There's no such thing as a universal best laptop. Whether a laptop works well for you — and there could be several that fit the bill — is a largely subjective decision that comes down to your primary use cases, your preferred operating system, and your budget.
This is an annoying fact of life for both laptop shoppers and those of us doling out "best laptop" recommendations, since we can't make custom judgment calls for everyone in need of a new machine. (I would love to, but I've got a thing after this.) However, after spending countless hours reviewing popular laptops, we can confidently point you in the right direction of the best laptops that stand out for meeting important, impartial standards for performance and build quality.
We think these laptops will serve most people well, and at the very least, we think they can be useful archetypes within different categories of computers (from MacBooks to Windows PCs, budget laptops, gaming laptops, and Chromebooks). Don't start from square one if you don't have to, you know?
It's Prime time for laptop shopping
If you're particularly hung up on the "budget" part of laptop shopping, know that October is one of the best times to buy a laptop. Amazon is about to kick off the holiday shopping season with Prime Big Deal Days, a members-only "October Prime Day" sale on Oct. 8 and 9. (You can sign up for a free 30-day trial if you don't want to commit to a paid Prime membership.)
Normally slim on worth-it laptop deals, Amazon tends to pepper its listings with better-than-usual discounts during this 48-hour fall sale, giving extra attention to MacBooks, Chromebooks, and gaming laptops. We expect many models to fall to new or yearly lows that you probably won't see again until Black Friday really gets going.
Prime Big Deal Days has also spurred other tech retailers like Best Buy into running their own sales, which will feature competitive pricing on select items that match or beat Amazon's (giving diligent shoppers more opportunities to save). Cross-checking these offers will be your best line of defense against overpaying, but if you don't want to sift through the sea of sales yourself, Mashable is tracking the top October Prime Day laptop deals for you.
Need help picking the right laptop for your budget? Read on for Mashable's hands-on tested guide to the best laptops of 2024. FYI: We've listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop's base model.
UPDATE: Oct. 5, 2024, 5:00 a.m. EDT In October 2024, we removed the Framework Laptop 13 (13th Gen Intel Core) from this guide; it was previously our favorite repairable laptop. The pre-built version is no longer in stock now that Framework has replaced it with the Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra Series 1), which gets you a newer processor and a better webcam for $50 more. We'll be testing the updated model soon.
