rizzo183 :
What makes premium laptops so good that reviewers call them "the best"? I mean, sure they are made using premium materials. But why is that important when you can save hundreds by going for cheaper materials but good build quality?
What else makes top-of-the-line laptops, top-of-the-line?
I guarantee you there's Nobel Prize in Economics waiting for the person who can answer that question definitively...
In the meantime, let's take one step at a time:
1. Materials are still important, but much less so than was the case 20 years ago.
2. In that same period, laptops have expanded, and proven, their useability beyond any manufacturer's wildest imagination.
3. Design, or styling, has pretty much replaced materials as the salient feature of most laptops currently available.
At the end of the day, the consumer - that's you, Rizzo - has to decide what is 'the best' laptop given your wallet, taste and purpose. Reviewers will try to offer a useful guideline and forums like Tom's will offer lots of input as well, but in the end you're on your own - and it's your money.
If you need to go to the Arctic for oil exploration or spend weeks on the African savannah studying dung beetles, a maxed-out gaming-styled rig from MSI or Alienware may not be 'the best' laptop for you, regardless of the
components used or the
price asked. Nor would a MacBook, regardless of the
materials used.
In this case, 'the best' laptop would probably be one that can take a lot of punishment without breaking/malfunctioning, and if it does, components should be easy to replace on-site. And if your job entails an above-average risk of breaking stuff, the laptop shouldn't be inordinately expensive, either. Traditionally, this has been the strong selling points of ThinkPads.
If your life involves heavy socializing, privately and professionally in urban/office settings, an Apple MacBook or ASUS Zenbook could easily be 'the best' laptop because of the
design and the
material feel; the specs suck, but it looks and feels great and that's more important to you.
These are extremes and you will most likely find yourself somewhere in the middle - like most of us: trying to balance specs with purpose and build-quality, knowing that our wallets will have the final say.
Cheers,
GreyCatz.
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