With the holidays approaching fast and the sales that come with it many people will be getting new notebooks this holiday season.  Researching what the best notebooks out there are takes time and we though we could help out by giving you our choices in five different categories of notebooks.  They are gaming, ultraportable, Chromebook, business, and Apple MacBook.  With the latest computer parts in these notebooks it will be certain that they will be able to earn there keep for quite some time.  There are many things to consider when looking for a notebook and budget is a big one.  Most of these choices are going to be in the higher end range since they perform better.

Gaming Notebook: MSI Computer GT72  Dominator Pro with GTX 980M – $2,299

This gaming notebook is the top of the line from MSI, and it does not disappoint.  Equipped with Intel i7-4710HQ, 16GB of DDR3-1600, a 128GB SSD, and a Nvidia GTX 980M 8GB, this will tear through any recent and upcoming game.  The best thing about the GT72 Dominator Pro is that MSI has taken steps to ensure that you can update the graphics down the line when new and better GPUs come out.  This means that the investment made in this computer will last a lot longer than comparable notebooks that are stuck with their graphics for the life of the product. If you are wanting some more speed from the notebook then throw in four identical M.2 SSDs inside and put them in RAID 0 for read/write speeds of up to 1600MB/s.  From experience with MSI’s SuperRAID as it is called I can attest to how massive of an improvement that speeds like this can be, it makes using the notebook just so much more enjoyable.  You can even attach three monitors to the notebook with two mini-displayport and one HDMI outputs.  The keyboard feels like no other notebook keyboard and is made by the gaming company SteelSeries. Bottom line is that if this is in your budget and you are a gamer or even a power user, I have little doubt that you will love this notebook.

Apple Notebook: 15″ 2.5GHz MacBook Pro with Retina display – $2,374.99

There is no denying it, Apple makes good notebooks and they are arguably the best notebooks for running Windows on as well.  The Retina display will allow for better multi-tasking with various windows as the resolution gives lots of screen real estate.  The Retina display will be great for those who edit photos or video as the display will reproduce colors very well. The construction of the MacBook Pro is amazing and the fit and finish are things that other companies could learn a thing or two from.  The choice with the 2.5GHz Intel i7 was made for what would be the most capable and powerful option with a reasonable price.  At Apple you can customize the MacBook Pro with up to a 1TB SSD and a 2.8GHz Intel i7.

Ultraportable Notebook: Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro – $1,382.99

The 2-in-1 Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is the latest model in the Yoga line and features an amazing watchband style hinge.  The hinge is made up of hundreds of individual pieces that allows the notebook to flex like no other and fold to use it in different positions.  The screen is a high resolution (3200×1800) IPS touchscreen that will reproduce colors very well and look much better than lower quality panels.  If needing something very light, portable, and a long battery life then this notebook should be on your list of ones to check out.  The stylish Yoga 3 Pro is one of the most stunning designs out now and is powered by the brand new Intel Core M processor.

 Chromebook – Toshiba Chromebook 2 1080p $329.99

Chromebooks are a new breed of notebook, and people are really loving them.  Chromebooks generally are affordable, light, and have long battery life making it an easy choice for those who need something portable.  The best thing about this model is likely the 1080p IPS panel that will look much better than panels that are in other models.  Powering the notebook is an Intel Celeron processor, and while not very powerful it will get the job done and sip power giving longer battery life.  The battery should be good for up to 8 hours and 45 minutes.  The audio has been fine-tuned by Skullcandy meaning that it should deliver much nicer sound than the standard Chromebook.  This will be useful if you enjoy listening to streaming music while you surf the web or do work.  The 802.11ac Wi-Fi is blazing fast and will allow you to get better coverage over other Chromebooks.

Business Notebook: Lenovo X1 Carbon – $1,619

When looking for a business notebook it is wise to choose something that is portable and light so you can easily get work done no matter where you are working.  The X1 Carbon also offers great battery life allowing up to 9 hours from a single charge.  Lenovo is the the most used PC maker for businesses and they sure do know what they are doing with its lineup that is geared for productivity.  The keyboard is surprisingly good and has back-lighting making it easier to get work done while on that red-eye to an important meeting or at home in the evening.  The integrated fingerprint reader should help simplify secure login by allowing you to simply swipe a finger over it.  When it comes to a business notebook, choosing Lenovo is a wise choice that millions have made before.

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Want to start college with a new iPad, iPhone or Mac? Apple is trying to entice you with a $50 or $100 gift card. Free shipping sweetens the offer, as does special no-interest payment plans.

