

While the 13-inch Spectre x360 isn’t without peers in both the Ultrabook and convertible computing categories, it’s HP’s convertible that is unrivaled when it comes to value. Throw in a Kaby Lake processor from Intel and a beautifully-thin design and you’ve got one heck of an Ultrabook. That alone makes the XPS 13 a computer I always wanting to be using. This thing has a stunning 13.3-inch QHD display (3,200 × 1,800 pixels) that’s somehow squeezed into the frame of an 11-inch computer. This year it continues to up the ante-and like its predecessors, the display is the focal point here. Year after year, Dell continues iterate on its XPS laptops. Long before Samsung and Apple debuted its “bezel-less” smartphones this year, Dell was paving the way with its impressive near-zero “InfinityEdge” displays. Despite the limited audience, it’s hard not to love the singular vision of the MacBook, which Apple continued to improve in 2017. But the primary concern here is still the $1299 pricetag, which puts the limited usage of this laptop in question. In addition, this year’s iteration also get an update to RAM and significantly increased SSD speed. In addition, the amount of performance and raw power you’ll get from the updated Kaby Lake Core m3 processor still won’t be enough for those who want to do things like edit video or run games. Depending on who you are and what your computer usage is like, this could really be a deal breaker. The single USB-C port is fine in 90 percent of scenarios, but you’ll undoubtedly get yourself in a situation when you’ll want to charge your laptop and plug in your external hard drive at the same time. From a very practical stance, it again is not for everyone. The design is simple, economical, and modern-and from a purely aesthetic perspective, it’s great.

It’s a beautiful design for a laptop-in fact, it just might be one of my favorites of all time. Unlike the old favorite that shared the same name, the 2017 MacBook is not a laptop for everyone.
