I have a thing for laptops and tablets, no question about it. Doesn’t matter who the manufacturer is, as long as it looks cool I’m drawn to it. It’s a good thing I don’t have unlimited funds or I’d have stacks of machines all over the house. While I’m not prejudiced against any particular laptop maker I am drawn to a certain style. For example, I like smaller laptops with screens typically less than or equal to 14-inch, and the thinner the better.
Below are some of the laptops that I find aesthetically pleasing.
Some people think the Lenovo ThinkPad line is too plain to be attractive. I humbly disagree. I find the simple black matte finish strangely alluring. The simple lines and no nonsense look of the machine appeals to me, whether I working on it or it’s simply closed sitting on my desk. Â It’s a very professional looking machine.
The T410s is thin and light at only 0.8- inches thick and weighing in at just under under 4 lbs. It’s made of carbon fiber that looks bit like plastic, but not in a cheap way. Overall the machine is quite stunning.
Like the ThinkPad T410S above, the IdeaPad U260 is made by Lenovo and shares the same quality build. But that’s about where the similarities end. This is a slick little machine made to look like a book when it’s closed. Weird, yes, but cool nonetheless. I had the opportunity to play with one at the Microsoft Retail Store in Bellevue, WA on a recent trip.
The U260 is a very portable machine with a 12.5-inch screen. It’s made from a magnesium-aluminum alloy shell making it relatively light at 3.4 pounds. In addition to the good looks it has leather palm rests and a glass touchpad. While I wouldn’t use the U260 as my primary machine because of the small screen size, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to carry it with me.
I’ve always like Toshiba laptops, but have only owned one. The reason has nothing to do with the looks, but rather the poor battery life I’ve seen with many of their machines. The Toshiba Portege R700 is another in the long line of great looking thin and light machines. It’s slightly bigger than the IdeaPad U260 with a 13-inch screen, but it’s actually a little lighter at 3.2 pounds.
The R700 has a black magnesium cover, which looks a lot better than the silver body of its predicessor, the R600. Overall, it’s simply a great looking machine.
The Samsung Series 9 laptop is one of the thinist Windows based laptops I’ve ever seen. Even though this machine has a 13.3-inch display it comes in at a mere 2.88 pounds and is only 0.64-inches thick. For comparision the MacBook Air is 0.62-inches thick.
The minimalistic look of the Series 9, the black finish and chrome borders make it quite appealing. I’ve had the opportunity to play with the Samsung Series 9 on a couple of occassions and have to say that it’s easy on the eyes. This is a machine that I wouldn’t hesitate to own as my “ultra-portable” of choice.
Apple MacBook Pro and Apple MacBook Air
It’s hard not to like the Apple line of laptops. The aluminum finish and the unibody design are hard to resist. They’ve easily been the king of looks for several years now, but PC makers are catching up. I think any all the machines above offer similar good looks to the MacBook line of laptops.
My favorite has to be the MacBook Air secondary to it’s size. It’s so thin.
