Top 10 Best Thin Laptops in 2014
The thin laptops mentioned in this article all come
from very well-known brands, and they were picked because of their
quality, usability, build quality, and lightweight components. You won’t
be breaking your back trying to carry them, since a lot of them are
under 3 lbs due to how thin they are. In some cases you might see the
optical disc drive sacrificed in favor of thinness, but this isn’t as
much of an issue these days with the proliferation of digital downloads
(plus, there are external USB disc drives you can buy). So without
further ado, let’s see what thin laptops are best in 2014.
10. Dell XPS 13
Dell’s foray into the world of Ultrabooks is in the
form of their XPS lineup. The XPS 13 in particular offers a 13.3 inch
display, 0.70 inch thickness, a weight of 2.99 lbs, a Core i5-2467M at
1.6GHz, and 128GB of solid state storage. With a price of around $900,
it’s fairly competitive with many other Ultrabooks out there. It may not
quite be up to par with an Air or ATIV Book 9 in all aspects, but it’s
still a solid choice in super-thin laptops backed by the known
dependability of Dell computers. The model has received a refresh in
2014 with the choice of Windows 8, among other things.
9. Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus
Normally you don’t think of laptops when you hear the
name Samsung; most of their notoriety comes from their smartphones and
tablets, but in this case they’re offering a touchscreen laptop that
threatens to topple Apple’s leading position when it comes to super-thin
notebooks. The ATIV Book 9 Plus is only 0.53 inches thick, weighs 2.56
lbs, and perhaps its most unique feature is the 3200×1800 resolution on
its 13.3 inch screen. It has the equivalent of a retina display before
Apple has even put one into its own Air notebook, making this a great
purchase if you want the latest tech. At $1,399, the price is about on
par with nicer configurations of the Air, and it includes a Core
i5-4200U with 128GB of solid state storage.
8. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch
For business users looking for a solid, no-nonsense
notebook, Lenovo has traditionally been the go-to company for this
purpose. But even though the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is made for
business, it has all of the capability of modern PCs with a 14 inch
touchscreen, 2GHz Core i7-3667U, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, 240 GB of solid-state
storage, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, and an average battery
life of 8 hours. The body is 0.82 inches thick and a weighs in at 3.4
lbs. All in all, at $1,475 it certainly is one of the best thin laptops
and it’s a great choice for the ultimate balance in mobility and
productivity.
7. Asus Zenbook UX32A
As opposed to the Taichi, ASUS’s Zenbook is more like
a traditional laptop. It has a 0.71 inch thickness, making it a tad
thicker than MacBook Air, and conforms to the Ultrabook specification.
The screen resolution is nothing special at 1366×768, though it’s
adequate for 720p media. Like other Ultrabooks, it has nearly instant-on
functionality, waking from sleep in mere seconds. It includes a 3rd
generation Core i3-2367M processor, three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output,
and an SD card reader. For $899, it’s a solid purchase decision that
will look a little stylish as well with its circular brushed look on the
lid.
6. Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
Much like the ASUS Taichi, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga is a
hybrid/convertible mobile device that can be used as both a laptop and a
tablet. Perhaps the biggest advantage it has over the ASUS model is
that it starts at $899, making it significantly more affordable if you
don’t have a whole lot to spend on your new thin laptop. It doesn’t have
the dual screens of the Taichi, but the screen can be folded
back-to-back with the computer in order to switch modes. It’s not quite
as sleek, but it’s every bit as functional. One potential downside is
that the screen resolution is only 1600×900, which only allows 720p
content to be shown at full quality. It is otherwise a great purchase.
5. Asus Taichi
With the Taichi, ASUS is offering a more innovate
approach to thin laptops. Knowing the recent trend of tablets and
laptops converging, the company has created a product that can be
converted and used as both a regular laptop and a tablet. It includes
two 11.6 inch screens, one on the inside of the display panel, and the
other on the outside. The inside one acts as a normal laptop display,
while the outside is a touchscreen that you can use when you close the
lid. It includes Windows 8, 256GB of solid state storage, and 4 GB of
DDR3 RAM. At $1,189 it’s a great buy if you want a thin laptop to use it
for both productivity and casual consumption.
4. Acer Aspire S7
Acer’s offering in the thin laptop category is quite
spectacular. Coming in at a thickness of about 0.47 inches, it’s even
thinner than Apple’s MacBook Air, and on top of that it only weighs
about 2.86 lbs. It’s very much a densely-packed laptop, and yet it
offers the same range of capability as any other PC with a 1.7GHz Core
i5-3317U processor, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of solid state storage, a 13.3
inch 1080p touchscreen display, an average of 6 hours battery life, two
USB 3.0 ports, and a micro-HDMI output. The normal price is $1,299 and
for that money you get the world’s thinnest laptop to date.
3. HP Spectre XT TouchSmart
In terms of thin laptops, the Spectre XT TouchSmart
Ultrabook from HP is a very formidable laptop with some great specs and
design. Perhaps its most notable feature is the fact that it doesn’t
omit a touchscreen simply because it’s an Ultrabook; its multi-touch
functionality makes the included Windows 8 much nicer and easier to
navigate. It includes an Intel Core i7-3517U 1.90GHz processor, 8 GB of
DDR3 RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, 32 GB of solid state storage, and 5.25
hours of battery life. Its 15.6” display has a 1080p resolution allowing
you to watch the best HD content there in their full fidelity. Its
normal price is about $1,349.
2. Sony VAIO Pro 13
Sony’s VAIO Pro 13 is an Ultrabook that can compete
quite well with what Apple has to offer with their ultraportable
notebook. It weighs only 2.34 lbs, making it just barely lighter than
the MacBook Air. Spec-wise it just about matches it in every aspect with
a 4th-gen Intel Core i5 (configurable to an i7), solid-state
storage, 4 GB of RAM, and so on. It has slightly less powerful graphics
with Intel HD Graphics 4400, but with a higher resolution screen at
1920×1080 compared to the Air’s maximum of 1440×900. This can be a big
deal if you plan on watching full HD content on thin laptop. It’s priced
just about the same as the Air at $1,149 and up.
1. Apple MacBook Air 13
The 2014 MacBook Air continues Apple’s reputation for
premium-quality laptops built with high-quality components and still
remains one of the thinnest laptops in 2014. Coming in
at a thickness of only 0.68 inches and weighing only 2.38 lbs, it’s one
of the thinnest notebooks that you’ll ever find for a long time to come.
The only thing it sacrifices is a disc drive, because the rest of its
hardware is more than capable with a 1.3GHz dual-core Intel i5, 4 GB of
RAM, Intel HD Graphics 5000, solid-state storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi
support, two USB 3.0 ports, and a Thunderbolt port. Unfortunately it
lacks the retina display of Apple’s other laptops, but its display is
nonetheless quite clear and beautiful-looking.
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