Computer portability has changed dramatically over the years. When I was a boy, I once wheeled my desktop PC to a friend's house in a rolling suitcase. Today, I carry a laptop that slides neatly into a messenger bag—alongside a book and lunch.
It's a good 12 pounds lighter than the monitor from my youth.
But weight is not the only way to measure a laptop's portability. The lightest model in our ratings—a Samsung Notebook 9—tips the scales at 1.9 pounds, for example. And yet, it doesn't have the battery life to get you through a full 8-hour workday.
If you're looking for a nimble travel companion, a computer with the energy and processing power to complement your busy lifestyle, here are some of the best lightweight laptops to pass through our labs.
All are significantly trimmer than the heaviest machines in our ratings: a 17.3-inch Lenovo Ideapad and a 17.3-inch Dell Inspiron that both log in at 7.6 pounds.
More to the point, they're all recommended for performance, too.
Apple MacBook 12-inch MLHE2LL/A
This 12-inch laptop delivers a full 17 hours of battery life, plus above-average speakers and an excellent (non-touchscreen) display. With 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive, it'll handle Mac OS and everyday tasks with ease.
As a reminder, solid-state drives use less power and access data more quickly than traditional spinning hard disk drives—and they tend to last longer, too.
If the laptop has one drawback, it's that it only offers a single USB Type C port. And that's an inconvenience for anyone with accessories—a mouse, external hard drive, speakers, that sort of thing—that require a wired connection. For those who have fully embraced the wireless world of Bluetooth technology, though, it may not pose a problem.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4
Microsoft's Surface line is all about versatility—combining the functionality of a laptop with the ease of a tablet.
This two-in-one has a very good 12.3-inch touchscreen display that detaches from the keyboard. The built-in kickstand holds it upright for web-browsing and movie-watching. And the wide viewing angles and brightness levels are conducive to outdoor screenings for family and friends.
Better yet, the computer, which sells for about $650, is among the faster models we've tested. It has a respectable 128GB solid-state hard drive and 4GB of memory, which is more than enough muscle to run most of the software out there.
And, according to our testers, the Surface Pro 4's battery lasts 9 hours.
Acer Aspire S5-371-52JR
Priced at about $600, the 13.3-inch Aspire S5 impressed our testers with its excellent performance, handling even tough tasks like video editing and mid-range gaming with admirable speed.