2013 Holiday Gift Guide: The 10 Best Laptops

Macbook Air (13-inch)

Price: $1,100
If the Macbook Pro with Retina is far out of your price range, just know scaling down to the Air isn’t a bad alternative. The super-slim notebook pushes 9 hours of use to start and goes all flash for better response times and speeds compared to last year’s model. In addition, the Air sports a gorgeous 11-inch screen and comes in at a close 2 1/2 pounds, making it lighter than most tablets and laptops out, but with strong benchmarks.

Dell Inspiron 14R-5437

Price: $650
What it lacks in the specs department, it surely makes up for in battery life pulling close to 10 hours of vitality. It also comes equipped with a Core i3 chip 4GB RAM, 500GB space, and 720p HD display. Great for the student to go from class to class or that individual that doesn’t want to be confined to their desktop all day, the 14R-5437 is a terrific value for what you get and a nice starting point if it’s your first laptop.