Best laptop under $800
Excellent battery life, a light weight, and great pricing make the Toshiba Portege R835 hard to beat, even in the highly competitive 13-inch laptop category.
Best mainstream laptop
A MacBook Pro is a significant investment, especially when adding in optional upgrades. Cost aside, there’s not a better choice (there are, however, some close ties) for an all-around powerhouse that will work in the home, the office, and in between.
Best thin 13-inch laptop
The latest version of the 13-inch MacBook Air vastly outperforms its predecessor, and can finally be called suitable for mainstream use, instead of relegated as a niche product.
The good: The Samsung Series 7 laptop has a thin screen bezel, a sleek and attractive metal chassis, and plenty of processing power and features, along with an extremely impressive battery life and a crisp backlit keyboard. Dedicated AMD graphics also come included.