Ultrabooks, gaming and budget laptops worth the money.
Eight 15.6-inch laptops ranked by specs, screen and owner reviews: HP 255 G10, Dell 15 i5, HP 15 touchscreen, Lenovo V15, Dell Inspiron 32GB, MSI GV15, ASUS Vivobook Go 15 and Lenovo Essential.
Eight school laptops ranked by durability, battery, software and parent reviews: HP Chromebook 14 (two), Lenovo Chromebook 14 touch, IdeaPad Slim 3i, HP 15 touch, Flex 5i Chromebook Plus and HP 14.
Eight editing laptops ranked by GPU, CPU, memory, screen and owner reviews: ASUS ROG Strix G16, Gigabyte A16, two MSI Katana 15 HX, Lenovo Yoga 7i OLED, MSI Thin 15, ROG Flow Z13, Surface Studio.
Eight budget Windows laptops ranked by specs and owner reviews: HP 255 G10, HP 15 touchscreen, Lenovo V15, Dell 15, ASUS Vivobook Go 15, HP Laptop 15, Lenovo Essential and IdeaPad Slim 3i.
Five student laptops under $800 ranked by weight, RAM and owner reviews: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 with Ryzen 7, Lenovo V15 with 16GB, HP 15 touchscreen, ASUS Vivobook Go 15 and HP 17.
Five well-reviewed touchscreen laptops ranked for real use: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 and Slim 5, the Snapdragon Surface Laptop, a budget HP touchscreen and the convertible Surface Studio.
Five well-reviewed budget gaming laptops from the RTX 4050 MSI Thin down to the GTX 1650 GV15 and GF63, with GPU tiers, 144 Hz screens, thermals and RAM upgrades explained.
Five well-reviewed budget laptops ranked by real specs: the 16GB HP 255 G10, the Dell 15 with a 512GB SSD, Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3i with Office, an HP Chromebook and a 17-inch HP OmniBook.
Five laptops for software development, picked for RAM, screen and battery: Lenovo Slim 7i Aura Edition, ThinkPad E16 Gen 3, Microsoft Surface Laptop, ASUS ROG Strix G16 and IdeaPad Slim 3.
The one-paragraph verdict of each guide; open one for the full comparison.
Ranked by our editors, with live prices
8.0The MacBook Air is the default developer laptop in 2026 for a reason.
8.8The Zenbook 14 OLED gets you most of what the ThinkPad and MacBook offer for noticeably less.
8.0If you compile big native codebases, run several containers and a VM at once, train small models locally, or do mobile development with simulators open all day, the Pro is worth the step up from the Air.
8.0(CTO) Configure to Order Mac: Upgraded from base specifications.
8.0[Compatibility]:For Dell Inspiron 7415 5415 5410 series laptop.
8.0[Compatibility]:For Dell Inspiron 3525 15 3520 3510 3511 3515 lcd housing.
8.0Exact Compatibility: Replacement bottom base cover designed specifically for Dell Latitude 5350 and E5350 13.3-inch business laptops.
8.0[Compatible Model] -Only fit for Lenovo ThinkPad T490S Series Laptop
8.0[Compatible Model] -Only fit for Dell Alienware M15 R3 Series Laptop
8.0Compatibility: Designed specifically for Latitude 5520, 5521, Precision 3560, and 3561 laptops, ensuring a precise and secure fit.
8.0[Compatibility]:For Dell latitude 14 3420 E3420 series Laptop. [P/N]:03VX9G 3VX9G. [Quality Assurance]:Original Brand New for Dell latitude
8.0Compatible model: New Upper Case Palmrest with Non-Backlit Keyboard Replacement for Dell Inspiron 15 3510 3511 3515 3520 USB Type-A Black To
8.0[Compatibility]:For Dell Inspiron 15 5510 5515 5518 series laptop.
8.0[Compatible Model] -Only fit for Dell Latitude 14 3440 Series Laptop