The Best Notebooks of 2010

Ron

In a year when the iPad grabbed all the headlines, notebooks hardly stood still in terms of progress. Intel launched Core processors with a new Turbo Boost feature. Nvidia’s Optimus enabled laptops to switch between integrated and discrete graphics automatically. And Apple pushed solid state drives into the mainstream with its instant-on MacBook Airs.

The notebooks that made our Best of the Year list don’t just integrate cutting edge technologies. They deliver leading-edge performance and design. After evaluating 140-plus machines in 2010, these are the ones to get…