The Laptops Our Team Actually Uses and Why
November 23, 2025
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The Laptops We Use
Summary
Every year, our team has the choice of hundreds of laptops. Naturally, certain models rise to the top as our daily drivers.
Table of contents:
Laptops in this Article
17 Inches | 2 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 7 255H | RTX 5050
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14 Inches | 1 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 7 258V
On Sale
14 Inches | 1 TB | 16 GB | M4 10-Core | M4 10-Core GPU
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Good Deal
Cierra — Research, Script Writing, and Production Support
Cierra splits her time across research, writing, and assisting with testing, so she prefers laptops that balance performance, portability, and premium build quality.
- LG Gram Pro 17: Chosen for its large 17-inch display in an unusually lightweight chassis. Great keyboard and dedicated number pad make data entry and long writing sessions efficient. Downsides include occasional fan noise, a bland trackpad, and a high price tag.
17 Inches | 2 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 7 255H | RTX 5050
- ThinkPad X9 14 (home use): Loved for its premium feel, haptic trackpad, excellent keyboard, and strong portability. The only recurring issue is inconsistent sleep behavior that can drain battery.
14 Inches | 1 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 7 258V
Pros
- Fantastic 4k Webcam
- Great screen options
- Effective anti-reflective coating on the display
- Accurate haptic trackpad
- Great speakers
- Good port placement
Cons
- Missing the red Trackpoint
- Base model display is lower resolution with a worse webcam
- Pricey
- Port selection is limited
- Its performance is at the lower end for similar laptops
On Sale
Pulkit — Thumbnail Designer
Pulkit continues to use the MacBook Air M1 (8GB RAM), valuing its light weight, long battery life, great keyboard, and excellent trackpad. However, he’s planning to upgrade to a 14-inch MacBook Pro (M4) for the improved performance and larger display.
14 Inches | 1 TB | 16 GB | M4 10-Core | M4 10-Core GPU
Pros
- Minimal Fan Noise (If Any)
- Fantastic Display - High Resolution, Fast Refresh Rate, Bright
- Excellent Keyboard and Trackpad
- Extremely Power Efficient
- Long Battery Life
- Extremely Powerful
- Excellent Speakers
- Good Webcam
- Lots of Memory as Standard
Cons
- Expensive
- No Wi-Fi 7
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Best Price Ever
Taylor — Part-Time Video Editor
Taylor also prefers 18-inch machines, but with a different approach:
- ASUS ROG Strix G18 (5080): Appreciated for its large display, keyboard, and GPU performance. However, he experienced unit-specific performance issues and has since shifted back to his desktop for main editing work. He said he would prefer the Strix Scar 18 if we had it in.
18 Inches | 2 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 9 275HX | RTX 5080
On Sale
Colin — Longest-Tenured Editor
Colin continues to rely on his Zenbook Pro 16X (2023) because its unique design and creator-focused features align perfectly with editing workloads.
- Zenbook Pro 16X (2023): Loved for its 3K 120Hz touchscreen, lift-up keyboard design for cooling, plentiful ports, haptic trackpad, and extra function keys. Downsides include fan noise, heavier weight, a dimmer glossy display, and slow SD card reader.
- ProArt P16 (5090): He was impressed by the brighter 4K tandem OLED display, quieter fans, lighter chassis, and high-speed SD Express 7.0 card reader. However, missing features such as RGB lighting, side keys, and a haptic trackpad prevented it from replacing his Zenbook.
- Instead, he now finds himself favoring the Strix Scar 16 (5080) because it does a lot of what the Zenbook does, but with much better performance. He likes its keyboard, it stays cool, and he appreciates that he has access to "Home" and "End" buttons on the arrow keys.
16 Inches | 4 TB | 64 GB | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 5090
Pros
- 5090 version is a standout with its Tandem OLED panel and great performance
- High resolution and high refresh rate screen options
- Excels in creator tasks
- Games decently well
- Comfortable keyboard
- Never gets too hot
Cons
- 5070 versions are not as competitive, <400 nit screens and lesser performance
- Some fan noise even in lighter use
- Less efficient than a MacBook Pro
- Average battery life
- Always a little warm
16 Inches | 2 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 9 275HX | RTX 5080
Pros
- High end components
- Feels very cool to the touch while gaming
- Exhausts hot air out the back
- Comfortable keyboard
- Great Mini-LED display
- Ports in good locations away from your mouse
Cons
- Heavy
- Like all thick laptops, you may feel it biting into your wrist a little
Tony — Newest Video Editor
Despite years of preferring Macs, Tony switched platforms after joining the team.
- Alienware 18 Area-51: Chosen for its snappy performance, fast renders in Premiere and After Effects, massive high-refresh display, and satisfying keyboard. His only complaints are minor: missing media keys and right-side heat exhaust that blows toward his mouse hand.
