While 2014 was a relatively quiet year for mainstream laptops, we saw some very interesting launches in the Hybrid, Gaming and Ultrabook laptop categories. In this list, we have declared the best laptops as per our rating for each category along with a few honorable mentions that came very close to being the best laptop in their respective categories.
Gaming Laptops
What’s the configuration of an ideal gaming laptop today? A 4th generation i7 CPU, 8GB RAM and an Nvidia 850M series card of better. Such a system is perfect for running most games at medium-high settings, which should be enough for most of us.
Winner
ASUS G551JK-DM053H
Price: Rs. 90,000
This is an interesting laptop for a number of reasons. First, its hardware is quite good as the device sports an Intel i7 4710 CPU, 8GB RAM and an Nvidia 850M GPU. What’s interesting is that this laptop outperforms the likes of the MSI GE60 and GS60, both of which sport 860M GPUs. The laptop is also less expensive than the aforementioned competition and thus, it offers up a combination of price and performance that’s hard to match.
Worthy Mention
MSI GE60 2PE
Price: Rs. 1,12,000
If ever a laptop deserved to be ogled at, this has to be it. It’s a very nice looking device with a stunning screen, we mean it, stunning. The quality of the display is so good that it puts many high-end desktop displays to shame as well. Display aside, the hardware is good, our test model came with an i7 4710 CPU, 8GB RAM and an 860M GPU. Performance is excellent but for some inexplicable reason, it lags behind the winner by a small amount in real-world gaming tests.
Worthy Mention
MSI GS60 2PE
Price: Rs. 1,38,000
The only thing that really separates the GS60 from the GE60 is that fact that the GS60 is sort of like an Ultrabook variant of the GE60. It’s also slightly better equipped, sporting 16GB RAM, but it also compromises a bit on the keyboard and screen quality. Don’t get us wrong, the keyboard and screen are quite excellent and better than that on most laptops, but they pale in comparison to their stellar counterparts on the GE60. This is an excellent choice if you want a light and portable gaming laptop.
Mainstream Laptops
This year proves it beyond any shadow of doubt, that laptops are the new desktop PCs – they’re not as popular as they once were, but that doesn’t mean no one wants one, either. The laptop computers launched this year have evolved to be slightly sleeker, more trendy than ever before.
Equipped with the latest Intel Core processors, and the fastest, new and improved graphics chips from AMD and NVIDIA, nothing could stop some of the fastest laptops we’ve reviewed this year from giving full-fledged desktop computers a good run for their money.
Winner
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50-70
Price: Rs. 79,990
The IdeaPad Y50-70 notebook comes with a very good, if not impressive, combination of hardware components. Just take a look – a quad-core Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor clocked at 2.5 GHz (with Turbo Boost capability of reaching 3.5 GHz), 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD + 8GB SSD (hybrid storage), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M graphics with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory. Forget day-to-day multitasking – it handles all that with a yawn – this ensures that most modern games are playable easily at high settings.
Close second...
Toshiba Satellite P50t-B
Price: Rs. 86,000
This laptop comes with the exact same CPU as the Lenovo Y50-70, 16GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon R9 M265X graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory. This Toshiba laptop’s pièce de résistance is obviously its 4K UHD display. The IPS display is very good and the 4K resolution is definitely great to work with. However, despite having a pretty good GPU, gaming on 4K is far from perfect, and the graphics performance is just a notch below our winner.
Distant third...
Acer Aspire E5-571G
Price: Rs. 63,000
The Aspire E5-571G seems like an unimpressive laptop from the outside, but its innards are what matters here: there’s an Intel Core i7-4510U processor in there, accompanied by 12GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 820M graphics with 2GB of dedicated VRAM. Overall, in terms of performance, this laptop comes behind the Lenovo and Toshiba notebooks, and is a nice option to consider for anyone who’s interested in a multimedia device which can also dabble in gaming and not suck at it.
Business Laptops
Unlike mainstream consumers like you and me, businesses seldom update their IT hardware on an annual basis – if a business laptop is bought for office use, it won’t be replaced for a good 3 to 5 years, easily.
This year, most business laptops from all the major brands have received the latest 4th generation Intel Core chipset update. While the lines between consumer and business laptops are blurring fast – especially in the ultrabook range – brands are still trying hard to preserve the essence of a business laptop, focusing on security, reliability, performance and build quality.
Winner
Dell Vostro 14 3446
Price: Rs. 47,000
The Vostro manages to beat everyone else (including laptops that are priced more than 2.5X) in terms of pure brute performance. This is made possible thanks to a large part because of the bundled discrete GPU it has – NVIDIA GeForce 820M. The Dell Vostro laptop also comes with MaxxAudio for better-than-average audio, anti-glare screen for better viewing experience. With 3 hours of battery backup on a single charge, it’s a laptop that strikes a great balance between brute-force, number crunching performance and battery performance.
