The gigantic consumer electronics show known as CES has always been a great event to launch new products. Apart from the other technical marvels featured at the showcase event this year, the real stand-outs have been in the laptop department. The tech here has certainly come a long way this year, and laptops are showing us exactly why we need to ditch the desktop and go for the compact approach. Here are six of the best laptops that CES 2017 has brought to us.
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
From being one of the best in its class of dynamic, portable laptops to now entering the world of ultra-portability, the XPS 13 Dell introduces XPS 13 2-in-1 convertible could quite be the laptop to beat in the coming months. It’s got it all covered – the 360-degree hinge, a strong aluminium frame chassis, strong internals in the form of Intel’s latest 7th gen chipsets and some great storage and memory options. Not to forget, the QHD InfinityEdge display is one of the best of laptops by far seen this year. It won’t even break the bank too much. Just modestly leave a dent is all.
Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1
Continuing the trend of launching business-based notebooks that look more lifestyle notebooks, Lenovo’s new range of ThinkPads are slimmer, faster and just as reliable as always. They were always kept as an option owing to their less-than-favourable, too business-oriented conservative design. Making many users opt for the more minimalistic approach of the MacBook. Now, users can actually look forward to having the best ThinkPad experience in a compact, sleeker and more fulfilling form-factor – one that has the latest internals, necessary ports and everything in between.
Lenovo Legion Y720
Lenovo finally did something that everyone knew it had the potential to do – make its own gaming brand. And Y not?
The company’s Y series of gaming-oriented laptops were all the rage and even rivalled some of the best AlienWare and ROG rigs out there. This time, Lenovo isn’t holding anything back and the first of its Legion laptops. The Y720 is effortless in its performance and provides that much needed power and entertainment. It’s one of the first to feature the Dolby Atmos experience and also is compatible with VR. Although for now the GTX 1060 is the standard fare, but not the best, to attain such an output, we’ll have to settle for it until they make some new upgrades in later models.
The design is sharp and the badge is a very fitting example, reminiscent of the scores of Lenovo users who would swear by their allegiance to the brand for being one of the best gaming solutions there is. Welcome to the club, Lenovo!
HP Spectre X360 15-inch
The most important aspect about this laptop is its screen. While the Spectre line-up was one of the best ultra-portables we’ve seen, and one of the most beautiful laptops to come around in a long time, this one adds more beauty on the inside. The display alone is 15-inches and comes in a gorgeous 4K resolution. Of course, it’s got some extra battery power to back that display up. It’s also got all the goodness of Intel’s latest gen 7 processing power with 16GB of RAM, making it more than capable to tackle a ton of orders.
Oh yeah, it’s also a two-in-one. That means we get a 4K tablet as well, that’s part of the deal. The Spectre will slay, when it comes out.
Razer’s Project Valerie
This has been a show for the gamers. Razer made its entry known to the tech world this CES by introducing its Project Valerie. Just a prototype, it’s a laptop with three 4K screens, giving it the real estate of a 46-inch ultra wide set-up. Considering today’s laptop-grade GPUs can churn out graphics for 4K and VR with ease, Project Valerie is a first attempt at pushing the boundaries of what traditional portable gaming entails.
Eyes became wider, and jaws became longer when Valerie showed its stuff. It even looks very promising in action. It was such a crowd puller that Razer’s two prototypes were stolen at the show!
Acer Predator 21X
We’ve left the best for last. The Predator 21X is what the Hulk would be if he was a laptop. It just screams excess of everything. There are two GTX 1080 GPUs, a 21-inch curved display outputting a resolution of 2560×1080. Everything on this rig overclocked and boosted to perform. It’s a labour of love for the gaming world and it definitely won’t go unnoticed. Those big Gaming PCs that usually stay ahead of the curve, are probably now kicked to the curb, since the Predator packs the screen, the acoustics, the keys and the power in one very huge, but arguably portable shell.
This thing is such a big deal, it’ll be made-to-order only. And at $9000, it should be.
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