2017 was a pretty good year for laptops by the way. We’ve started seeing Kaby Lake processor and pretty much every single major manufacturer and we’ve even got a few coffee lake laptops as well, by the way, is going to play a big part in 2018 since with Intel’s 8th generation architecture actually getting four cores for the i5s and even some mobile i7s. But up until now, we’re only dual core and the 8700k processor. For example, this is the desktop calculate a popular flagship this one all features six cores up from four. So yeah, 2018 is going to be a very big year in terms of processors, so therefore desktops and laptops as well. So I’m really looking forward to 2018 personally but now that 2017 is almost over here is my top five best laptops of 2017, some of which are already discounted. Besides, I am going to compare the Dell XPS 15 vs MacBook Pro or with other top 4 laptops on the list. So grab some snacks and enjoy.
5. Dell XPS 15:
Okay, so first off, how am I making this list of what criteria am I picking the best laptops well, it’s actually a mix of all, to be honest. So something that has a great bill quality a great design the greatest play the performance has to be really good. Of course, the battery life, the keyboard and pretty much everything should be as good as possible and the first laptop to think all of these boxes is actually Dell’s XPS 15 and number 5. Now some of you might be very familiar with this laptop, some of you might be even wondering wait why is this only a number five on this list. I’ll get to that in a second. But the long story to short, the XPS 15 comes with an amazing design with that Infinity Edge display panel. You have to get zero bezels on the side. And to the top, you only get a button one where the front-facing camera is located. But yeah, that comes with a very, very nice looking display which by the way can actually be configured up to a 4k touch display panel. On top of that, you get the Intel 7700 Hq processor services seven generation processor of Kaby Lake and then you’re also getting the GTX 1050 inside which means that this is actually a very good choice for both gaming, video editing, and 3D modeling as well if that’s something you care about. Now the speakers on this thing got really, really good. But probably the best parts of this laptop is the fact that it also comes with a Thunderbolt 3 port with up to 40 gigabits per second transfer speeds. This is actually the fastest for data can get right now on any machine on any personal machine. So overall, a great laptop and here’s why it only made it to number five, and not higher on this list. So the CPU is the 7700 Hq processor which yes it’s Kaby Lake and not Coffee Lake like some other laptops on this list by the way. But it’s also not the most powerful calculate processor which you can have on a laptop today. That would be the Intel 7920 Hq processor which the XPS 15 cannot be configured with also it’s a really thick laptop and the battery life isn’t great. So if you’re thinking of getting 10 hours or more on this then this isn’t for you.
4. Lenovo Yoga 920
Then at number four, we have a far more versatile choice and that is the Lenovo Yoga 920. So this is from Lenovo’s famous line of yoga laptops, essentially. So you have a 180-degree hinge and just like the Google Pixel book and by the way, which unfortunately that didn’t make it into this list for various reasons. But essentially, you can arrange this in four different modes from laptop to tablet mode to stand mode and tent mode and yes it’s also a touchscreen display and same as with the Dell XPS 15, it can actually be configured to a 4k display 13.9 inches, by the way, this time. But what it makes this overall better than Dell XPS 15 is the flexibility that you’re getting out of this. So, since you can use it in four modes. Thanks to that 180-degree hinge. This is incredibly useful and then it also comes with Intel’s eighth generation processor so coffee Lake compared to, you know, Kaby Lake the XPS 15 and even though they’re not the highest and HQ series they’re essentially the U series, but that’s pretty good because they’re not the Core My series variant, which is pretty much what you find in most ultrabooks today including the Chromebook Pixel the pixel book actually and then you also have a pen for this which you can buy separately, which supports up to 4096 levels of pressure and then the battery life is also really really good much better than on the XPS 15 with up to nine hours of battery life, and then it also comes with not one but actually two Thunderbolt 3 ports which again are defensive spots on any computer device right now. Consumer computer advice that it has transfer speed up to 40 gigabytes per second and then on top of all this, you’re also getting a fingerprint scanner on the front which is very, very useful.
3. Razer Blade
And on number three we have a very famous laptop, which I’m guessing most of you are really familiar with. And that’s the Razer Blade. So what makes this better than the XPS 15 or the Lenovo Yoga 920 is the performance and the build. So in terms of the performance, this one actually comes with the same Intel 7700 Hq processor like a Dell XPS 15 however it also comes with a GTX 1060 instead of 1050. And 1060 by the way, is significantly better for gaming and 3D modeling than at 1050. There are six gigabytes of VRAM 1060 gigabytes. Also, you will have a model with four gigabytes. But this is the six gig 1060 GPU, which is really impressive. If you care about gaming and 3D modeling and then you can also configure the Razer Blade. By the way, you come with a 4k touchscreen display as well just like the XPS 15. It also comes with a Thunderbolt 3 port as well, just like the previous two laptops on this list, but probably the biggest advantage over the XPS 15 is the size. So this is a 14-inch laptop so it’s a bit smaller than the XPS 15, but it’s also thinner than a 15 also being made entirely out of metal rather than plastic and so metal means that it feels and it actually is more premium than the XPS 15. Now there are a couple of overheating issues and customer support issues and besides by the way, which I have to mention that you are getting a much more powerful and also thinner laptop that than both the previous ones that I mentioned on this list.
