Okay Geek Farm
Top 5 Laptops to buy for life in 2011
Brandon Davenport
Laptops have quickly become the heart of the computing world, and have even held their own against rising trends, such as netbooks, smartphones, and tablets. They are the workhorse of the 21st century and have evolved from being a “desktop replacement” to your actual desktop.
MacBook Air 11 Inch
Every model of the MacBook has made it into a top 5 list for the simple reason they are great machines — and the MacBook Air is no exeption.
You pay extra for a MacBook Air, but what you get is a uni-body aluminum case (instead of plastic), a full keyboard (uncommon on 11 inch laptops), a splintering fast SSD hard drive (where most of the extra cost comes from) and 7 hours of battery (un-heard of in most laptops).
Learn More — About MacBook Air
Purchase — A MacBook Air ($1000)
HP Envy 17 (stay away from 3D!)
If you want the highest quality PC experience, with a chipper PC pricetag, we reccomend the HP Envy. It makes Mac users gealous and other PC users stand over your shoulder.
The HP Envy 17 sports a lickable 17.3” HD display powered by a Intel Core i5 proccessor (Core i7 optional), 4GB of DDR3 RAM, dual hard drives and maybe the best sound system in a consumer laptop thanks to Beats.
If you want bang for your buck, don’t look any further than the HP Envy 17 (just stay away from the 3D model… Yuck!)
Learn more — About HP Envy 17
Purchase — HP Envy 17 ($1,300)
Alienware M15x
When it comes to gaming on the go, Alienware is the company where modern day gamers look first, and for a good reason.
This is the M15x — The ol’ faithful Alienware mobile beast packing an Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 8GB of RAM, a beefy Nvidia GTX460M graphics card and a stunning HD 15.6” display.
This is the best you can get (in terms of gaming) for under $1,200. It’s thick, heavy and loud — but it’ll eat your games for breakfast.
Learn More — About M15x
Purchase — An M15x ($1,199)
Now, if your looking for even more power (we’re talkin’ dual graphics cards), check out the M17x laptop.
MacBook Pro 13 Inch
If you dig what’s offered in the Macbook Air, but it’s just too flimsy for your creative lifestyle, try the MacBook Pro 13 inch. It’s Apple’s low-end consumer powerhouse, and it’s pretty awesome!
Where the MacBook Pro really shines is in battery-life, bringing 8hrs of un-interupted computing to the party. An aluminium case houses an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz CPU, 4GB of RAM, 320GB of storage and all of the usual goodies in a Mac.
Learn More — About MacBook Pro
Purchase — A MacBook Pro ($1,199)
Dell Inspiron 15R
If you’re on a budget, and you need a Laptop that will stand the test of time and be friendly to your wallet, you can’t go wrong with a Dell Inspiron 15R.
It’s got everything you need in a Laptop, like a peppy Intel Core i3 proccessor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage and 4 hours of battery life all for under $600. That’s somethin’ huh? — Just make sure to be careful with it as it’s a little less durable than the Laptops listed above.
Learn more — About Inspiron 15R
Purchase — An Inspiron 15R ($549)
