Personal computing has come to mean a lot of things over the history of technology, however, few devices have as special a place in our device arsenal as the laptop. IFA has just come by, and 2018 has proven to be a great year for those looking for a laptop, whether it be for productivity, or play. Here are a few that have gotten our attention.
Lenovo Yoga Book C930
Those who had the pleasure of trying out the first Yoga Book seem to have loved it. The size, thinness, and functionality of being able to either write or type in a virtual notebook still hasn’t really been matched to this day. Lenovo is building on the success of the Yoga Book, and making some interesting changes in its second iteration. The Yoga Book C930 brings that same great form factor and unique functionality, with a few significant changes. For one, you now have an e-ink display on the bottom that can serve as a keyboard or the writing surface for the included stylus. Handwritten notes are simpler and more intuitive than ever. It also now comes solely in a windows configuration, and a much beefier Intel Core i5 processor. If you need a small, light laptop that lets you take notes longhand and type, this is just the device for you.
Acer Predator Triton 900
There are gaming laptops, and then there is the Triton 900. Acer pulled all the stops for this beast. Equal parts gaming and 2-in-1 convertible, it’s a unicorn that can (probably) play games maxed out at 4K resolution. Acer has unfortunately not released specs for this device at the moment, but seeing as the last Triton was a monster, we have no reason to expect anything less from this incarnation of the device. Do we absolutely need something with this feature set? Probably not. Do we absolutely want it anyway? A thousand times, yes.
Asus Zenbook 15
Asus is one of the brands that has instant recall when it comes to laptops, and the Zenbook 15 is a great reason why this is the case. The Zenbook 15 is a gorgeous general-purpose laptop that’s meant to be equal parts functional and gorgeous. Featuring incredibly thin bezels for a 95-percent screen-to-body ratio, and an innovative hinge that lifts the laptop slightly off the surface for better ergonomics, Asus seems to have hit the mark. Asus has also given it their trademark Asus toughness for years of use, and some powerful hardware to boot. You can have yours done with discrete graphics, 16 GB of RAM, and a variety of SSD sizes for both speed and weight savings. You even have IR webcams for more secure face unlocking, all in a form factor that’s bag-friendly.
Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14
Chromebooks had a bit of difficulty getting off the ground when they first came out. We can’t really blame the consumers though. They were neither the nicest, nor the best-looking laptops available at the time. Coming up with a Chromebook that’s as suited for office workers as it is to students, Dell gives us the Inspiron Chromebook 14. Sporting an aluminum chassis, large screen, and 2-in-1 form factor, this Chromebook gives you features you would normally expect from a higher-tier device. It runs a capable Core i3 processor, and comes in at a wallet-friendly price of USD 599. Not bad for a premium-feeling workhorse.
Lenovo Yoga C630
Lenovo has been working hard to come up with some really great hardware, and it shows. The second Lenny to appear on our list, the Yoga C630 has the distinction of being the world’s first laptop to run the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850. This might be confusing for some, as this is usually something we see on mobile phones, but the C630, with its 256 GB of storage, and 8 GB of RAM runs Windows 10, and is expected to have a run time of over 24 hours. Since it does run the SD 850 SoC, you’re also going to have some great extra features like cellular connectivity, and paired with the Adreno 630 GPU, it’s going to have some graphics chops to boot. If you’re a road warrior, hate carrying a charger, or are too forgetful to charge your device, meet your next laptop. Small, powerful and with enough power to last longer than a whole day, this is the laptop to beat.
There are more laptops available to consumers than ever before, and anyone in the market for something portable, powerful, and capable will be spoilt for choice. We’ve come a long way from large bulky blocks that offered a shred of the performance desktop systems could deliver. This age of personal computing belongs to laptops, and all our favorite brands are more than happy to give us options.
Also published in GADGETS MAGAZINE October 2018 Issue.
Words by Ren Alcantara
Art by Ronel Bautista