18 Inches | 2 TB | 64 GB | Core Ultra 9 275HX | RTX 5090
Pros
- Extremely powerful
- Feels premium
- Remains cool even during performance use
- Fan noise is minimal if used on Balance mode (95% of max performance)
- Thunderbolt 5, 2.5 Gbe, PCIE 5.0 SSD, SD Card Reader
Cons
- Heavy, almost 10 pounds
- Does not have an OELD or Miniled display
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Ethan — Cinematographer
Ethan films B-roll and performs hands-on testing, so silence, portability, and reliability matter most.
- MacBook Air M2: His primary work laptop thanks to its silent operation, great keyboard, haptic trackpad, high-res display, and overall portability. He reverted from the M3 Air after software issues with their specific unit. Integration with his iPhone (Airdrop, ecosystem features) keeps him on macOS.
- Considering the ROG Flow Z13 for gaming and D&D sessions due to its compact design, strong integrated graphics, and flexible tablet format — though he’s unsure whether it will handle heavier games like Monster Hunter.
13 Inches | 256 GB | 8 GB | M2 8-Core | M2 8-Core GPU
Pros
- Very lightweight and portable
- All round very high quality device
- Very snappy for most tasks (CPU based)
- Good battery life
- No fan noise
Cons
- Keyboard is a little low travel
- Screen is 60Hz
- Cheaper configurations only have 8GB memory and a small amount of storage
13.4 Inches | 1 TB | 32 GB | Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 | Radeon 8060S
Pros
- Best Processor for a Windows Laptop
- Premium Build Quality
- Minimal Fan Noise for a Powerful Device
- Bright, Color-Accurate Screen
- Comfortable 1.7mm Travel Keyboard
- Up to 128 GB Memory
Cons
- Tablet Form Factor Means You Can't Use it on Your Lap
- Not as Powerful as an RTX 4070 or Above
- Initial McAfee Pop-Ups are Annoying
- Glossy Screen Means Some Reflections in Bright Environments
Seth — Lead Laptop Tester
Seth prioritizes fundamental laptop qualities over raw specs.
- ThinkPad X9 15: His ideal “Windows MacBook.” Praised for its haptic trackpad, 120Hz OLED display, excellent battery life, comfortable keyboard, and premium build. Performance from Intel’s Lunar Lake chips is more than enough for his workloads, and the integrated GPU handles the older games he plays.
15.3 Inches | 1 TB | 32 GB | Core Ultra 7 258V
Pros
- Fantastic 4k Webcam
- Great screen options
- Effective anti-reflective coating on the display
- Accurate haptic trackpad
- Great speakers
- Good port placement
Cons
- Missing the red Trackpoint
- Pricey
- Port selection is limited
- Its performance is at the lower end for similar laptops
On Sale
Josh — Founder, Producer, Writer
Josh uses more laptops than anyone, rotating through many configurations for testing — but a few stand out.
- MacBook Pro 14 (various configs): His all-around favorite for writing, managing the business, editing, and casual gaming. Appreciated for its display quality, battery life, speakers, webcam, and consistent performance. He switches between M2 Pro, M3 Pro, and M4 variants to evaluate real-world differences.
- Blade 14/16: Despite Razer's poor support, Josh loves the premium feel and build quality of their Blade line. He switches between the 14 and 16-inch depending on if he's looking for more productivity or portability. He appreciates their high wattage dedicated GPUs for video editing and gaming, and notices that they stay very cool in these tasks. Their cons are that they both seem to have a hard time with going to sleep properly in his bag and they also have poor palm rejection on their trackpads.
- Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon): His “light use” machine when doing office work or script writing. He likes its portability and keyboard but notes app compatibility issues on Windows on ARM and weak battery life.
14 Inches | 1 TB | 24 GB | M4 Pro 14-Core | M4 Pro 20-Core GPU
Pros
- Minimal Fan Noise (If Any)
- Fantastic Display - High Resolution, Fast Refresh Rate, Bright
- Excellent Keyboard and Trackpad
- Extremely Power Efficient
- Long Battery Life
- Extremely Powerful
- Excellent Speakers
- Good Webcam
- Lots of Memory as Standard
Cons
- Expensive
- No Wi-Fi 7
16 Inches | 1 TB | 32 GB | Ryzen AI 9 365 | RTX 5070 Ti
Pros
- Very thin and light for a high performance gaming laptop
- Looks stunning
- Excellent keyboard
- Great port selection
- Powerful GPUs
- Good OLED fast refresh rate display (G-Sync, Advanced Optimus)
- Feels cool to the touch, even during gaming or video editing
Cons
- Trackpad has palm rejection issues
- Bad battery life
- Small arrow keys
- Support is challenging to deal with and return window is short
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13.8 Inches | 512 GB | 16 GB | Snapdragon X Plus | Adreno X1-85
Pros
- Looks stunning, especially the light blue color
- Screen is bright, highish resolution and offers a fast refresh rate
- Keyboard is comfortable to type on
- Trackpad is the best of any Windows laptop, almost on par with a MacBook
- Has no fan noise in most use cases
- Battery life is decent
Cons
- Short battery life
- Some specialist applications don't run well
- The laptop feels warm when running any performance task
- The high resolution display is not as high as competitors like the MacBook Air