The Best Computers

The measure of a computer isn't just a mess of specs and benchmarks: it's the confluence of performance, design, usability, and the machine's fit to its particular task and pricepoint. These are the computers we think bring the total package.

Best Power/Pro Laptop
The new 2011 15-inch Core i7 MacBook Prois beefier than ever. (October, 2011)

Best Laptop
Apple's MacBook Air line has taken ultraportables from being a niche, luxury item to being the most sensible laptop to own for regular people. They're fast, portable, and can do essentially anything you need to on a day-to-day basis. The 13" pulls ahead, though, because it includes an SD card and for a little extra real estate. (July 2011).

Best Windows Ultraportable
The Samsung Series 9 is our favorite, least MacBook-like ultaportable laptop out right now. More than the MacBook Air or the Zenbook, this is the one that people perk up and ask about when they see it. It's got a wonderful matte screen, a very usable trackpad, and a solid keyboard. Just beware: There's a new wave of ultraportables coming this year that promises to be really, really good. (January 2011)

Best Value Laptop
Good design, comfortable typing and a great sound system make the HP Pavilion G6x the best budget laptop out there. ( April 6, 2011)

Best Gaming Laptop
Pretty much the diametric opposite of a budget laptop, the Alienware M17x (2011) is a monster. Its massive benchmarks are made more ridiculous by five hours of battery life-an eternity for gaming laptops. (February 21, 2011)

Best Processors
The Core i5-2500K hits the critical bang/buck sweet spot for smooth gaming. Otherwise, pick your budget and check this list. (Feb 28, 2011)

 Best Desktop Graphics Cards
The best combination of top notch performance and moderately reasonable price you'll find right now is probably the Radeon HD 6970. *

Best Motherboard
The Asus Rampage III Extreme barely edged out the competition in our new motherboard roundup.

Best Router
We're happy to report that benchmarkingNetgear's new WNDR4500 left us grinning from ear to ear. This is the fastest router we've ever tested, and it's packed with new features. (December, 2011)

Best SSD
Kingston's SNV425-S2 64GB drive stood outby delivering blazing performance on the (relative) cheap. (Sep 1, 2010)

PC Case
The Silverstone Temjin TJ11 is 9 inches wide by 25 inches high and 25 inches deep. It's massive and expensive and absolutely a preposterous thing to own. But it has amazing build quality, thermal control and moddability.

Best Networked Storage Alternative
Some aspects of the TS-459 Pro II hardware are comparable to the competition, and in other respects, it's just head and shoulders above the rest. A 1.8GHz dual-core Atom powers the TS-459 Pro II, and 1GB of DDR3 RAM comes preinstalled, though you can upgrade to 3GB yourself. QNAP also offers more connectivity options than most mortals will know what to do with, and it's strong on the software side, too. (September, 2011)