2. DELL XPS 15
A portable 15-inch powerhouse
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Like its smaller sibling, the XPS 13, Dell’s XPS 15 sports an almost bezel-less InfinityEdge display. It brings the dual benefit of making whatever you’re doing on its gorgeous 15-inch ‘4K’ screen come to life while also lending it the dimensions of a 14-inch laptop. It’s bag-friendly to boot and comes packing the goods, including an Nvidia GTX 960M mobile graphics card that’s beefy enough to handle just about any game so long as you stick to 1080p. The XPS 15’s battery life is its main weakness, so don’t expect its runtimes to stretch into the double figures without taking a booster pack along for the ride.
3. DELL XPS 13 AND XPS 2 IN 1
Some of our favourite Windows laptops
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If you’re looking for a Windows laptop, it’s hard to go wrong with the Dell XPS 13. While it’s expensive — particularly if you go for the QHD+ version — the XPS 13‘s Infinity Edge display makes it worth the money. It’s surrounded by a bezel that’s just millimetres thick, lending the 13.3-inch laptop a body that’s closer to 11-inch laptops in size. It gives the XPS 13 excellent portability, and unlike the 12-inch MacBook Dell has done it without sacrificing ports or power. The XPS 13 packs Intel’s latest processors under the hood, and features both Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 and Type-C ports. The XPS 2 in 1 is a superb new model that packs a convertible tablet into essentially the same frame.
BUT WE ALSO LOVE THESE FANTASTIC LAPTOPS, TOO!
4. APPLE 12-INCH MACBOOK
The most fashionable laptop around
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Apple’s 12-inch MacBook isn’t just the most portable MacBook of them all, you won’t find a more compact laptop with a high-resolution display full stop. Every inch of Apple’s impossibly-thin machine is gorgeous, but it comes at the expense of usability. With just one USB Type-C port, the MacBook requires an adapter if you want to use multiple USB devices – or a combination of peripherals and a display – at the same time. If you don’t mind carrying one around in a case, the MacBook’s surprisingly punchy speakers, good battery life and catwalk looks make it a unique (and fun to use) laptop.
5. LENOVO YOGA 900S
Lightweight and beautiful, with a twist
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Convertible laptops undoubtedly make better tablets when they’re lightweight. The Yoga 900S is one such machine, weighing in at a svelte 2.2 pounds. What you get then, is a 12.5-inch laptop with a bright and colourful screen that can rotate into several different positions, making it easier to interact with touchscreen apps, do a bit of lightweight gaming or even a spot of reading laid back on the couch. In terms of design, the Yoga 900S borrows the Yoga 3 Pro’s stylish watchband hinge design without charging the jewellery shop price tag. It’s thinner too, while bringing the same pixel-packed 2,560 x 1,440 pixel-resolution display along for the ride.
6. GIGABYTE AORUS X3 PLUS V5
A small gaming laptop that packs a huge punch
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If you’ve got the money, you’ll be hard pressed to find a laptop that’s both as portable and powerful as the Aorus X3 Plus v5. Packing Intel’s top-end Skylake processor, paired with a mighty 6GB version of Nvidia’s GTX 970M, here is a gaming machine that can play any game at 1080p with the settings cranked up. Featuring an innovative cooling system that blows air out of the back, plenty of ports and a great keyboard, this Stealth Bomber-like machine can slip into your backpack with room to spare. Loading times are barely there thanks to its nippy M.2 SSD, and a decent range of connectivity ports that includes HDMI and DisplayPort Inputs means you can hook it up to an external display when not on the move.
7. HP SPECTRE X360
Another Spectre that’s oddly brilliant
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There’s something oddly brilliant about HP’s Spectre range. Clearly intended to compete with Apple in terms of build quality, but priced just a tiny bit lower to gain some traction with potential buyers. The X360 is another convertible that allows you to fold the screen backwards to create a tablet-style device. This is ideal for Windows 10, although you’ll probably not use it much as a tablet because it’s still a laptop-weight device.
8. MACBOOK PRO 13-INCH WITH RETINA DISPLAY
A class act
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If we consider that the Air is essentially an Ultrabook then we can safely ignore it in this roundup and head directly to the Pro. It’s a larger, heavier machine but it’s also the powerhouse of the range. Starting at £999 it’s not bad value when you consider it has 8GB of RAM and an i5 2.7GHz and 128GB SSD.
You’ll get 10 hours out of the battery, in the ideal conditions, and the real keyboard makes for a pretty delightful user experience. Oh, and the trackpad – there’s simply nothing like it on any PC we’ve ever used, it’s a class act.
If you need Windows 10, that’s no problem either, just install with Apple’s Boot Camp.
9. MICROSOFT SURFACE BOOK
The ultimate Windows 10 hybrid laptop
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Microsoft’s Surface Book is a 2-in-1 with a detachable display that can be used as a tablet, and it’s an excellent laptop in its own right for several reasons. First, it’s the only one out there with a high-resolution 3:2 aspect ratio display which is great for reading long web pages, typing up documents and doing anything that requires a bit more vertical space on the display. Second, its keyboard is simply superb offering a deep amount of travel that reduces fatigue during long typing sessions. Third, Intel’s latest Skylake processors and Nvidia’s GTX 940M GPU give the Surface Book enough grunt for light gaming and multimedia editing. If money isn’t an issue for you, then Microsoft’s laptop should be considered even if you’re not planning on detaching its display. Which you will, of course — even if it’s just for showing off.
10. ASUS ZENBOOK UX310UA
A great all round system for a very affordable price
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If you like the look of the Dell XPS 13 but don’t quite have the budget to stretch to it then the Asus Zenbook UX310UA is definitely worth a look. That’s because you get a thin and light system with all-aluminium body, fast Intel CPU and, if you so wish, a stunning 3,200 x 1,800 QHD+ screen. RAM is competitive too at 8GB, as well as storage, with a modest 256GB SSD packed inside. Yes, battery life isn’t stunning, but for less than £700 this system is simply fabulous value for money.
Due to these factors, 802.11b saw significant adoption amongst home and small-office users, whereas 802.11a only saw any level of “success” in enterprise network environments.
Almost everyone has a microwave in their house. Some of them emit some of the radiation used to warm up your pizza outside of the unit. No, it’s not supposed to do that, but some do, especially as they get older and components start to break down. In addition to being harmful to your health, their “spurious emissions” cause bursts of noise around the 2.4GHz spectrum that can severely interfere with your wireless signal. If you find that you’re in this situation, you might want to replace your microwave oven!
When 802.11n was introduced in 2009 it brought with it the ability to communicate at speeds up to 600Mbps. What’s more, 802.11n also included the ability to work in either the 2.4GHz or 5Ghz spectra. Like the other standards before it, 802.11n was backwards compatible with its predecessors. Unfortunately, since most devices already on the market were already using 2.4GHz, most 802.11n wireless access points stuck to 2.4GHz as the primary operating frequency, and some devices didn’t even include the hardware to use 5Ghz at all.
Finally users can take advantage of the reduced noise available in the 5GHz spectrum. This generally provides faster data rates, fewer disconnects, and a more enjoyable experience. (It may even help you run faster and jump higher, but that study is still pending.)
Just as physical obstacles can prevent you from passing from one room to another (walls, for example), obstacles can block, reduce, or reflect signals, too. The frequency of the signal (in this case 2.4GHz versus 5GHz) comes into play, as does the composition of the walls. Brick, drywall, plaster, glass, and steel all have different properties, and signals on one frequency may travel through them better than signals on another frequency. It all depends on the environment in which your network is deployed.