The 5 best notebooks between 1200 and 2000 euros to buy: buying guide

Which notebook do I buy with a budget between 1200 and 2000 euros? The advice for the purchase are among the questions you ask us most often among the comments on the reviews of laptops and it is also for this reason that we have decided to create a series of guides that will help you in choosing the solution that best suits your needs. It is a content that will come updated quarterly and which will be joined by two other product selections, one relating to low-end notebooks up to € 600 and the other from € 600 to € 1200; all then converging in a generic guide. In short, whatever your budget, here on HDblog you will always find our tips for buying.

Before starting, however, we must make a quick introduction. The prices of the products you find here fluctuate, in excess and in defect, in an unpredictable way and therefore it may be that the moment you are reading the figures do not match. Do not despair, the offers return cyclically and the prices drop according to the availability of the products. These, moreover, are our recommendations that also serve to give you an idea of ​​what type of product it can be convenient to buy at that moment at that given price; if you find very similar solutions at the same price, it will probably be an equally valid notebook.

Since then in this price range there are really many solutions and all tendentially good, I decided to divide this guide into 5 categories of laptops which currently incubate the vast majority of solutions on the market and for each one I have chosen what I think is the best representative. The 5 categories I have chosen are: ultra-laptops, notebooks for creators or workstations, 2 in 1, gaming solutions and MacBooks, which in my opinion must be mentioned separately.

Let's start with the category of ultra-portable and we certainly cannot take the scepter away from Dell XPS 13 9301 that in the 2020 version, after two generations of almost stalemate, changes in different aspects to improve what is still considered by many to be the best user experience in this segment for some time now. There build quality has always been one of its strengths, the body is in aluminum and carbon fiber and guarantees strength and lightness at the same time.

It is the most compact and lightest XPS 13 ever, thanks to the new Infinity Edge display which minimizes the frames on all 4 sides. A panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio, for the first time, which I appreciate very much because even with a reduced diagonal it is possible to have a little more space vertically when we place two windows on the same screen. This allows you to browse documents and web pages with less scroll.

Of course, the processors have also been updated. Now we have some 10th generation Intel Core CPU with integrated graphics Intel Iris Plus Graphics, an important news since one of the "defects" that we have always reported for this product was the absence of a discrete GPU. The new Iris Plus graphics cards, in fact, have performances very similar to a GeForce MX and allow an interesting performance boost when called into question.

But let's get to the price. I recommend the model with Core i5, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD which is however perfect and suitable for the needs of the majority of users. The list price for this version is 1499 euros.

From ultra-portable to notebook for so-called creators that are so fashionable in this period. Marketing stunt? Maybe, some time ago we might have called them workstations but the substance does not change. In this category I chose theMSI Prestige 15, a product that I have reviewed for a few months and that really convinced me. Although it is a product designed for productivity, we have only a thickness 16 mm and a weight of 1.6 kg that make it well transportable anyway.

Of this notebook I was especially surprised by the ability to adapt to any type of use thanks to a scalable platform that can be silent and inexpensive in terms of battery but if necessary pull out the muscles thanks to a setup that uses the CPU with a TDP up to 64W. The latter is a 10th generation Intel Core i7 equipped with 6 cores and 12 threads and accompanied by 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB SSD and a graphics card GeForce GTX 1650 which also allows you to take away some satisfaction in the gaming field but above all to speed up some particularly demanding processes.

Compatibility with NVIDIA Studio drivers and the optimization of many software such as those of the Adobe suite, allow the notebook to take advantage of the graphics acceleration and free up part of the CPU resources that can be used elsewhere. Good provision of ports although I would have liked a full format SD reader. The price? the same as XPS 13, i.e. 1499 euros.

SIMILAR ALTERNATIVE: ASUS ZENBOOK 15

Among the 2 in 1 solutions I could not choose a Lenovo product that with its Yoga line has always been a pioneer and among the leaders of this type of notebook. In particular I chose the Lenovo Yoga C940, the latest top of the range for the convertible family. It is a concrete product without renouncing a sober and elegant design with details that testify to the great care put into its construction.

I liked some special stylistic solutions such as the pen included in the package that fits into the body and the hinge that rotates together with the display and has the speakers integrated inside to have them always frontal, even when we use the notebook in "tent" mode or Tablet. We have the fingerprint sensor and also infrared, thanks to which we can access the system safely thanks to Windows Hello.

Within this C940 we have Intel 10th generation processors. Let's talk about new 10 nm Ice Lake solutions, the most recent and with an optimized production process that guarantee good performance but also very low consumption. I really liked the display and I literally loved the keyboard; one of the best I've dealt with recently. Finally, the 60Wh battery allows you to cover a standard working day without problems. Price? It starts from 1499 euros for the model with Core i5, however already quad core and very valid and it goes up about 200 euros for the version we tested with Core i7 and 16GB of RAM.

SIMILAR ALTERNATIVE: HP SPECTER X360 2020

And here we are in the gaming category, and in this section we insert the DELL G5 15 inches. A product that many of you have repeatedly pointed out to us in the past and which is actually a very interesting solution on paper. Just think of that with 1549 euros, and at this moment you can apply an additional 10% discount that brings the figure to 1350 euros, you bring home a gaming laptop with processor Intel Core i7 9750H, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB PCIe SSD.

GPU is one NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, perfect for playing in full HD, even with high detail, maintaining a framerate greater than 60fps and therefore ensuring excellent playability even with the most recent titles. The only negative note is given by the size. 2.4 cm thick and 2.68 kg in weight they are not few, but it is a gaming laptop that points to the substance and therefore it is a compromise that we can accept.

The keyboard is RGB backlit and can be customized on 4 zones. Good the provision of ports that includes 1 HDMI 2.0, 3 USB type A 3.1, 1 SD card slot, microphone and headphone jack, an Ethernet port and a mini display port. Many of these are located on the back, a feature that I appreciate very much because it allows you to not have cables on the sides of the notebook to annoy you during game sessions. The IPS display is good but the 144Hz option is only there for the more expensive model with RTX 2070, however under 2000 euros but less convenient.

SIMILAR ALTERNATIVE: ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR III

As I said at the beginning we close with one Apple solution which in my opinion deserves a separate category for several reasons but the main one is certainly the operating system, obviously different from all the products mentioned so far and an integral part of an ecosystem currently unrivaled. Those in it know it well and are unlikely to get out of it. Right now in my opinion the MacBook to choose is the new Air 2020.

In particular, I recommend the model with processor 10th generation Intel Core i5, Iris Plus graphics card, 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of PCIe SSD. This is a configuration that if you do not have particular needs from the point of view of the computing power will not give you any problems and, indeed, with the Apple software sewn to measure you can also take away some satisfaction with programs such as Final Cut. From its this Air has an excellent portability, but I'm not going to tell you. The display is excellent and the construction impeccable as always.

There is also the new keyboard that not everyone likes but that is certainly more reliable than the old one with a butterfly mechanism. Why do I prefer it to the 13-inch MacBook Pro? Well, because with this refresh the difference in terms of computing power remains but it is not as large as in the past and, above all, if you really need a more powerful notebook and you want a Pro you should wait for the launch of the new model, for which not much should be missing. But let's get to the point, rather the price, 1529 euros; not too unbalanced compared to the XPS I mentioned at the beginning and which could be considered the direct Windows competitor.

ALTERNATIVE: MACBOOK PRO 13