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Diwali buying guide: Six laptops to consider this festive season

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It’s interesting that the PC and laptop shipment numbers have begun to slowdown, and the reason has been attributed to the rise of tablet and smartphones. However, for most working professionals, laptops are the primary means to work. While investing in work devices, there are a few factors that need to be considered.

Although processing power and the usual factors in the specs sheet such as RAM, memory and display matter as usual, the impact of build, weight, texture, keyboard, key travel, typing experience, display resolution, screen refresh rates, battery life, and overall performance really matter.

But that holds true for any use case scenario you may say. In part, that’s true. But consider that gaming laptops are usually quite powerful, but weight isn’t so much a concern. And practically, other than a few keys, the rest of the keyboard doesn’t matter as much. If you want to get ahead at work, there are a few laptops you could choose from.

Apple MacBook Air 13

This one shouldn’t be surprising at all. The MacBook Air is a slim, light, convenient, laptop that you could depend on. If you travel frequently as part of your work, there’s not much of a reason why you shouldn’t consider one for yourself – unless, of course, you’re a Windows fan.

The MacBook Air comes with fifth generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processor options. A Core i5 would be perfect for most office requirements. The Macbook Air comes with 4GB RAM, a 128GB SSD for storage, and runs on Apple OS X 10.10 Yosemite. You could upgrade to the latest version El Capitan.

MacBook Air

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air weighs approximately 1.34 kgs, which is much less than most laptops around. You can pick a MacBook Air from an online store for between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000 depending on the model and the discount offered this festive season.

If your work is restricted to typing and browsing, or operations that aren’t computing intensive, you could opt for a Core i3 version of the MacBook Air. Also, if portability means a lot to you, you could also opt for the 11-inch version which is easier on the pocket as compared to the 13-inch model.

As far as battery is concerned, the MacBook Air 11-inch gives you 9 hours of battery, while the 13-inch gives up to 12 hours of battery. However, depending on your use, the Macbook Air will last you the whole working day.

Dell Inspiron 15

The Dell Inspiron 15 is a series of 15-inch laptops by Dell. Powered by an Intel Core i3, i5, or i7, the Dell Inspiron comes with a sleek design. It offers the convenience of portability, while yet staying affordable. While the MacBook Air dropped optical drives from its feature set, the Dell Inspiron 15 still offers a DVD drive.

dell-inspiron-notebook

Dell Inspiron 15

It also cuts costs by implementing a standard option of a 500GB or 1TB HDD instead of an SSD. A Core i3, 500 GB model costs approximately Rs 32000, while a Core i7, 1 TB model with 8GB DDR3 RAM will cost you approximately Rs 49,990.

The models on sale would ship with Windows 8.1, but you could upgrade them to Windows 10 as part of Microsoft’s Windows upgrade program.

Lenovo Yoga 2

The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 brings in a refreshing change to the way we use traditional laptops. Windows ultrabooks and laptops have evolved to becomes hybrids/two-in-ones where you could swap out and use the display as  tablet, or alternatively, fold the laptop outwards to just consume content on the display.

A Core i5 version of the Lenovo Yoga 2 with 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD would cost you approximately Rs 54000. The Lenovo Yoga 2 implements a flip-and fold model so that the display on the laptop doubles up as a tablet.

lenovo yoga 33

Lenovo Yoga 2

The hinge offers 4 modes – laptop, stand, tablet and tent. A 6-cell battery on the Yoga 2 offers  up to 8 hours of battery life.

The 13-inch IPS display also offers touch capability, so that you can get through your files at the convenience of touch.

Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 13 is the closest you can get to the portability of the MacBook Air while staying within the Windows ecosystem. The form factor and build offer the convenience of portability and performance.

An aluminium body adds to the premium feel and sturdiness that has traditionally been the forte of Apple. However, when compared in terms of price, the Dell XPS 13 is available at a steep price of Rs 99772. That’s a little under a lakh. For that price, the Dell XPS 13 offers a 2.7 GHz Core i5 Intel processor, with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage.

dellXPS13

Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 13 also ships with Windows 10. The Dell XPS 13 makes sense if you need to be on the Windows ecosystem and require the merits of a portable powerhouse.  Nonetheless, the price at which the device sells puts it on par with the Surface Pro 3, with added convenience of portability and a stylus.

If you need to stay on Windows and are willing to spend close to a lakh, the new Surface Pro 4 might just be the device you are looking for. If you’re willing to spend more than a lakh, then there is the Surface Book, which is the best Windows experience that Microsoft can offer you.

Apple MacBook Pro

This is Apple’s flagship laptop if one may call it. The Pro is meant for professionals. And it’s the slimmest, brightest, most powerful and other adjectives put together. For those who don’t care to look into the specifications, would look at a glowing Apple logo at the rear of the display and give their thumb of approval.

On a more serious note, the choice between a MacBook Air and MacBook Pro depends on the nature of tasks you need to accomplish. If complex multimedia and video editing are on your tasks that you need to perform, then the MacBook Pro is for you. If all you do is type documents, use spreadsheets and make presentations, then the MacBook Pro would be an overkill for you, while adding to the weight as well.

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro

A Core i5 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro costs approximately Rs 90000 and has 8GB  RAM with a 256 GB  solid-state drive. If you love Apple, Mac OS or are agnostic when it comes to operating systems, then the MacBook Pro will let you do more on it. There is also a new range of MacBook laptops that were launched in 2015, that give the advantage of portability similar to the MacBook Air but come at a higher cost owing to the new Intel Core M processors.

HP Elite x360

If you’re looking for something more pocket friendly, you can also look at the HP Pavilion x360 laptop. A dual core M processor clocked at 800 MHz that is turbo boosted up to 2GHz powers the laptop. The device weighs 1.4kg which is close to the MacBook Air. With the newer Core M processor, the processor clock speeds dynamically adapt to perform the task at hand.

HP-Pavilion-X360-116-Inch-4GB-500GB-Convertible-Laptop-Red

HP Pavilion Elite x360

The HP Pavilion Elite x360 comes with a 500 GB HDD, and has a 2 cell battery. It has an island style keyboard for enhanced experience while typing. When you’re consuming content, you could try out widescreen anti-glare multi-touch display. You can push the display all the way back to use it as a tablet.

The post Diwali buying guide: Six laptops to consider this festive season appeared first on Tech2.


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