View from the Labs
Stuar t is hoping that his friends and family will stop nagging him about which laptop to buy and simply plump for a cer tain award winner
As someone who tests and writes about PCs I get asked a lot for purchase advice. Twenty years ago my friends and family just wanted to know which brand I recommended, or whether it was worth splashing out on the latest Intel processor. For the past few years, however, the question I’ve been asked the most is “what’s the best affordable laptop?”
Generally, I find that premium laptop buyers already know that they want a MacBook Pro, a Microsoft Surface or the nearest Dell XPS or HP EliteBook equivalent. They’ve got something in mind and the money to invest. Yet, there are more people out there for whom a new laptop isn’t their core work machine, a key creative tool or a major lifestyle choice; they just want something decent to surf the web, work or get a little photo-editing done.
This doesn’t mean they all want the same thing. Sometimes they’re looking for a laptop to run a small business from, or one to use in the living room at home. Sometimes they want something a little more stylish or a laptop that’s portable enough to take just about anywhere. Whatever their requirements, I’d feel pretty confident recommending something from this Labs.
The HP 250 G5 isn’t the most exciting machine, but it’s a rock-solid option for the deskbound small business user. The PC Specialist UltraNote IV and the Acer Aspire 5 aren’t perfect, but they have got the power to run some serious applications in a portable PC that shouldn’t break the bank. The Medion Akoya and Acer Swift 3 are great, lightweight laptops that pack in more than you have any right to expect for their price. Yet, it’s the Asus ZenBook UX410 that I keep coming back to, just because it fits so many people’s needs. It’s lightweight and compact enough to go in a bag and get lugged around, yet Asus has packed in the big screen and ergonomics to make it an effective working tool. It looks slick and feels polished, delivering the kind of experience that used to be the preserve of well-heeled enthusiasts and corporate execs.
Sure, the ZenBook isn’t the world’s most innovative product – its killer features have been seen before – but at its heart is a fairly radical question: when you can get something this good for this kind of money, why on earth would you want to spend more?
“When you can get something this good for this kind of money, why on earth would you want to spend more?”