2. Microsoft Surface Book 2
Then on number two, we have quite an interesting choice and that is the Microsoft Surface Book 2. It is because, well, first of all, you have the battery life. So Microsoft actually claims up to 17 hours of battery life on this thing which is just unheard of on such a laptop and what I mean by such laptop is that this thing is very very powerful. So it comes with Intel’s eighth generation processors. So coffee Lake up to an Intel i7 8650 U processor. This is quad core i7 which even though is not the most powerful coffee lake that it can get that’s also one of the reasons why you’re getting such great battery and then you’re also getting a GTX 1050 inside, 16 gigabytes of RAM and a 3000×2000 resolution display by the way, that is great for pretty much anything you do these things so performance is great and battery life is great the display is a great. And also the display screen is also detachable so you can use it as a tablet. When you wish and you also have the Surface Pen that you can buy separately for when you want to use Photoshop or any creative tools. But now here’s the thing, the Surface Book 2 doesn’t have a Thunderbolt 3 port like all the previous three laptops on this list and it also doesn’t have a GTX 1060 graphics like the Razer Blade. But overall, considering that it’s pretty much as flexible as the yoga 920 but yet it actually comes with significantly more powerful processors than dedicated GTX 1050 and on top of that, you’re also getting 17 hours of battery life. Well, this is a great laptop for pretty much all purposes.
1. MacBook Pro
Okay, so here we are on number 1. What is my choice for the best laptop of 2017? Well, most of you will probably disagree with my choice of picking the 2017 and 15 inch MacBook Pro. Are you crazy? Why on earth would you pick that computer? I mean, why the MacBook Pro, doesn’t have a touchscreen, the GPU is awful, no 4k displays and crazily overpriced. And it’s a Mac, so you can’t run any games on this thing except for chess right well here are all the reasons why I actually picked the 2017 15 inch MacBook Pro as the best laptop for 2018. So first off, we have the performance. So the 15 inch MacBook Pro is the only laptop on this list that actually gets Intel’s most powerful processor. The 7920 Hq now both the Dell XPS 15 and the Razer Blade maxed out at seven 700 Hq and you can actually configure the MacBook Pro with up to the 7920 Hq which can actually go up to 4.1 gigahertz. So this is at the moment the most powerful processor that can have on any laptop since the 8920 HQ. So to coffee lake variant hasn’t been released yet then second, it also comes with the fastest flash storage on any laptop on a market right now with up to two terabytes of 3.2 gigabytes per second transfer speeds. This is crazy. This is a complete dream for creative professionals that I have to edit large raw video formats, or they have to open large image galleries for editing and Photoshop and so on. And on top of all this, it comes with not one but actually for Thunderbolt 3 ports and this is the only laptop on his list by the way, and in the world that can run, not one but actually to five k monitors at the same time at 60 Hertz and still be able to drive another 4k monitor and still be able to drive the built-in quite as you display. Well, and then you also have the best design of these laptops also the best speakers on any laptop right now. This is not just me saying this is an actual fact, this thing has the best speakers on any laptop right now and the battery life. It’s really, really good. It’s about nine to 10 hours depending on your usage for me it’s about 6 to 7. So overall, this is the perfect laptop for video editors or creatives since Apple’s pro apps such as Final Cut Pro 10 have between three-four times sometimes even higher rendering speed of the premier gets wondering why that is. It’s because premier doesn’t support or it doesn’t make use of intro squeezing so that’s why it’s slower. In case you’re wondering what it also comes with a fingerprint scanner and the touch bar, both of which are really useful to have especially if you use touch bar and Photoshop. You get a lot of really useful commands and a lot of depth. And then if you’re a developer, the MacBook Pro is also the best choice for developers as well. This is the only laptop on this list, it can run all three major operating system. So that’s Mac OS, Windows and pretty much any distribution of Linux and then you can even run all of them by the way at the same time with specific software tools. However, the MacBook Pro is not perfect, unfortunately, because gaming is not possible, you get a Radeon pro 560 so you can run most games at ADP between medium to high settings which are still okay but that’s on Windows, by the way, so you have to install Windows. Mac OS uses a different rendering engine than Windows. I’m talking about open CL in case you’re wondering and since most games are optimized for direct extend and not you know open CL or metal the performance is much worse in Mac OS that in Windows. And aside from this, the design is great.
Conclusion:
By the way, overall, I wasn’t really sure if I should place the Mac Book Pro in the first place on this list but considering the fastest flash storage of any laptop. The fact that it comes with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can connect to get displays at 60 hertz and drive the built in this place well and an extra 4k monitor. It also comes with the fastest CPU than on any laptops right now essentially the perfect laptop for both content creators end developers. Now in case you’re wondering, it’s not for gamers. So if you’re a gamer don’t buy this computer. Now if you do want a game on it, you can install an external GPU and essentially you can turn this thing into a gaming laptop. If you really want to do that, obviously need to install Windows to take full advantage of that GPU. But if you really want to do that you can do. But let me know in the comments which one do you think is the perfect laptop for you or which one would you pick as the best one for you and why?