The iPad comes equipped with web browsing and apps that allow you to read books, write anything including book reports and create presentations to impress your professors.

If you don’t know what you can do with an iPhone by now … shame on you. Considering a student’s needs, however, you can retrieve those elusive reference materials as quick as you can say Jack Jumped Over the Candlestick. Late night cramming for tomorrow’s test? Hungry? Use your handy iPhone to call for pizza delivery.

Electronic Toolbox Pro is a quick reference app for iPhone or iPad.

Apple will give you 90 days payment free with no interest. Barclaycard is offering special financing for purchases made at an Apple store within 30 days of opening a new account. Remember though, plastic isn’t free. Every charge on that card must eventually be paid with real $$$. Interest, though, will be waived in increments related to the purchase price. The longest you can go without interest fees is 18 months (or about 7 semesters) on a $1999 purchase.

A new credit card account combined with an Apple store purchase avoids some interest fees.

The MacBook Pro will get you that interest free payment plan. Just remember, the optimum word here is “payment”. Yes, you must make monthly payments, but the total isn’t increased by interest charges until the 19th month with the Barclaycard. Remember the special only applies to the Apple purchases. That new football jacket or designer purse will come with immediate interest fees on the unpaid balance.

The Apple MacBook Pro with a 15.4 inch Retina display, 8GB memory and 256GB flash storage will set you back $1999. You can configure/upgrade the computer for additional costs. It has preinstalled software for storytelling, music production with Logic Pro X, and photo editing and sorting with Aperture.

A colorful iPad case will protect your investment.

Of course, Apple is happy to sell you accessories, such as the iPad Air Smart Case for $79.99. It comes in 6 colors including blue and brown and has a 3 out of 5 star rating.

The iPad Air itself will be easy to carry – only one pound. Sure beats all those organic chemistry books of yesteryear. The iPad mini with a 7.9 inch display is a feather weight at 0.73 pound and does everything its big brother does only in a more compact form. For 128GB on the standard iPad think $799 or $100 less for the mini.

To find special educational pricing on these devices, go here: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/campaigns/education_pricing You can read the details of all the financing offers here: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/campaigns/back_to_school.

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But it is not just media, it is just the law of physics. Our web designer has two-year old $4200-paid MacBook Pro (1st Gen Intel) and the battery went “kapput”, as Germans would say. New battery exceeds $400 in Croatia, and for that price, he refuses to buy a new one. He also refuses to purchase a new unibody Mac, opting to build Intel Skulltrail platform instead, and turned that 8-core in Hackintosh faster than our original 45nm 8-Core 3GHz system with 16GB of veeeery expensive memory. For a fraction of Mac Pro’s retail price.

If you go to Apple Store, even biggest Apple zealot will take a look at non-removable battery feature and lower his/her shoulders. So, what do you do if people criticize your design decision, placed to force you to buy a new system after battery cycles out its natural life span (couple of thousand recharges, sometimes even as low as 500 recharges)?

Go and advertise that non-removable battery is green, that’s what you do. Apple’s marketing wizards decided to put a nice green spin on the feature, and claim that new Mac comes with five years of battery life is quite brave, given that Apple has no control over the quality of the battery. Even the best battery in the world will cycle out, and there is nothing Apple (or anybody else, unfortunately) can do.

Look at how green we are... anyone want to place a bet will the battery still work in 2013? Of course not, you're expected to replace your Mac next year...

Apple claims their proprietary electronics will keep the battery in check (let’s hope their marketing is right) and that the more people have non-removable batteries, less land will be filled with electronic waste. Thus, we can conclude that non-removable battery can actually save the world. And fill Apple’s coffers with those pesky charges that users have to pay the moment their device exits warranty period.

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If you’re outta finances to buy a new notebook that has dual-antennas and is able to enhance the reception on its own (for instance, I own HP’s tabletPC – tx1000 – and it has a single sucky antenna), option B is most likely.

The number of Wi-Fi USB adapters on the market is huge, but there are only several worth mentioning. My attention was caught by AirLive’s WL-1600USB. This small stick comes with 20 dBm for minimum transmission power. The device has integrated small antenna and external 5dBi Omni antenna for maximum coverage.

Two possible configurations... for maximum range ;)

In a land of wooden houses (US), that means you can reach the distance more than a mile away, with an average bandwidth of 12Mbps. Not too shabby. For cement-happy Europe, I’d be more than happy to have the device that captures Wi-Fi from one office to another. In case you want to share data, this device also can work as a Wi-Fi AP (through software, of course).
All in all, useful device.

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