Determining which the best laptops of 2015 are is not an easy task. Manufacturers have lowered prices dramatically and made the machines faster, many can replace the need for a desktop.
The best laptops are going to be really outstanding machines that meet a full range of price points. (Many links will go to product descriptions on amazon.com)
There are the top 5 laptops – look below for more.
See Top 3 Laptops Here or all models reviewed below
| Top 3 Laptops | Brand | Model | Details | Price | Editor's Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 {full specs} |  | Aspire Ultrabook S7 | High power laptop with Microsoft windows. This is a great touch screen laptop, | $1200 | #1 - If you are looking for the "BEST" laptop, then you have to look at this Acer. Thin and super light - this is the go anywhere machine. view full review |
 {full specs} |  | Transformer Book 12″ | Hybrid machine with 4 GB RAM, 12" screen a nice 64 GB SSD drive. | $460 | #2 - Awesome machine in the new hybrid class of laptops. It is both a laptop AND a tablet. So a huge value when you only need to buy one. view full review |
 {full specs} | | C720 Chromebook | Chrome OS, 11.6", 2 GB RAM and a 16 GB SSD drive | $225 | #3 - If you need a cheap laptop for web browsing and email - this is a steal. Great for a student. view full review |
Best Laptops 2015
Lenovo Flex 2 – $670
- Intel Core i5
- 6 GB DDR3 RAM
- 1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
- 15.6-Inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
- IPS LED Backlight Display w/10-Point Multi-Touch
- Windows 8.1, 7-hour battery life
If you are looking for a laptop which is not like any you have ever seen – check out this Lenovo Flex. It comes in at a great price, yet has some great features like a great touch screen.
They call the flex series a “multi mode”, the screen can fold all the way over, 300°, and have the keyboard sitting upside down on the surface. In stand mode – it lends itself to be a great touch screen web cam laptop as well as a great place to watch multi-media and movies.
Details: 15.6″ Touch screen, 1920 x 1080 full HD, 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 6 GB DDR3, 1 TB 5400 RPM Hard Drive, DVD RW, WiFi 802.11bgn, 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, 7 hour battery life, Windows 8.1, 5.5 pounds & 10.87″ x 15.04 x 1.06″.
Apple Mac Book Air – $900
- 1.4 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
- 4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3
- 128 GB PCIe-based flash storage
- 11.6-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
- Intel HD Graphics 5000
- OS X; 9 hours of battery life
Fit and finish – the MacBook Air is amazing looking. So nice looking and the quality is just as good. The SSD drive makes access very quick. And it is thin as a razor – thin, light, and durable.
The MacBook Air with 11.6-inch screen gives you up to 9 hours of battery life. It has a Thunderbolt port and two USB 3.0 ports – this makes way for quality external displays. Powered by OS X, it was to built to bring out the best in your Mac.
You can also connect with other friends and family with the FacceTime camera – even if you are on your computer and they are on their iPhone, iPad or iTouch.
Details: 11.6″ LED glossy widescreen, 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 128 GB flash storage, 4 GB of 1600 MHz, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Video Thunderbolt, Mini DisplayPort, Two USB 3 ports, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 – 11.8″ x 7.56″ x 0.68″.
ASUS Transformer – $460
- Intel 64 Bit Quad Core 1.59GHz
- 4GB RAM
- 64 GB Solid-State
- 9-Hour battery life
- WiFi 802.11ABGN/Bluetooth 4.0
Not sure if you need a new table or a laptop. No problem – buy one machine for both.
The transformer is both. You get a keyboard when you want it – and when you don’t…leave it behind.
With an 11.6″ touchscreen display, the T200 transforms when you want it to.
Details: 11.6″ – 1366×768, 1.59 GHz Intel At, 4 GB DDR3, 64 GB Hard Drive, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 1 USB 2.0 Ports, 1 USB 3.0 Ports, 9 hours battery life, 3.6 pounds. 7.90″ x 12″ x 1 ”
Acer C720 – $225
- Intel Celeron 2955U 1.4 GHz
- 16 GB Solid-State Drive
- 11.6-Inch Anti-Glare Screen, Intel HD Graphics
- Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- HDMI port, 8.5-hour battery life
Chromebooks have come on the scene hot and heavy over the last year because they are so cool. Reason one is they are able to boot up and ready in about 7 seconds. Updates are automatic, free and because it is running all applications on the internet – they are virtually virus free.
The 720 is powered by a Celeron processor, which is similar to other windows machines. The Acer is super thin and light at .75″ thick and just over 2 pounds.
The screen is rather good and allows use outside in sunlight – and the 1366 x 768 resolution make it great for multi-media andstreaming movies. Plus – it has an external HDMI port if you want to put it up on the big screen. Acer also had a touch screen version of this model – its a little more money, but if you are the touch screen type, check out the C720P.
HP Pavilion 11.6″ – $290
- A4-1250 DC 1.0 GHz
- 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM
- 500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
- 11.6-Inch Screen – 1366 x 768
- AMD Radeon HD 8210 Graphics
- 5-hour battery life
This HP Pavilion is a touch screen laptop with a lot of super nice features for a sub $300 laptop. Weighing in at 3.37 pounds, the 500 GB traditional hard drive and 4 GB.
The keyboard is almost full sized or leverage the multi-touch gestures on screen – either way you can leverage it with Windows 8.
Outside of the great price – it is a great size to pack anywhere. With HP’s SimplePass – use the Pavilion to save passwords, securely.
