Page Text: Should my laptop have USB-C?
What's the best laptop brand?
Picking just one laptop brand as the best is a bit of a challenge lately. There are so many great laptops available today, and they come from several manufacturers. Hold our feet to the fire, though, and we'll have to pick Dell as the overall best. Dell seems invested in applying the latest materials to improve the performance of its laptops, and it's constantly coming up with new innovative designs.
HP is no slouch either. It, too, utilizes some unique materials and makes some customer-friendly design decisions, such as resisting the thin-and-light trend to pack in more battery capacity.
In terms of customer service and reliability, Apple carries the torch for its convenience. Its issues with its recent keyboards have been fixed, making MacBooks highly durable. Its customer service is top-notch.
What's a 2-in-1 laptop?
A 2-in-1 laptop is one that isn't limited to the traditional clamshell configuration. Instead, a 2-in-1 can convert from a clamshell into some form of tablet PC that allows for natural inking and media consumption.
The concept isn't brand-new -- Microsoft sold a "Tablet PC" version of Windows as far back as 2001 that supported pen input, but it never caught on. As electronics have gotten more powerful and fit into smaller chassis, and capacitive touch and active pen technology have improved, the modern 2-in-1 has emerged. Microsoft kicked off the form factor with its Surface line in 2012, and most manufacturers followed with their versions.
Today, you can pick from among a variety of different kinds of 2-in-1s. The most popular types are the tablet with a detachable keyboard, epitomized by the Microsoft Surface Pro 8, and the 360-degree convertible where the display flips around to turn into a (usually larger) slate.
The main advantage of the tablet 2-in-1 is portability — tablets are extremely thin, light, and easy to carry around — while they also work the best for drawing and taking notes on the pen-enabled display. The 360-degree convertible 2-in-1, on the other hand, isn't quite as handy as a tablet but it tends to work better in clamshell laptop mode — especially when using it on the lap, where it's more stable than most detachable tablets.
What processor should I buy?
The most popular CPUs for laptops today are Intel's 11th-generation Tiger Lake processors that include fast and efficient U-series and high-powered H-series models. For most productivity Windows 11 users, we recommend a minimum of the Core i5-1135G7, which is a highly capable processor that can handle most productivity tasks without slowing down. It's also efficient, meaning you'll enjoy great battery life. If you skip back to older generations of Intel processors, you'll find slower clock speeds and fewer cores at your disposal, meaning you may run into bottlenecks while multitasking or running multi-threaded applications. Intel's revolutionary 12th-gen Alder Lake CPUs are on the way and will take their place in this description soon.
Chromebook running on Google's more efficient Chrome OS can utilize slower processors and still perform well, such as an Intel Core i3 or even a Pentium processor. Not many Chromebooks bother with the fastest Core i7 CPU.
If you're looking for a gaming or content creation laptop, we recommend either last year's eighth-generation or the most current ninth-gen, ultra-power H-series CPUs. You'll find these in laptops ranging from the Dell XPS 15 to the Razer Blade 15.
How much RAM do I need?
The sweet spot for memory for both laptops and desktops is 8GB. You can check out our explainer on how much RAM do I need for the details. But generally speaking, 8GB will suffice whether you're running Windows, MacOS, or even the more lightweight Chrome OS. And, it will provide plenty of headroom for multitasking and more demanding applications. If you're doing high-end photo, video editing, or gaming, then we recommend 16GB (or more).
Should I buy a laptop or a tablet?
As we mentioned above, you can get a tablet that can morph into a laptop just by attaching a keyboard. And so, if you really want the power of Windows in a form factor that's easier to carry around, then you can select a tablet 2-in-1. With the advent of Windows 11 , it's finally starting to become a better software platform for tablets. If you want the utmost in simplicity and an even smaller device, then a pure tablet like the iPad can be great for web browsing, triaging email, consuming media, and other tasks that don't require the full power of a "real" PC.
So, where doesn't a tablet work? If you're a hardcore gamer, need a laptop that can churn through video and huge photos, or do a lot of multitasking. Tablets are very thin and tend to use slower CPUs and integrated graphics that won't accelerate creative applications or power modern games. Meanwhile, the software on these devices isn't as full-featured as a desktop operating system like Windows 10 or MacOS.
Should my laptop have USB-C? {USB-C}
The short answer is: Yes, you should try to pick up a laptop with at least one USB-C port . This is the latest in connectivity that ensures that you can connect to legacy devices (via adapters) while being covered for future devices as well. USB-C can provide for data transfer, power, and display connections, and USB-C hubs can greatly extend how many peripherals you can easily connect to your laptop.
The good thing is that laptops, even budget models, increasingly include USB-C. The longer answer is that not only do you want USB-C, but you want ports that support the even more powerful Thunderbolt 4 standard . Thunderbolt 4 provides up to 40 gigabits per second (Gb/s) over a single connection and 32Gb/s PCIe data transfer, which is twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3. It can support multiple 4K displays and external GPU enclosures that can greatly improve graphics performance.
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