Dell's 14 Plus is a good-value 14-inch laptop for home or school, particularly if you catch it discounted. Its long battery life and comfortable build make it a smart alternative.

Dell's Precision 5690 is a mighty mobile workstation that stays under a briefcase-friendly five pounds.

A price drop and a performance boost reaffirm Apple's MacBook Air 13-incher as one of the best buys among mainstream ultraportables.

The Acer Aspire 3 undercuts the competition with decent performance in the base configuration.