Laptop Care

Fire Max 11.*/Amazon  Amazon’s flagship Fire Max 11 tablet just dropped to a record-low price of $150, representing a savings of $80 from the MSRP of $230. This deal is for the standard tablet and doesn’t include a stylus, keyboard or any other accessories. Being as this is an Amazon tablet, you also get those ads on the lockscreen, but they are fairly unobtrusive. This is the most powerful Fire tablet out there, with an 11-inch LCD screen, a slim aluminum frame and Alexa-powered smart home controls. You get a fingerprint sensor in the power button, WiFi 6 support and split-screen/picture-in-picture features. We were impressed by the inherent value of the tablet at its full price, so we are 35 percent more impressed now. The Fire Max 11 is also light, weighing around a pound, and is designed around multi-tasking, with an octa-core MediaTek processor that is nearly twice as fast as any other Amazon-branded tablet. In other words, this is a far cry from the kinds of affordable, kid...

Razer Blade 16.*/Future/  Razer Blade 16, Best Blender Laptop for Gaming One of the biggest draws for animators is that the Razer Blade 16 has a mini-LED display, which supports dual mode. In other words it can handle both 4K 120Hz (UHD+) and 1080p 240Hz (FHD) content natively. The Razer Blade 16 can be customized with a variety of graphics cards - which is incredibly useful when you're running Blender. The specs we're recommending for animators is the one with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 card with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM. High processing power is also assured by maxing out the DDR5 RAM to 32GB.  If you do choose this model of Razer Blade 16, you also benefit from 2TB (2 x 1TB) NVMe SSDs, which offer much faster read/write speeds than the previous SATA models. This should be more than sufficient for months of animations - the fact that the drives are separate also means you can use one for loading the operating system and another for archiving older files, making your laptop tick ove...

  Dell XPS 17/Dell Dell XPS 17, Best Overall 17-Inch Laptop for Everyday Use The XPS model line is Dell's flagship, showcasing the best the company has to offer in design, features, and innovation. The XPS 17's build may look just like last year's model, but the 2023 version offers Intel 13th Gen and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series silicon for performance and graphics that propel it to the top of the category. Paired with a 4K touch screen and Dell's nearly bezel-free edge-to-edge panels, and the XPS 17 continues to reign as the Best Overall 17-Inch Laptop for Everyday Use. For a powerful desktop replacement that rivals the best Windows and Mac laptops on the market, the XPS 17 (9730) offers an unbeatable combination of processing and graphics power; a gorgeous, expansive screen; and capability that will satisfy everyone—from casual users to demanding professionals. The only complaints? The webcam is just 720p, and you'll want to bring appropriate adapters to really ta...

  MacBook Air.*/engadget/ Apple’s most recent laptop arrived in June of this year with the 15-inch MacBook Air. It carries the same M2 chip as the latest-model 13-inch MacBook Air and roughly the same specs other than a larger screen and more speakers. Of course, a new M3 chip could arrive as early as next month, but as with the advent of the M2 chip, Apple will likely use the next-gen chip in one or two new computers, while still supporting the “older” M2 machines. Those looking for a new MacBook have a lot to think about. Chips, specs and everything else so you can figure out which model will work best for your needs. As of today, these are the best MacBooks for everyone from students to power users. Compared to PCs, Apple computers tend to have more streamlined specifications. The company has long been known for this simplicity, and the M-series “system-on-a-chip” condenses things even further. The M1 and M2 chips combine, among other technologies, the CPU, graphics card a...

  LG Gram Fold.*/LG? LG has announced its first foldable laptop, making it the newest player in the industry to launch its entry for the growing category. Similar to the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the LG Gram Fold is a touchscreen device that can be used as a massive tablet or a computer when fully unfolded. Users will get a 17-inch OLED screen with a QXGA+ (2560 x 1920 pixel) resolution when it's used purely as a display, and they can link it to its accompanying Bluetooth keyboard if they want to use it as workstation. The device also supports stylus pens, so it can act like a traditional tablet for projects involving art, architecture and calligraphy. When it is folded, the top part becomes 12-inch screen, while the bottom could turn into a keyboard for typing. LG says it tested the model and verified that it could withstand 30,000 folds without its display getting damaged. Samsung tests its foldable Galaxy phones' hinges around 200,000 times, but m...

  ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14.*/Mashable/ If you want to ride that AMD processor train even further, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is one of the best AMD-powered gaming laptops you're going to find.  This ASUS rig strikes a healthy balance between style and substance. From the outside, the ROG Zephyrus G14 sports a minimalist aesthetic in a compact 14-inch body. While small computers normally signal less power to shoppers, this laptop actually boasts incredible performance all around thanks to its AMD 3rd Generation Ryzen 9 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics card. Also included is a hefty 1TB SSD and a beautifully vibrant display that'll keep your games looking top-notch (even on such a small screen).  The only downside to the ROG Zephyrus G14 is that its fans tend to run pretty loud, but that's to be expected in an ultra-compact laptop that packs such a huge punch. If you're looking for something small yet mighty, you've found it. ( mashable )

Chromebook.*/Future/ Don’t throw away your out-of-date Chromebook just yet as newly found evidence suggests Google may expand the availability of ChromeOS Flex to the old laptops. This information comes from tech news site Chrome Unboxed after they recently dove into Google's Chromium Repositories where they stumbled across references for a “Flexor” project. They dug deeper eventually discovering code talking about installing a thirteenth partition to ChromeOS. The reason why the website believes the partition is actually ChromeOS Flex is its file size is 10GB, indicating it's an entire operating system and “not just some small addition.” There’s even a note in the repository stating installing the script “inserts a thirteenth partition on disk”. Apparently when installation begins, a message reading “Start flex-ing” will appear on the screen, according to Android Central. ( techradar )

Alienware x16.*/IDG The Alienware x16 is a standout 16-inch gaming laptop in just about every respect. It’s incredibly thin, but strong and impeccably styled with a chassis diffuse with truly stunning RGB accents that go far beyond what rivals achieve. But it’s not just showy, it’s also a formidable gaming machine, with desktop-caliber silicon that makes mincemeat of AAA games. What’s more, it sports a keyboard with a desktop-like feel. While our performance testing shows the x16 can get quite hot at times, that doesn’t appear to have much bearing on gaming performance. ( PCWorld ) Specifications CPU: Intel Core i9-13900HK RAM: 32GB DDR5 / 6000MHz GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Display: 16-inch, QHD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, non-touch, 100 percent sRGB, 165Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time, Advanced Optimus, Nvidia G-Sync Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD Ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (with PowerShare), 1 x USB-C Gen 2 (with DisplayPort), Thunderbolt 4 port, 3.5 mm combo Audio jack, HD...

 Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5.*/Lenovo/  Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5, Best Budget Laptop for Students, which comes with a Ryzen 5 processor, is a great laptop for school activities. There's plenty of power, a very nice 14-inch IPS display, 16 GB of RAM, and a 256-GB SSD. The 360-degree hinge converts it to tablet mode or stand mode for watching movies in your dorm. To take full advantage of the 2-in-1 design, be sure to grab the digital pen ($40). Another reason why everyone like the IdeaPad is the plethora of ports: You get two USB-A ports, an HDMI, an SD card reader, one USB-C, a headphone jack, and a charging port (though you can use the USB-C to recharge the laptop too).  If you're a computer science major or plan to do some video editing, the more powerful Ryzen 7 version can be had for just a little more. ( Wired ) Specs: AMD Ryzen 5, 16 GB of RAM, 256-GB SSD. Price: $598 at Amazon (14 inch, 5000 Series) $850 at Amazon (16 inch, 7000 Series)

Acer Predator Helios.* /Acer/  Acer introduced new Predator Helios gaming laptops. As computer technology and manufacturing improves, it becomes possible to build reasonably mobile laptops with this enormous display size 18 inch. These new laptops come with the latest internal components, such as Intel’s 13 th Gen CPUs (and up to 32GB RAM) and NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 40 series for mobile. The new Helios 18 and Helios 16 support up to 2TB (PCIe Gen4) of internal SSD storage, which can be configured as a RAID0 array for maximum throughput. Despite its 18-inch 16:10 display size, the resolution is “only” 2560×1600 (250Hz mini LED or 165Hz or 240Hz) or 1920×1200 (165Hz), depending on the option you choose. For gaming purposes, these are great options. Starting at $1700, the Acer Predator Helios is relatively affordable for its size and performance. ( ubergizmo )

Photo: Lenovo Specifications  CPU : MediaTek Helio P60T Processor  Graphics : ARM G72 MP3 800GHz  RAM : 4 GB LPDDR4X  Screen : 10.1" FHD (1920 x 1200) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, 400 nits  Storage : 64 GB eMMC   The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook is the best ultra-low price laptop you can buy. While it’s been out for a while, Chromebooks don’t date as quickly as Windows laptops, and it's still one of the best Chromebooks we've used. If you're a Chromebook skeptic, the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook just might convert you. It can be used as both a laptop and a tablet thanks to its detachable keyboard, while also boasting an impressively long battery life. You're simply not going to find a Windows 11 laptop that can outlast the 20-hour battery life the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook offers – especially at this price. It’s a particularly good choice for students who want something reliable, flexible and affordable. ( Techradar )