Best laptops

Asus G75VW

June 13th, 2012 - The G75VW is a very fine piece of engineering, something that any power user would be proud to wield. 2

• Where to buy? $2203 to $2374 at 2 stores

Dell XPS 14 (mid 2012)

July 5th, 2012 - It's built well, performs well and is our new battery life king. At 2.1kg, it's heavier than most ultrabooks, and minor usability issues and shallow viewing angles could turn some off.

HP EliteBook 2570p

August 3rd, 2012 - Although chunky, the impressive performance and flexibility of this 12.5-inch laptop would make the hardened business road warrior happy. 1

• Where to buy? $2212 at 1 store

Apple MacBook Air 13 (mid-2012)

September 26th, 2012 - The new 13-inch MacBook Air might not be the huge revision we were hoping for, but it's still an excellent laptop, borne out of years of refinement. 2

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

October 8th, 2012 - Lenovo's succeeded in delivering a sexy ultrabook that still retains the traditional ThinkPad design cues. The battery life isn't as good as it could be though, and the SSD upgrade prices are simply ludicrous. 1

• Where to buy? $1798 to $3049 at 4 stores

Dell XPS 12

November 12th, 2012 - Dell's XPS 12 does a good job at being a Windows 8 laptop — but the weight prevents it from being a good Windows 8 tablet.

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display (2012, 13.3-inch)

December 5th, 2012 - There's absolutely no doubt that the MacBook Pro Retina 13 has a beautiful display. Some will be phased by the weight and go for the MacBook Air, others will deem it to be worth it. We just wish it came with discrete graphics.

Toshiba Satellite Z930

December 10th, 2012 - An upgrade on last year's Z830, the Satellite Z930 is an excellent portable and flexible laptop.

HP Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition

August 22nd, 2012 - HP's Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition manages to bring good performance and battery life into the sub-AU$1000 range. The main sacrifice is the vibrancy of the screen, but at this price, it's a small nitpick and nothing more. 4

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch

February 11th, 2013 - The business-oriented Lenovo ThinkPad X1 adds must-have features for 2013, and remains a very impressive business-oriented ultrabook with strong crossover appeal.