptop-first” convertibles (like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11s or Dell XPS 12) are basically full-blown laptops but with screens that fold, flip, or rotate to convert to a flat laptop form factor. Thinner, lighter “tablet-first” hybrids have slide-out keyboards or are basically tablets with optional keyboard accessories.
Laptop-first hybrids carry a price premium over standard laptops, while tablet-first hybrids trade performance for mobility and often offer a subpar typing experience. The touchscreens found on all hybrids can also impact Lenovo FRU 42T4819 Laptop Battery life, especially if you aren’t buying a newer model with an energy-efficient “Haswell” Core processor or “Bay Trail” Atom CPU. And all hybrids are relatively big and thick compared to straightforward tablets, especially laptop-first variants. Your arms will quiver and shake if you try lying down and holding a convertible over your face for an extended period of time. As such, hybrids are better suited for laps, even while in tablet mode.
Laptops
So you don’t want a two-in-one, you couldn’t care less about the high-end frills of Ultrabooks, and you find Chromebooks too limited for your needs. Sounds like you’re in the market for a laptop without a catchy marketing buzzword attached.
Chromebooks
While Chromebooks are designed to be Web-centric machines, they have some compelling features. Aside from Google’s own aluminum-clad, jaw-droppingly beautiful Pixel, Chromebooks are dirt-cheap, with prices ranging from $200 for the 11.6-inch Acer C720 to $300 for the larger HP Chromebook 14 or the touchscreen Acer C720P. All Chromebooks are pretty thin and light, too.
Don’t let the low prices and ho-hum specs fool you, though. The browser-based nature of Chromebooks lets them hum along smoothly—as long as you don’t overdo the tabs—and it also means you won’t really have to worry about Windows-based malware or even updating your PC. Basically, Chromebooks are about as simple and straightforward as computing can be, and they boot lickety-split.
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