Worthy mentions
Acer Travelmate PM645
Price: Rs. 67,412
The PM645 is understated in its design. It offers a perfectly adequate CPU and a healthy, 8GB of RAM. The device is powered by an Intel Core i5-4200U, which is standard in this segment, but Acer’s thermal management works very well, allowing the CPU to give its full potential, taking this laptop far ahead in our CPU performance benchmarks, outperforming most competing devices.
Worthy mentions
Lenovo ThinkPad S1 Yoga
Price: Rs. 1,12,418
The Lenovo ThinkPad S1 Yoga has a low-voltage CPU which can multitask with 4-5 apps at once, but can’t really set the stage on fire. It has better-than-average screen brightness and contrast ratio. The in-built speakers are good for personal entertainment, as they’re both loud and largely distortion-free at high volume. But most importantly, the ThinkPad S1 Yoga’s battery life is among the best we’ve pegged in a business laptop, lasting over 200 minutes in our tests.
Hybrid Laptops
Part tablet, part conventional laptop, we’re happy to say that hybrid devices are now becoming mainstream items in manufacturers’ portfolio in 2014. They aren’t that widespread yet, but you’ll be hard pressed to find an electronic store that doesn’t house at least one exhibit. While all hybrid devices are technically laptops, not all of them are tablets in the strictest sense of the word.
Winner
Acer Aspire R7-572G
Price: Rs. 99,999
This is unlike any hybrid you’d set your eyes on. It’s a 15-inch laptop with a multitouch screen which can rotate and sit on top of the keyboard to transform into a large tablet at whim, thanks to its unique Ezel hinge design. Quirky design aside, the Aspire R7 doesn’t set a foot wrong as far as performance is concerned, as its Intel Core i5 chip, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics with 2GB of GDDR3 VRAM makes it pretty much the most ambitious hybrid laptop you can get your hands on this year.
Worthy mentions
Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA 2
Price: Rs. 59,990
Lenovo’s always been known to make great laptops and the Yoga 2 is no exception. The IdeaPad YOGA 2’s overall performance figures are just a notch below the Acer Aspire R7’s performance, with the exception of battery life, though, where the YOGA 2 is slightly better. As a thin laptop that can transform itself into a 13-inch tablet, there’s no doubt in our minds when we say that the Lenovo YOGA 2 is one of the best performing hybrid devices you can buy this year.
Worthy mentions
HP Pro x2 612
Price: Rs. 70,000
A hybrid device which comes in close behind the heels of the Acer Aspire R7 and the Lenovo YOGA 2, the HP Pro x2 comes with a unique offering. With a detachable 12.5-inch screen (which is also a tablet in this case), the Pro x2 612 comes with not one but two keyboards – a standard keyboard that you’d find on any other HP laptop, and a smaller, lighter travel keyboard. It’s performance isn’t flattering in comparison but with an Intel Core i5 chip and fast-paced SSD storage, it’s worth considering.
Ultrabooks
The greatest driving force in the world of laptops is the push towards making thin, light, sleek and sexy looking notebooks, known simply as ultrabooks. This year, ultrabooks continued their journey towards packing in more within less – trying to offer the greatest hardware components and performance without upsetting the weighing scales or form factor much.
Winner
Toshiba Portege Z30t-A
Price: Rs. 1,00,000
The Toshiba Portege Z30t-A is a lovely laptop and has been designed for businessmen, but we would wholeheartedly recommend the device to anyone who wants to get some work done. It has a good track-point, an ideal laptop keyboard, SSD and a gorgeous screen with a measured contrast ratio of about 700:1, the best we’ve seen on a laptop yet. What’s more? It weighs just 1.18 kg. A true ultrabook, through and through!
Almost won...
Acer Aspire S7-392
Price: Rs. 99,999
The device is very well-built. The touch-screen on the Aspire S7 is very responsive and a pleasure to use. But in terms of overall performance, the Acer Aspire S7-392 scored just below the Toshiba Portege Z30T-A – not surprising at all, since it has pretty similar high-end components inside, not to mention a 256GB SSD to keep things nice and quick all the time. It weighs a comfortable 1.3 kg, which is one of the lowest we’ve seen on ultrabooks this year.
Respectable third
HP Elitebook 1040 G1
Price: Rs. 1,49,865
The EliteBook 1040 G1 is a smartly designed, well constructed ultrabook with a premium look and feel.The Elitebook 1040 G1 has fast internal hardware, with an SSD thrown into the mix no less, ensuring you don’t feel the performance pinch using most business applications. It’s fast, faster than most laptops you’ll encounter, but just not the fastest.