The best laptop picks of CES 2011 were a tough call to make, not least because Intel unleashed its new second gen Core CPUs, meaning every PC peddler under the sun had a machine with them in. So which ones stood out? Check out our shortlist here.
Samsung ZX310
Windows users need not envy all those new MacBook Air owners any more. The Samsung ZX310 Series 9 laptop is every bit as classy, and crucially, skinny. The 13.3-inch machine is just 16mm thick, but stuffs in even more power than Cupertino’s waif-computer, with 4GB of RAM and your choice of the latest Intel Core processors. Looks like the Toshiba Portege R700 has a serious rival on its hands for portable power.
Samsung TX100
The Samsung TX100 is a netbook, but not as you know it. On paper, the hardware is run of the mill: Windows 7, a 10.1-inch screen and Intel Atom processor are decidedly meh. What isn’t though, is the spring loaded full size keyboard that pops out from under the screen. It’s a tablet, now it’s not, magic! We’re also pleased by the inclusion of speedy SSD storage options, though we suspect the price will rocket as a result when it goes on sale in March.
Check out our Best laptop Top 5 now
Dell XPS 17 3D laptop
The Dell XPS 17 was already a beast of a desktop replacement, but the latest iteration announced at CES last week is outright monstrous. It’s packing support for 3D gaming and Blu-ray courtesy of Nvidia 3D Vision and an Nvidia GeForce HT 555M graphics card, while Intel’s second gen Core i7 chip will stop the machine from ever breaking a sweat.
MSI FX420
MSI was first out of the blocks with its Intel Core second gen laptops, and our pick of its glut is the MSI FX420, a 14-inch machine that’s eminently portable, looks the part, and thanks to improved integrated graphics in Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture, still a respectable games machine.
Motorola Atrix 4G
Granted, it’s a bit unusual that we’re including a phone in our best laptop CES roundup, but then so is the turbo charged Motorola Atrix 4G. It comes with its own netbook sized dock, which gives you a 4G connection and desktop Firefox web browser, plus Android apps in separate, scalable windows. It’s by far the most impressive implementation of Android on a laptop we’ve seen yet, and could be the smart smart-book ever on launch.
