Best laptops to buy in 2013

We pick out the best laptops to buy in 2013 with our round-up of the six hottest models

If you’re hunting for a new laptop, there’s more choice than ever. With Windows 8 ushering in a new breed of touchscreen hybrids, and plenty of excellent Ultrabooks and standard laptops already on the market, we’ve chosen our six favourite models for 2013.

Whether you’re in the market for a budget model, something stylish and slim, or something just a little different, one of these machines will be sure to fit the bill.

Asus VivoBook S200E

The VivoBook S200E is one of the biggest laptop bargains of recent times – it proved so popular that initial stocks sold out just days after we published our review. This gorgeous Windows 8 laptop packs in an 11.6in touchscreen display, a nippy low-voltage Core i3 processor and a 500GB hard disk for just £450. That's pretty impressive in itself, but factor in the stylish metal chassis, five-hour battery life and bag-friendly size and weight, and it's easy to see why the VivoBook S200E has been flying off the shelves.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13

Sometimes the simplest ideas are best, and Lenovo provides a perfect example with its Windows 8 hybrid, the IdeaPad Yoga 13. Where rivals flaunt fancy spinning and sliding screens, the Yoga 13 employs a deceptively simple double-jointed hinge. It's a revelation: this stylish, capable 13.3in Ultrabook bends over backwards to transform into a king-sized tablet, and the base cleverly doubles as a flexible stand. The Core i7 CPU and SSD speed through Windows 8 whatever position it's in, and the IPS display provides vivid, eye-pampering image quality from any angle. For £1,000, it's the best Windows 8 hybrid money can buy.

Dell XPS 12

The Dell XPS 12 is an Ultrabook that pirouettes into a 12.5in tablet. It’s a fine achievement: Dell’s engineers have managed to splice the carbon-fibre XPS range with the ingenious spinning hinge of the Inspiron Duo, and the result is a hybrid like no other. The 12.5in Full HD display oozes with rich, saturated colours, and the range-topping model we tested delivered scorching performance thanks to a Core i7 CPU and nippy SSD. If the asking price is too much, fear not - the cheaper Core i5 model with its smaller SSD delivers the XPS 12 experience for just under £1,000.

Dell XPS 13

Dell’s XPS 13 is a simply glorious Ultrabook. Its lightweight 1.38kg chassis oozes understated class, and with a body formed from carbon-fibre and aluminium alloy it feels every inch the luxury laptop. The combination of Intel’s low-voltage CPUs and speedy Samsung SSDs make for a system that feels spritely in everyday use, and the keyboard is superb. We criticised its high price when we first reviewed it, but the intervening months have seen prices tumble. With the base model partnering an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB hard disk for £799, the only thing this classy Ultrabook is lacking is a Full HD screen.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Mixing business and pleasure can be a recipe for disaster, but Lenovo got it entirely right with its ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Achieving the ergonomic excellence we’d expect from a ThinkPad in a chassis that weighs 1.36kg can’t have been easy, and the result is an Ultrabook to aspire to. Breakneck performance partners with business essentials such as mobile broadband, TPM and a fingerprint reader, and the matte 1,600 x 900 display is both bright and colour accurate. The top-end model nudges the £1,600 mark, which is significantly more expensive than its consumer-focussed rivals, but it’s a price worth paying. This is the best boardroom Ultrabook by far.

Asus N56VM

Against the glittering line-up of Ultrabooks and Windows 8 hybrids, the Asus N56VM might look ordinary. Don’t be deceived: if you’re looking for a do-it-all desktop replacement at a sensible price, this 15.6in laptop is tough to beat. Its curvy metal chassis weighs in at a substantial 2.75kg, but the pay off is bomb-proof build quality and a sterling selection of components. The quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU delivers performance approaching that of a desktop PC, the Full HD display makes the most of Blu-ray movies and the gaming-capable Nvidia graphics are the cherry on top. It sounds pretty good, too: a miniature external subwoofer partners with the Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers to produce crisp, listenable audio.