Details: 11.6″ screen with 1366 x 768 resolution, 1 GHz A-Series Dual Core A4, 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, AMD Radeon HD 8210 Graphics, WiFi 802.11bgn, 1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, and a nice 5 hours battery life.
Best Laptop By Price
Budget Laptops
First category of laptops we will look at is the budget conscious machines. High on value – they still pack a good number of features.
HP Pavilion 11
This a great option for a smaller affordable laptop the screen size is 11.6 inches but this little machine packs quite a punch for under $400.
This laptop has an easy to use touch screen, weighs around 3 pounds and has a 5 hour battery life! Check out the full specs.
Acer C720
Can be had for $225 – that is not a misprint. It is a Chromebook which relies on the sturdy Chrome OS and is great for web surfing and web based email apps (GMail and YMail) – but not a whole lot more.
The option is worth mentioning but it really does not make the best of list because while Google is offering free space in the cloud to consumers during their first two years of ownership after that point they will only be able to access the Google cloud through a subscription service. Check out the Acer Chrome book here.
Mid Priced Laptops – Best value laptop
Lenovo Flex 2 – $625
Best in the midrange, best value price category is also a touch screen.
This laptop is lightweight has some great features that you will find in higher end models – it sips on battery power and will go a reported 7 hours. Powered by a Intel Core i5 processor, it sports 8 GB DDR3 RAM, a battery saving 128 GB Solid-State Drive, nice sized 14.0-inch screen & Windows 8.1. It is sleek, fast and a bargain at just over $600.
ASUS Transformer
The ASUS Transformer Book 12″ is a great option in the mid price range category. This hybrid easily switches from laptop to tablet with Windows 8.1. It has a 2-in-1 detachable touchscreen, 4 GB RAM, 64 GBit has a 12 inch screen. The touch screen can easily be removed from the docking base and utilize its own 64 GB SSD. Best part – the price…only $460! See the full specs for the ASUS Transformer Book 12″ here.
Top of the Line Laptops – The best laptop
The meaning of expensive has changed when it comes to laptops. A few years ago, to go high end, you needed to spend north of $2000, now anything over $1000 can be considered the upper range of costs.
Clearly if you can buy a great useable machine and pay $600 than a machine is twice as expensive should be able to work wonders. What you pay for at this level is memory, SSD’s and resolution.
Apple Mac Book Air – $900
Apple tops the list of best laptops of 2015 with the Mac Book Air. This is a lightweight machine that moves as fast as you can imagine and has a battery life that exceeds 9 hours.
Depending on what size of screen you are looking for (11 or 13 inch) and SSD size (128 vs 256) you can pay $830 thru $1300. It is on the upper end of the price range – but the quality will not be an issue. See the Mac Book Air’s full specs.
Acer Aspire Ultrabook S7 – $1200
If Windows is more your “flavor” this one of the best and most sleek machine ont he market. It is about a half an inch thick and weighs less than three pounds. It is full of bells and whistles at right around $1200.
With a 13.3 inch touchscreen, the Ultrabook runs an Intel i7-4500U with 8GB of RAM and a 256SSD for storage. Check out the Ultrabook line at Amazon.
The best laptops of 2014-2015 come in a full range of prices. Set your budget before you shop and you will easily be able to find a great laptop to suit your needs! Narrowing down all the laptops to find the best laptop of 2014-2015 can be almost impossible. There are so many really good laptops on the market that are almost identical in function and price finding the best one is almost impossible.
A lot of names have been thrown around by the critics and the experts but it seems there is no particular agreement among them which is best. Apple, Dell, Sony, Lenovo, Asus and Samsung all have produced contenders for the best laptop of 2015.
This year models are not quite as exciting as the release of 2014 largely because of the Windows 8 release that happened in 2014 but nonetheless there are still some serious upgrades to familiar models and a few new inventions that make this year pretty interesting for laptops.
Best Laptop in 2015 by Type
Laptop Hybrids – Best small laptop
A couple of contenders this year are hybrids. Hybrids in laptop computing are laptops that can covert to a tablet or is it a tablet that can convert to a laptop? In any case the hybrids have gained some steam the last few years accoding to the consumer reports we have read.
Asus Transformer Book Duet is the darling of the reviews. The Asus Transformer Book Duet has grabbed quite a bit of attention because it can easily switch from Windows 8 OS to Android OS. It is a sleek well- made machine and has climbed the ranks to being very close to the top. It is absolutely tops in the hybrid market.
Desktop Replacement Laptops
Finding a laptop that can do the job of a CPU is not that easy. While laptops have their place and their portability make them a favorite most serious consumers looked at the laptop as an addition instead of as a replacement.
Samsung – The Samsung ATIV Book 9 ha a larger chassis then most laptops because it has two separate processors which gives it a massive amount of storage space and speed. This model can easily replace a desktop CPU. It can be considered a best laptop of 2014-2015.
Best Multimedia Laptop
Apple – Apple takes the cake when it comes to multimedia and laptops. Apple Mac Book Pro has an upgraded sound system 8GB of Ram and tons of user friendly features that consumers have ranked number one over and over again. Of course Apple is not for everyone most consumers either love the Mac Book Pro’s or do not. Asus has done a fine job with their new model by offering upgraded sound systems, higher rated graphics cards and lightweight portability.
Ultimately the best laptop of 2014-2015 is a personal decision. You will have to decide want you need your laptop to do to narrow down the picks! You can find the perfect laptop in the perfect price range there are literally many machines to choose from with all of them having the potential to be considered the best!