Best Notebooks and Laptops to buy on February 2020 on offer

To understand which Notebook, laptop or ultrabook to give for Christmas It is certainly not simple: the options are many, the configurations infinite and above all there are small details that affect the final price a lot, but that often make the real difference. In this buying guide I want to tell you which notebook I would buy right now for each price range. A very narrow selection that only take into consideration the most interesting model depending on the budget you have available.

Regardless of how much you can spend, there are certainly four elements that can be considered fundamental when you go to buy a computer:

1. MEMORY: like the processor, or perhaps even a step above, the provision of RAM and internal memory is certainly very important. A laptop with Windows 10 with less than 4GB of RAM is not, in our opinion, advisable and it makes no sense to save 20/30% for ultra-cheap products. If necessary, postpone the purchase for a few months. Similar speech for internal memory: Windows occupies a lot of resources and 64GB are already a significant limit and we recommend at least 128GB. In this case, however, having 128GB on SSD compared to 500GB on HDD is much better given the much higher performance of SSDs. At the most invest € 30 on a large USB.
2. PROCESSOR: the processor comes after the memory and it is very important but be careful not to overdo it. In the low end the problem does not arise particularly and clearly more power is had, mallet it is. In the high end, however, when you start talking about i5, i7 or even i9, you have to take into consideration the compromise between performance / autonomy / heat. A laptop with i5 and ultra fast SSD will always be better than an i7 with HDD. Also it is always preferable to have a 256GB SSD rather than a 128 SSD + a 500GB or 1TB mechanical disk. Not only will you have less weight, but better performance and greater autonomy. Furthermore, an i7 processor may never be really exploited and, in the same way, an i9 could get to excessive temperatures without real improvements in your activities. So consider your needs and the situations of use that you will have.
3. DISPLAY: Oled, LCD, matte, glossy is of little importance. In 2019 it is still possible to find even non-cheap laptops with bad screens and HD resolution. So pay close attention and if you find products with apparently excellent hardware at very low prices, perhaps a 1366 TFT display and a mechanical HDD will be present and … if you can avoid them.
4. AUTONOMY: in this case the budget makes the difference. Cheap laptops hardly have high autonomies and only with the latest CPUs are the consumption very low, including standby. However, there are important differences on the Wh, that is the capacity of the batteries and if you want an excellent duration outside your office / home, going below 50Wh is not recommended.

Let's start from the bottom with Acer Swift 1. Ok, there are also cheaper solutions but in my opinion under this figure one notebook is the other and in any case you will not find anything worthy of note unless crazy offers. This Acer is instead the first product that, in my opinion, offers a value for money that can recommend it to a good part of users. Let's say that for all those who want a notebook just to surf, watch e-mail and TV series on Netflix, this Swift 1 is enough.

Also because if what I have just described is your typical use, visual comfort is certainly one of the most important features and under this figure it is practically impossible to find a panel solution IPS FullHD as we have here. However, this display is not the only interesting feature.

Acer Swift 1 is indeed also equipped with a 128 GB SSD, obviously not PCIe but still much faster than a classic mechanical HDD. The RAM memory is 4 GB which, as we said above, is the minimum necessary for a notebook with Windows 10 and the processor is a Intel Pentium Silver N5000, a decent quad-core with operating frequency that can go up to 2.7 GHz and in any case more than enough for the type of use described above.

Still in relation to video streaming and the use of multimedia content, it is certainly important to underline the fact that the graphics card Intel UHD Graphics 605, although it is an integrated model in the SoC, supports 4K at 60Hz. Worth noting is the presence of Windows 10 in version S, which can however be updated free of charge to the standard version.

Going up a little bit with the price but always staying in a range that we could define as affordable, let's move on to Lenovo IdeaPad S340 which improves in all respects the characteristics of the previous Acer model while maintaining a price accessible to many users. We are talking about a notebook which, due to its hardware equipment, can be defined as "all-rounder" and which offers some important goodies such as a discrete graphics card which, although of an entry-level level, is always appreciable.

The display is a 14 "with FullHD resolution equipped with a hinge that allows rotation up to 180 degrees and reduced frames on three of the 4 sides. Well the resolution then, but pay attention to the configurations, some versions have a TN panel. I like the fact that the webcam is equipped with a mechanical flap with which we can obscure the lens when we are not using it.

The processor is a 8th generation Intel Core i5 equipped with 4 cores and 8 threads with a maximum operating frequency that touches 4 GHz. The RAM amounts to 8 GB and is configured in two modules, one of which is soldered and the other instead accessible and possibly upgradeable to bring the total to 12 GB . Do not miss a 256 GB SSD in M.2 format which allows a fast data transfer and above all makes the whole system much more reactive.

The most interesting feature, however, is the presence of a discrete graphics card NVIDIA GeForce MX230 with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory that allows you to have better performance than the integrated Intel UHD Graphics. It is obviously not the top but the possibility remains, with the necessary compromises in terms of graphic details, to run some titles even quite recent with a framerate greater than 30 fps.

