Gadget of the Year 08 - Laptops

In this final list in Gadget of the Year series, we pick out the very best laptops, from among the many that we have the pleasure of reviewing over the past year. To compile this list, we have cut across segments and pricing and simply decided to go with machines that were impeccable performers overall. So here is our list.

Laptop of the Year: Apple Macbook 13.3

2008 was a very good year for laptop aficionados, as there were multiple releases which were simply delightful to work with in every respect of the term. While we were drawing our list however, there was only one laptop that actually leapt out at us for its impeccable design and feature-set overall – the Macbook 13.3.

Now people may argue what is so special about this entry-level Mac? Well the answer is very simple. Apple who has often been accused of not being generous with its entry-level machines, simply rebooted the segment with the introduction of a spanking classy new design, that allowed Apple to manufacture the laptop and its entire range of components using a new process simply called 'Unibody'. The body was carved from a solid block of aluminum and this allowed it to shed its dowdy, plastic finish in favor of a sexy sleek aluminum finish.

Apart from just making it look good, Apple also upgraded the new 13.3-inch machine to a backlit LED panel that offered brilliant performance, a great keyboard/touchpad combo and powerful specifications that allowed it to sail through all kinds of performance tests without any issues. When you consider its price of Rs. 79,700 and the segment it’s placed in (13.3 inch ultra-portables), its combination of great looks, amazing performance and unique styling rightfully allows it to claim the tag of "Laptop of the year".

Runner-Up: Dell XPS M1730

The inclusion of a Dell in this lineup should hardly come as a surprise. The XPS M1730 that we have selected as runner-up here was easily the most powerful machine we have reviewed this year and this showed in both its design and performance. The M1730's design was a radical departure from the slim lines of its younger brothers. It was a behemoth of a laptop, with its measurements of 406 x 302.6 x 50.7 mm and its weight of 4.81 kg. Its sense of styling and finish were top-notch too, with a beautiful dull-gloss black finish which was accentuated by a series of LEDs housed on the lid.

Since it is a gaming machine, it came loaded to the hilt with an incredible set of specifications which included an Intel Core 2 Extreme 9000 CPU clocked at 2.8 GHz (overclockable to 3.4 GHz), 4 GB of DDR2-667 RAM, a pair of Nvidia 8800M GTX cards in SLI, a 17-inch full-HD LED panel, and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy HD audio chipset. This kind of specification allowed it to achieve segment leading scores.

The Dell XPS M1730 costs Rs 1.71 lakh.� At this price it’s a brilliant purchase as it scores over other laptops in this range, as it's the only one that's SLI-Ready and offers playable frame rates at very high resolutions (HD/Full HD). This kind of performance and styling is what allows it to easily claim the title of being our runner-up of the year, in laptops.

Best Value: Dell Inspiron 1525

This segment was perhaps the most competitive, when it came to making a selection. There were several excellent choices from virtually everyone here including Acer Gemstone series, HP’s DV series, Lenovo with its Y series and ultimately Dell with its Inspiron Range.�� If that was not daunting enough, Dell decided to further complicate matters by introducing a new range called Studio that stood between the higher end XPS line up and the entry-level Inspiron range.� Ultimately after a lot of brainstorming, arguments with colleagues and taking price into factor, we decided to declare the Dell 1525 as the winner of the title “Value laptop of the year”.

Even though as we have mentioned there were several excellent value laptops, the Dell 1525 ultimately emerged as the winner purely because of the number of positives that came attached with it. Firstly Dell re-invented the Inspiron range by giving it a more tapered streamlined look, with an improved finish that gave it a touch of class and style only found in the more expensive XPS range. Dell also worked on user complaints that the LCD panel of the Inspiron range was a little too bland and fixed this problem by offering its tru-life screens in the new Inspiron 1525. Furthermore the company retained the strong points of previous Inspiron models such as the sturdy build quality, excellent keyboard /mouse duo and enhanced it by introducing a huge variety of hardware options as its specifications.

As we had said in our review earlier this year
“The Inspiron 1525 is a true VFM notebook. It offers solid build, plenty of features, good connectivity options, and great battery life, and is matched by what can easily be termed as the industry’s best after-sales/support network and a very competitive price. A glance at Dell’s website showed our test configuration to cost around Rs 41,000 + taxes. To sum up, the 1525 offers so much value in its price range that other manufacturers can only watch and hope to emulate the feat. “

That was an undeniable fact then and the passage of time has done nothing much to change this.