The Best Quality Laptop...Upper End Laptops

When you see articles about the best quality laptop, they are generally about what I call upper end laptops. These are the notebook computers that are usually mentioned in laptop comparisons or laptop computer reviews.


You don't see new notebook computer reviews of my entry level or bare bones laptops-- they did these laptop ratings last year when these were the upper end laptops.

In my mind, nobody NEEDS an upper end laptop. If you need the computing power of this best quality laptop, you would probably be better off with a notebook designed with your specific needs in mind. The particular applications you will be running determine which specific components need the best upgrades. I'll describe a general upper end laptop here,and tell you what your choices are.

General Standards.

• Display--15 to 19 inch display. If you need a portable computer with this level of power you will sacrifice some of the ease in carrying the computer. If your need is for graphic or gaming applications, the larger display is your best choice. A 1280x800 is the standard high definition screen. For these uses, you might want to go all the way up to 1920x1200. Effects will be better and editing can be more precise.
• Memory--4 GB or more, if the notebook computer will support it.
• Hard drive--a 500 or 750 GB. hard drive is the minimum if you're really doing graphics.
• Video Card--An upper end Nvidia or ATI card will do. For maximum potential performance, you can get ATI Crossfire x or Nvidia SLI cards. These are real high end configurations with multiple top end cards working together.
• Sound Card--Integrated sound is OK. If you're getting separate speakers an audio card improves the sound.
• Internet Connection--Wireless n card. It is compatible with b and g and faster if n is available.
• Optical Drive-- you want at least a dual layer DVD burner. You might want to go for a bluray player or burner, depending on your use.
• Processor--AMD is currently not a player as far as processor speed goes. The company is making a bit of a comeback in the desktop and server market. They might make a comeback in the mobile processor market too, but we have to talk Intel now.

The processor in the best quality laptop doesn't come cheap. A second generation core i7 dual core processor or an i7 quad processor or an i7 extreme processor is what you will be looking for. The quad and the extreme processors are usually in "gaming laptops. They are costly.

The a dual core i7 processor is a $100+ upgrade from an i5 processor.

The Quad is about $100 from there.

The extreme is another $300.

For the Quad processor alone you will be paying almost as much as you would have paid for an entire bare bones laptop.

Uses for Upper End Laptops

The best quality laptop appears in many places. If you shop for a gaming laptop you will get what I have called an upper end laptop with a top end sound card added on.

If you shop for a top end desktop replacement you will get what I have called an upper end laptop with a sound card and speakers. Both of these will probably have a 1920X1200 display, 17 inches or larger. The desktop replacement is also likely to have a bluray player. The other use of a computer in this class is for graphical applications. If you are generating or intensively editing photographs or video, you may need the combination of memory, processor speed, and graphics engine speed that you get with these machines. If you do though, you would probably be better off getting a truly custom built laptop optimized for the software applications you use.

People confuse the best quality laptop with the fastest, most powerful notebook computer. There is little or no quality differences between laptop computers with the same components from different manufacturers. Apple does slightly better in quality surveys and measures, but that may be due to the market Apple has always targeted. A school district is less likely to complain than you are-- it isn't their money. The remaining major manufacturers are all clustered with the same rating marginally below them.

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