One of the more common inquiries we see coming through the ARGI support line is clients looking for purchasing advice when they are in the market for a new laptop. This is also one of the most common questions I am personally asked outside of work. Similar to how you ask your mechanic buddy what’s wrong with your car or your nurse friend to take a look at that thing on your back, I get to be that guy for tech questions. I get it too, there are so many different options out there, it can feel overwhelming trying to sort through them, and sometimes the hardest part is just figuring out where to start. 

The first question I always ask when trying to help someone find a laptop is what they will be using it for. Not all laptops are built the same, some laptops may shine in certain use cases but fail miserably in others. The list below is organized by as many use cases as I could think of and what my top pick or suggestion would be for a laptop in that category. This list is based on my thoughts and opinions and what I would suggest to someone, but that doesn’t mean it should be the only one taken into consideration. If you are looking for more detailed and hands-on assistance choosing a new laptop you can always reach out to us directly and I would be happy to chat with you about it 1:1. With that there are few disclaimers I would like to note before diving into the list:

1. Chromebooks are decent devices that have come a long way, however, I do not feel they are mainstream enough to the point where I am recommending them to average users. 
2. Each category will have at least one laptop running Windows 10, certain categories contain a comparable Apple MacBook as well.  
3. Again, this list is based on my top picks in these categories, you may hear other opinions that differ, which everyone is entitled to. 

So let’s dive in to ARGI’s top laptop recommendations! This list is in no particular order. 

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Outside of gaming, creative work has one of the highest requirements for processing power and graphics capabilities. So it comes as no surprise that many of the best creative laptops out there started as gaming laptops, then were redesigned with less dramatic styling and quieter fans so they could be used in a professional setting. The ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 OLED (UX535) is a perfect example of this. Borrowing parts from their ROG line of hardware, ASUS has built an exceptional creative machine. It has all the power and speed to run modern creative apps such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite and is available with a magnificent 4K UHD NanoEdge Touch Display for color-accurate work. The ScreenPad feature can be hit or miss depending on the user, but the capabilities it offers to optimize workflows can definitely help speed things up if used properly. 

On the other hand, there is the Apple MacBook Pro. I will disclose this is my daily driver, as well as everyone on staff here at ARGI. Our YouTube channel and blog site do a great job highlighting what is like to use the MacBook Pro in practical creative workflows, so if you are interested in learning more about what that’s like I encourage you to take a look at both of those. Quick summary, if you are already using Apple then you pretty much know what you are getting. It’s the fastest top-of-the-line Mac that’s available right now and it performs exactly as the fastest top-of-the-line Mac should. If you’re not an Apple user but considering the switch, this is the fastest top-of-the-line Mac available and, depending on the application, would trade blows with a top-of-the-line ZenBook Pro on speed and performance. 

Before diving into the top pick for students, it’s important to note that almost all the major laptop manufacturers (including Apple) have an education section on their website where you can purchase a majority of their laptops at pretty impressive discounts. Due to the fact that students make up a very large portion of the target market for laptops, there is no shortage of excellent options out there. If I had to suggest one though, it would be the HP Envy x360. This laptop literally has it all, a touch screen that folds 360 degrees, a camera, and microphone for video classes or meetings, a great keyboard with a number pad, and a slim design that makes it easy to cart around. If you decide to go with the AMD version of this laptop you can save even more money and still be confident you aren’t taking any performance hits, making it an all-around win for students. 

Students that are more interested in creative work may also want to consider the brand new M1 MacBook Air. Released at the end of last year, the new MacBook Air is a perfect entry point into the Mac environment for those who may want to test the waters. For the more experienced, it will have no problem keeping up with any of the challenges you throw its way. Because the new MacBook Air uses the same SoC (System on Chip) that the new MacBook Pro uses, the performance in everyday workflows between the two is practically identical. Thanks to the addition of a fan in the MacBook Pro, it will perform better under sustained heavy workloads, but this also allows the MacBook Air to remain razor-thin. 

It’s not often I am asked to recommend a good gaming laptop, a fact that I am more than ok with. Gamers tend to be very picky about their ‘rigs’, and the amount of graphics and computing power some of these modern games require dwarfs any other use case on this list. On top of that, gamers are also way more likely than anyone on this list to actually want to show off what their machines are capable of, as well as how pretty it is to look at. So realistically a seasoned gamer is already going to know what they want, and will usually just go out and buy it for themself. When I am asked, it is usually someone buying it for someone else, in which case my go-to suggestion has been the ASUS ROG Zephyrus. All games are built and run different, and without knowing specifically what games someone will be playing it’s sometimes hard to find a laptop that will cover all the bases. With the Zephyrus it’s tough to go wrong, it can run all the popular modern games and is built by one of the heaviest hitters in the industry. (ROG = Republic of Gamers, a special subsidiary of ASUS specifically for gaming). It is also has a rather tame look by gaming laptop standards, so it could potentially be used in a corporate environment as well. 

Dell’s latest entry in the Inspiron line of laptops really packs a punch. It may not have all the sex appeal and gimmicky features you will find on other laptops on this list, but if you crack it open and looking inside, it looks identical to the rest. The same holds true for the performance too, thanks to all the modern amenities like a super-fast M.2 NVMe SSD, 12GB of DDR4 RAM, latest 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, and integrated Iris Xe graphics, this thing will definitely hold its own against anything else on this list. The most shocking part is that all this is available on a laptop that costs under $550, which gives this laptop one of the highest price to performance ratios on the market. 