We then go up to almost 900 euros to find a notebook that justifies the price jump. I speak ofHP Pavillon 15 which is available in many different variations. What I am talking about is in my opinion one of the most sensible options in terms of balance between price, hardware and performance. All seasoned with a very nice design and an aluminum chassis with a sober and refined look and an undeniable build quality.

Inside the model chosen for this guide we find a processor Intel Core i7 8565U, accompanied by 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD with PCIe interface, up to 17 times faster than a normal 5400 rpm HDD that we have found in most consumer notebooks to date. Good the provision of ports, which includes two USB Type A, one Type C, SD card reader, HDMI standard and even an ethernet, now a rarity.

In addition to the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics card we also have one here NVIDIA GeForce MX 250, the last step before landing in the GTX models. It is a discrete low-end CPU but still capable of significantly better performance than the model integrated in Intel processors. As far as gaming is concerned, the same argument as above is valid, the most recent titles run above 30 fps only with detail at a minimum.

The display is a classic 15.6-inch diagonal panel with resolution FullHD and IPS technology. Certainly to appreciate the presence of a keyboard that includes the numeric keypad, still very important for some categories of users and the integration of a webcam with a 2 megapixel sensor that allows you to take pictures in FullHD, flanked by IR optics thanks to which we can log in securely with Windows Hello. The battery is only 41 Wh but there is a rapid charging system that allows you to reach 50% charge in just 45 minutes, thus avoiding at least in part the danger of staying dry.

Let's break through the 1000 euro threshold with this ASUS Zenbook UX433 which is an alternative to the previous HP in terms of computing power but offers much smaller dimensions and weight, thus improving portability a lot. First of all, it is therefore necessary to specify that we are faced with a product equipped with a 14-inch diagonal display that offers very thin frames on all sides for a footprint that is actually similar to that of a common 13-inch display.

The thickness is slightly higher than 15 mm and the weight is only 1.09 Kg. All this without renouncing an extremely solid structure obtained thanks to the use of materials such as aluminum for most of the components. Inside we have a processor Intel Core i7 8565U accompanied by 8GB of RAM, soldered and not upgradeable, and by a 256 GB PCIe SSD with excellent read and write speeds.

Here too the graphics component is supported by a card NVIDIA GeForce MX150 which does not belong to the latest generation of mobile GPU but which still offers 2 GB of dedicated video memory and performance far superior to that of the integrated Intel.

One of the details that I liked most about this notebook is certainly the glass covering the display that reaches the end of the cover, thus giving the solution a very premium appearance. Sufficient the provision of ports which is characterized by the presence of a microSD card reader, audio jack, two USB Type A, one Type C and one standard HDMI. The battery is 50 Wh and, as stated by Asus, allows you to reach up to 13 hours of use.

MSI Prestige 15 it is one of the notebooks I have tried most recently and it is probably the one that most surprised me among the last tested. In this guide it is the only solution that is already equipped with Intel 10th generation processors and the implementation of the processor is one of the reasons that prompted me to recommend it. We are talking about a notebook with multiple souls with which practically all users can, as they say, sleep soundly. Obviously the price is much higher than the alternatives seen so far but it is not excessive and if compared to performance and portability it is absolutely balanced.

Prestige 15 is a solution that MSI addresses to the so-called "creators" but, in practice it is a notebook that embraces the needs of all those who need to work on the move with multimedia content of all kinds. Inside we find this Core i7 10710U that, on paper, it is an ultra-low-voltage processor with TDP of 15W but, when necessary, can push well beyond almost to match the performance of the H series products previous generation.

16 are the GB of RAM which can be increased given the presence of a second empty slot, and in addition to these we have a 512 GB NVMe SSD very fast, also upgradeable or expandable with a second module thanks to another M.2 connector on the motherboard.

Good battery life of 84Wh and excellent construction and materials. Definitely to take into account the presence of the discrete graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with Max-Q design that allows you to get good performances even with the most recent titles played at medium-high details.

And obviously in this guide an alternative could not be missing for those who need to replace their own MacBook or to buy a new one. In this case my advice falls on the last one 13-inch MacBook Pro, which in my opinion remains the best compromise between portability and performance. The build quality is typical of bitten apple products and the design is obviously one of the aspects that is most appreciated when we have this kind of products in our hands.

The 13-inch version in question is that equipped with Touch Bar, not essential but still useful in some situations. Inside we find a quad-core processor, to be precise a 8th generation Core i5 with Intel Iris Plus graphics card that is not at the level of a discrete graphics card but that in the Apple implementation, with the optimization of the programs developed for MacOs it still allows to obtain sufficient graphics performance in all the most common operations.

The selected configuration then offers a quantity of 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB NVMe SSD. One of the strengths of all MacBook products has always been the display that also does not disappoint here. The panel measures 13 inches diagonally, is calibrated with an enviable precision and guarantees very high brightness and consequent excellent visibility in all situations of use.

Obviously there remains a solution recommended especially for those who already use MacOS o owns several ecosystem products (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, etc.) and wants a notebook that is perfectly integrated with all the other elements.

Price in relation to hardwareNo discreet graphics a MacBook

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