Sound names: comparison of the main lines of laptops from different brands

You need to choose not so much a brand as a line of laptops: low-cost office, mid-price multimedia, flagship ultrabook or gaming, each of which has its own name from different manufacturers.

Dell

Inspiron and Vostro are two younger Dell laptop series in many ways similar: they are mainly 15 – 17-inch office (with integrated Intel HD graphics accelerator), multimedia (with a simple discrete graphics card a la GeForce 920MX or Radeon R5 M430) and even the initial gaming (with an already quite decent GTX 1050 graphics card /1050Ti) models. They are equipped with good speakers compared to competitors: without bass, but at least loud, which allows you to comfortably watch movies in a large company. The only significant difference between Inspiron and Vostro is the warranty period: one year versus three, with only 10 percent higher cost.

Latitude and XPS are ultra—thin laptops, in other words, ultrabooks made of plastic and metal, respectively, are on average more performant than the aforementioned Inspiron and Vostro. The latter, because of the more noble material, are significantly more expensive, and even claim to be the thinnest laptops in the world, competing with the MacBook (see the article "11 years of development of the MacBook Pro — how the most popular laptop has changed").

Alienware, de jure, is a sub-brand, not a Dell product line. Under this brand, the most high-performance gaming laptops in the world are produced (with two flagship video cards and the ability to connect a third external one). Periodically, other companies, of course, try to impose the fight on "Aliens" (the playful nickname Alienware), but they quickly respond with an even more powerful (at the same time, however, unnecessarily large and weighty) model.

HP

Pavilion is a series of 15—inch office and multimedia laptops. Sometimes the word "Pavilion" is not mentioned in the name of the models, for example, HP 15 or HP 250, which does not negate their belonging to the corresponding series. A lot of attention is paid to AMD products, not only to graphics cards, but also processors, especially the new 9000-series (Stoney Ridge and Bristol Ridge). Pavilion can be praised for a very low price, in many cases lower than similar configurations from competitors, and scolded for the painfully thin plastic of the cases, especially the top cover. However, if you do not plan to often carry a laptop further than from the table to the sofa and back, it does not matter much.

ProBook and EliteBook (Folio) are two relatively inexpensive series of ultrabooks that combine metal (lid and underside area) and plastic (bottom). Productivity is average or above average, that is, they are well suited for study and work, including simple photo and video processing. The Folio design sub-series used to be a separate line, but eventually became part of the EliteBook.

Envy and Spectre are all—metal ultrabooks made with an emphasis on refined appearance. The Envy series is a rotary transformers with a touch screen, while the Spectre are classic laptops with their minimum thickness capable of competing with market leaders: MacBook and Dell XPS.

Omen is the newest line of HP gaming laptops. So far, it is inferior in engineering findings to more experienced market players (like Alienware), so it is trying to gather a fanbase with an active advertising campaign with the participation of esports stars (although not of the first magnitude). The success or failure of the venture can be objectively judged only after a couple of years.

ZBook is relatively inexpensive (in its class) mobile workstations with professional NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro graphics accelerators, designed primarily for drawing and three-dimensional modeling.

Acer

Extensa, Packard Bell and eMachines are office 15 — 17–inch laptops, mainly with low-power Intel Celeron N, Pentium N and AMD E1/E2 processors. If Extensa is directly a line of Acer, then Packard Bell and eMachines, once separate companies bought out by Acer sub-brands. The savings are visible to the naked eye: thin plastic, mono speaker and only two USB ports.

Aspire and TravelMate are the most "motley" laptops: from the 11—inch netbook One sub-series to the 15-inch advanced multimedia F5 with good gaming potential (GeForce GTX 950M graphics card). The TravelMate line, other things being equal with Aspire, is distinguished by batteries of increased capacity — up to 12 hours without recharging.

Swift and Switch are all—metal or almost all-metal ultrabooks at a very affordable price. The Switch line is a collapsible transformers with a folding stand leg and an attached keyboard cover.

Nitro and Predator are also young lines of gaming laptops, but unlike the aforementioned HP Omen, they quickly gained popularity. The younger Nitro series (aka VX) takes a price even lower than that of Dell Inspiron gaming models. The older one is trying to compete with the market leader — Alienware. However, so far it turns out with varying success. On the one hand, the recent new Acer Predator 21 X has a unique 21-inch curved display among laptops. On the other hand, it is also equipped with two chargers, absurdly attached to each other with a belt. In general, Acer still has a lot to grow.

ASUS

EeeBook and Transformer are almost the last slightly developing line of netbooks. However, even the latest models are equipped with only 2 GB of RAM, which narrows to the limit the scope of their application (even for web surfing there is enough end-to-end, you can't open many tabs). Transformer — the same netbooks, only in a collapsible format: a Windows tablet with a touch screen plus a keyboard with a tappad and a full-size USB port for connecting peripherals. Older models can be equipped with a stylus.

