Ask Engadget: Best 13-inch laptop on the market?
By Darren Murph 
posted December 24th 2009 10:48PM
posted December 24th 2009 10:48PM
There's no doubt that an update is around the corner, but there's no telling how far that corner is from being reached. USB 3.0 updates are unavoidable, and we wouldn't be surprised to see a few new SSD options creep up, either. That said, there's nothing quite like the here and now, so if any of you ultraportable owners wish to help out, you know where to head."I'm in the market for a new laptop, and I want a 13-incher. I need something with a great keyboard for typing, as this will mostly be used for note taking in class. I am absolutely smitten with the XPS 13, but I'm afraid that with its age Dell is going to give it an update soon. Any advice for someone in my shoes? Thanks!"
If only the Envy 13 were cheaper/the touchpad was better!
What are y'all doing on engadget? It's Christmas Eve Dontchya' know?
@ossger I'm an atheist, so it's a typical day for me. :)
@mikmik111
I have plenty of friends who are atheist and still celebrate Christmas.
Hecks yeah Santa better bring my gifts tonight
@BuryTheCastle ossger asked me what am I doing on Christmas eve, I just answered.
@Rinum009
santa had better bring that mistletoe belt i asked for!!
@kelim well i was kinda wishing for a girlfriend...ho ho ho the gifts i would give you Mrs. Claus
@BuryTheCastle
Its a Festivus for the rest of us!
@Anthoni I'm not sure what the issue is with the trackpad. I bought one for my wife a month ago (Envy 13) the track pad works fine and dandy. You get the occasional 'Oops two fingers hit the pad and made the cursor go somlplace silly' but that's about all I noticed. The trackpad works just like any other trackpad in my opinion. The slice battery is pretty wicked though. The laptop lasts 7 hours with both batteries in, being on and used constantly....true story, surprised myself even because I figured it would only hit 4-5 hours max, maybe hit 7 hours in a low power setting at best.
@Anthoni Translation..if only the Envy 13 didn't suck.
Anyway
No contest.
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
@Anthoni I like the Envy's touchpad, and love the 18 hour battery slice. My complaint is the crap that comes preloaded from HP. I also wish the keyboard was backlit.
@BuryTheCastle
Yeah.
I still don't see how his response was stupid/worth downranking..
He says he doesn't do Christmas and he gives the reason why because everyone seems to think it's abnormal.
I find he justification quite good.
It's his choice...
@BuryTheCastle
If by celebrate you mean buy a load of pointless shit then eat and drink as much as possible then as an atheist I also celebrate Xmas but none of that involves Jesus !
Bump down to 12" and get an X200. It's not possible to beat a Thinkpad for best mobile keyboard.
I would easily go for the HP TouchSmart tx2z series laptops, they are 12.1" but packs a punch performance wise and has an amazing touch display.
@Anticrawl
yeah that tx2z really packs a punch with a AMD Turion and low end Radeon
my suggestion is to wait for CES to show some goods, the XPS 13 is good performance wise (and the keyboard was actually pretty nice in my opinion) but has some heat issues
@JeremyBenthem The latest BIOS for the studio xps 13 has made the heat a non issue for me, at least when you're not using hybrid sli. The LED screen is very nice also.
@M3
+1
I'm still waiting to be able to afford an X200 Tablet myself, but the X200 is a great machine... Just wish they offered the 1440x900 display like the X200s...
@M3 Or stick with 13" and get an X301. Pretty happy with mine.
Arrandale debuts on January 7th, wait until then.
@jayayess1190
and new thinkpads will arrive at that date, including a 'thinkpad netbook'
taht would probably be the perfect choice for you
iirc, it's called the thinkpad Edge, or X100
google it up!
An XPS 13 just for note taking? LOL. Waste of money. Get a Lenovo Thinkpad instead. Their keyboards are far superior.
Note taking mostly? Dude, get a netbook.
Note taking mostly? Dude, DON'T get a netbook.
You'll go crazy with the cramped keyboard. I was in this situation this before the fall semester, get a Acer Timeline 14". The 13" model doesn't come with a CD-ROM and you're going to need one since most textbooks come with CD tutorials, test-preps, ect. It has 8+ hrs of battery, but from my experience it's more like 5.5 - 6.0 with wifi running. Last but not least you're going to enjoy not having a crap Atom processor.
btw did i mention it's only 450 and packing win7 awesomeness!
@Rinum009
I hope you're not one of the many people on here that bash netbooks without ever owning one.
I recently got an HP Mini 110 for free and I love it. My desktop is an overclocked C2Q with 4GB RAM and I don't think the Atom N270 is as bad as you people make it seem. Mine now has 2GB of memory and Windows 7 Ultimate and it runs pretty smoothly.
I couldn't imagine someone complaining about it if all they did was take notes and surf.