This definitely isn’t the most common use case, but certainly the most fun to talk about. Let’s say you are one of the lucky few who doesn’t have to worry about a budget and just want the wildest and most expensive laptop out there that will be the envy of all your friends. It doesn’t get much wilder than the ASUS ZenBook Duo. Basically, ASUS took one of their finest laptops, the ZenBook Pro, and replaced half the keyboard with a second screen. What you are left with is a laptop that has all the best hardware on the inside running all the best features on the outside. Naturally, all of this awesomeness is reflected in the price, but if that’s an issue then you probably fall into this use case. 

While the Surface Book from Microsoft may not have been the first 2 in 1, since its launch it has consistently been a solid benchmark for what 2 in 1 device should be capable of. Now on their 3rd version of it, the design is getting a bit dated and the bezels around the screen are a joke by modern standards, but it is still one of the best performing 2 in 1’s out there. There are two main reasons for this, the first is because from the beginning Microsoft has offered a full-fat version of the Windows 10 operating system instead of the lightweight Windows 10X or ChromeOS. The second reason is there are a lot of manufacturers out there that offer similar features like pen support, foldable or removable screens, and an ultra-thin design, but the Surface Book has always been the best at combining all of these features into one streamlined device. Many manufacturers adopted these features onto pre-existing designs and devices, where the Surface Book was purpose-built from the ground up to incorporate these features. The one drawback with any Surface device however is the price, while the entry-level prices are only somewhat unreasonable, as you add more power and storage things can quickly get out of hand. Fortunately, though the entry-level in many cases will still offer more than enough power. 

This is by far the most common request for recommendations I come across, and over the past year, the number has been rising exponentially. This makes a lot of sense, all of a sudden everyone was working from home, kids started attending school online, and family events and gatherings were relegated to Zoom meetings. The need for a reliable, well-built family laptop that can handle all these functions has never been greater. When buying a laptop that will be used by the whole family, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the top of the line, most expensive laptop on the market. However, when you have a device that will serve in this many vital roles, it is ill-advised to cheap out in your selection, as you will likely get something underpowered. There are actually 2 top picks in this category, the HP Envy 15-ep0098nr and the Dell XPS 15 as the two are practically identical computers inside and out. The Dell is also the top pick for best all-around so you can read more on that later. As for the HP Envy 15, it comes with more than enough power and features for the average family. It has all the modern amenities like an SSD, 16GB of RAM, and an Intel Core i7 processor, and also comes with some upgrades. A dedicated NVIDIA graphics card will more than handle any video games the kids (or you, no judgment) will throw at it, and 32GB of Intel Optane memory will help give a nice kick to the already speedy SSD. Throw in great build quality and dual Bang & Olufsen speakers and you have a laptop that will last your family at least 5 years. 

Lenovo is one of the few manufacturers out there whose main target market is enterprises rather than everyday consumers. That doesn’t mean they don’t have offerings for both, it just means it’s a natural starting point when searching for enterprise laptops. If you look at any modern Lenovo laptop side by side with one that is 10 years old, you may be surprised how similar they look. That’s because Lenovo’s formula works, they found a great functional design that modifies slightly when they need to incorporate new features or technology. A big benefit of this is how interchangeable parts can be between various models and years. While certainly not the best-looking design out there, it’s tough to nitpick something like given the price and performance. So for enterprises, Lenovo is the obvious choice, the ThinkPad E15 Gen 2 is on this list because it is about as middle of the road as I could find in their offerings that cover the broadest range of uses. Lenovo also still includes that weird red joystick thing in the middle of the keyboard for the mouse too, which isn’t really related to anything but like… who uses that?

When hunting for a laptop on a budget there are a few things to look out for. The first is there are a lot of devices out there that look like normal Windows laptops but are not running the full Windows 10 operating system. These would be things like Chromebooks running ChromeOS or Windows on ARM devices that are running Windows 10X. While there is nothing wrong with these devices, they generally cost much less and can be a bit of a surprise to someone who opens it up expecting to use a full version of Windows. The other thing to look out for is off-brand manufacturers, even people not familiar with technology likely know some of the big names like HP, Dell, and Apple. It’s generally better to stick with these companies instead of going with that one company you can’t pronounce off wish.com to try to save $100. There are plenty of reasons for this, but accountability and security are probably at the top of the list. This brings me to the HP Pavilion 15-eh0095nr, it comes with everything you need for average computer use like web browsing, emails, and video streaming, with the exception of the price tag. HP managed to take all the same internals as the Dell Inspiron 15 3000, which is the top pick for the price to performance, and then added a bit extra styling so it doesn’t look as dreary. While they did manage to keep the price low, it is slightly more expensive than Dell.

It feels like the thin and lite market is bordering on overpopulation. Thanks to technological advances, laptops overall keep getting thinner which continues to blur the lines between what should truly be considered thin and lite. There is no doubt, however, that the HP Spectre is purebred thin and lite. It boasts all the specs you need and would expect in a premium laptop, but packaged in a beautiful design meant for on-the-go work with a touch of flare. While the sharp edges and cut corners may not be for everyone, there is no denying the Spectre is a standout in both HP’s lineup and the thin and lite market. 

While this list may have been in no particular order, I did save the best for last. The Dell XPS 15 is one of the finest laptops on the market today. Like every other powerful laptop on this list you can load it up inside with an SSD, 32GB of RAM, the latest Intel CPU, and even an NVIDIA graphics card. It’s the outside however that really sets this laptop apart. It is one of the only laptops I know of that has a naked carbon fiber finish, which you can rest your hands on as you type on what is probably the best keyboard ever fitted to a laptop. There’s definitely no shortage of features either as it’s available with a touch screen that rotates 360 degrees if that’s your thing. The XPS may not be the cheapest laptop on this list, but in my opinion, it is by far the best all-around laptop available on the market today.