VivoBook is currently the most popular line of ASUS laptops with a diagonal of 15 – 17". It includes both office models with Celeron N and Pentium N processors, as well as multimedia models with Core i3/i5 and a quite good GeForce 930MX/940MX graphics card. The VivoBook cooling system is a little confusing: in younger models, the fan is located in the very centre of the case and blows from nowhere to nowhere, and in older models, the radiator and fan are not connected by a heat pipe (the heat capacity of the air is much lower than that of copper). How long will laptops with such strange Cooling system last is an open question.

X300, PRO and ZenBook are perhaps the most interesting series of ASUS laptops. The X300 has no direct analogues at all, as it is a relatively inexpensive ($500) plastic 13-inch ultrabooks with an IPS screen and a simple, but still discrete GeForce 920MX graphics card. ASUSPRO copies the X300 in many ways, but it has increased protection (fingerprint scanner, TPM module) and an extended warranty period of up to 3 years. All-metal Zenbooks, thanks to grinding in the form of concentric rings, turned out not just stylish, but also as unlike as possible to the MacBook (most other brands somehow copy Apple). They are equipped with a leather envelope case.

RoG — gaming laptops of medium (with GeForce GTX 1070) and top level (with one or two GTX 1080 and optional external water cooling system). The younger models of ASUS gaming laptops (up to GTX 1060) belong to the FX line and are not directly related to the Republic of Gamers sub-brand. However, some similarity in design and design features can still be traced.

Lenovo

IdeaPad is probably the most "densely populated" line of laptops among all manufacturers. It includes 11-inch IdeaPad 110-11 laptops, 13-inch IdeaPad 710-13 ultrabooks, and super-low-cost IdeaPad V110 typewriters (also "simply stitched" like Acer Extensa, Packard Bell and eMachines), and balanced IdeaPad 310/320 and 510/520 multimedia. Functionality and build quality can vary greatly from model to model.

The ThinkPad is one of the oldest and most respected "aristocratic families" of laptops inherited by Lenovo from IBM. The "filling" corresponds to IdeaPad, but it is more reliable and durable. However, if the older sub-series T has a reinforced case, titanium hinges, hard disk protection from falls, keyboard drainage, then the younger sub-series X received only a small part of the above advantages.

Yoga and Flex are almost identical series of rotary transformers. The first is slightly more diverse in terms of the choice of diagonals and processors, but the second with an equal configuration is cheaper. Apparently, the price of Yoga has a low-cost for advertising, but the cost of Flex does not.

Legion is the new name of Lenovo's Y-series gaming laptops. Instead of dubious functions like a combined slot, in which it was previously possible to install a DVD drive or a second graphics card, Lenovo engineers began to bet on really important things. For the same price that competitors offer only a TN screen, Legion gives IPS. Where they put a HDD or, at best, a hybrid SSHD, Legion bribes with a full-fledged SSD for half a byte. In our opinion, in terms of price and "filling", it is Lenovo Legion that are the best gaming laptops today.

MSI

Gaming is the main series of MSI laptops. MSI completely abandoned the production of office and multimedia models a few years ago, focus all resources on high-performance solutions. As a result, MSI now has the most extensive selection of gaming laptops: the relatively inexpensive GE series, the slim GS and the flagship GP. Dynaudio exclusively develops the latest speakers, and SteelSeries develops the keyboard.

WorkStation is a slightly less significant, but no less developed line of laptops, or rather mobile workstations, MSI. Unlike HP ZBook laptops, which are represented by relatively inexpensive laptops for professional tasks, MSI WS are equipped with top-end Intel Xeon E5 processors and the latest NVIDIA Quadro Pascal graphics cards. More powerful than MSI, mobile workstations are produced by only one company — the Canadian company EuroCom, but it is not represented at all in east european retail.

Xiaomi

Mi Laptop is the youngest, but at the same time the most promising player in the laptop market. So far, it is represented by only four models — all all-metal ultrabooks. Prices by the standards of ultrabooks, of course, are "delicious", but for the average buyer $700 + dollars for a laptop is still too much. Xiaomi smartphones are best sold low-cost, so we are waiting for similar models among laptops.

To infinity and beyond

And this is not a complete list of laptop manufacturers and their lines, but the rest can be ignored without a drop of doubt. So, Toshiba and Fujitsu laptops (more often Fujitsu-Siemens) have not been looking into our region often lately. Huawei, taking the example of Xiaomi, has so far released only one single ultrabook, which is why it cannot be regarded as a serious participant in the mobile PC industry. Local brands, like Polish Dream Machines (uses the ready-made developments of Taiwanese from Clevo), are just trying to enter foreign markets.