@sintricate nothing quite like free gadgets though. for that price it could be running a pentium III and id be happy
@sintricate
No I'm not trying to bash netbooks but you have an OC C2Q sitting at home so im sure a netbook would be perfect for you, that's what its made for, a secondary computer. I can only speak from my experiences but most college students laptop is the their main computer and a netbook just can't handle being a main computer.
@Rinum009
I totally agree with you man. I'm so glad my sister got a netbook before I did. While the size is nice and compact, I hate the fact that netbook keyboards at so damn craped up, like wtf? I used this thing for 8 hours straight and it was so damn frustrating. I will definitely be getting a regular laptop, even if it's just for note taking and word processing.
@Rinum009
Get a Toshiba netbook and you don't have that problem.
@decypher44
pssh ive had three toshiba netbooks, all have died within two days (different ones) and their keyboards aren't very good, even if they're full size.
I hear the Sony Z-Series is pretty good but on the pricer side though...
@(Unverified) I have one. $2700. Jesus, I can't belive I love it so much!
@(Unverified)
These laptops look sexy but 3 of my friends have had that little circular piece where the power button is, start to fall off...there's definitely an issue there.
I was actually in your exact same position a few months ago. My laptop was stolen in July and I decided to wait until black friday and hope that there would be a good sale and a refresh by then. I shortly realized that the price wasn't going to go down and even when the refresh comes only the price will go up. Instead of getting a 13" I got a 14" which was the perfect size for me. I got a Sony Vaio CW series that has a better graphics card than what the Dell Studio XPS 13 does and a bigger screen. The two disadvantages I found to the Vaio CW was that the viewing angles are very low and the battery only lasts 2.5 hours with the internet on and wifi. Working on something without internet it lasted 5 hours.
I got the Vaio CW for about $950 with a 2 year warranty from Newegg.
Best Buy also has an awesome deal with the CW coming with a blu-ray drive. It's under $1k too.
@(Unverified) : I concur! Sony definitely makes the best in this category. If only more people were will to give Vaios a try.
I'd say a 13" refurb MacBook Pro is the best value for the money, hands down. At $999, I ask you to find something better, lasts longer, and built tougher.
@Jeff Kibuule
Agreed! GO MAC! i was so against PC's until i had to get one for school and now i will never go back, im working on converting everyone in my family to them because theyre so user friendly and last! what other laptop is made from aluminum and is this sturdy? The 13" refurb is a great way to go.
@Jeff Kibuule
Am I the only 1 surprised that this post hasn't been voted down to oblivion o.o?
@Jeff Kibuule
I was going to suggest this but decided not to because I wanted to save myslef from being downvoted into oblivion and being insulted by windows users. I'm glad you had the balls to say it however, because, although I am NOT a fanboy I think this is a great choice.
@Jeff Kibuule
I have a 13 inch MBP, but you can find 13 inch unibody macbooks with removable batteries for 899 (no firewire) but it's such a solid performing machine. More expensive than a dell or HP, but i've gotten my money's worth
@(Unverified) Hell, I got mine for less and it was new.
$1200
-$100 student discount
-$200 sold the free iPod Touch (Summer 09 deal).
$900
There's nothing at $900 that can touch the Macbook Pro. Throw on a $30 Win7 Pro Student license and you're set!
@Jeff Kibuule
Yes, go Mac. My whole family uses macbooks now. All 4 of us on 13" from years back now and all in good shape.
@(Unverified)
Do refurbs qualify for the free iPod or no?
@Jeff Kibuule Holy shit, did you really just recommend getting a Macbook, AND get high ranked?
I must be dreaming. This can't be Engadget. You've got guts posting that here.
Its Christmas time :).
@Jeff Kibuule
Three months ago I would have said it was a good choice. Now I run Windows 7 on my Macbook and never use OS X so I'm not so sure.
Really the only thing going for the Mac is build quality and the trackpad which is awesome. Is it awesome enough to get a second hand computer when you get a new one for less? That's your call I guess.
@CJisohsocool
Well I think it's because Jeff actually had a good suggestion with good supporting points. Unfortunately, we tend to hear the (more vocal) "OMG MACS ARE SO COOL PCS ARE FOR LOOOOOSERS)" crowd.
@(Unverified)
Well lets not be an ass about it. The specs inside are solid, without a doubt. People who get down-ranked are those who choose to flaunt OSX arrogantly, and/or those who choose to flame / troll / sarcastically impersonate said Mac Fanboi's.
I'm a PC, and I have no problem with Macbook hardware.
@Jeff Kibuule
agreed.
i just picked up a new Macbook Pro 13 to replace my macbok air/netbooks and so far love it! upgraded hdd to 500gb and ram to 4gb. run my win7 or win xp in VMWare unity mode for my work/windows needs.
perfect performance for size. a bit more spendy but you def can tell its well spent w/the feel of the hardware. plus, backlit keyboard and the touchpad alone justify its price imo.