Top 10 Laptops for Web and Graphic Designers of 2008

We all have different preferences when it comes to laptops. Folks who travel a lot usually go for a small and light model – maybe even a tiny ultraportable like the Asus Eee PC. The problem with tiny laptops is that you can’t squeeze in a lot of performance in such a small frame. From a web designer’s perspective, they are nigh on impossible to work with because of the limited screen resolution.

To get a resolution of 1440×900, you need to step up to at least a 14-inch laptop, and above that, 15 inches or more. It’s usually worth the portability tradeoff however, if you want to work with the laptop comfortably for any longer periods. Of course, if you have gotten used to working with dual 22-inch high-resolution screens, no laptop will feel very comfortable by comparison, but the desktop replacement segment is possibly the best choice for web designers because of the larger screens and better ergonomics. But I digress, on to the Top List:

Acer Ferrari 5005

Acer is a company known primarily for its cheap, lower-end laptops, but the Ferrari series is a notable exception. This one is a 15.4-inch laptop with a very pleasing 1680×1050 resolution – comparable to a standard 22-inch desktop LCD. It also has a decent dedicated graphics card from ATI and a 2GHz AMD Turion processor. Unfortunately, AMD’s Turion CPU is not nearly as fast as Intel’s Core 2 Duo, and the Ferrari models are usually overpriced.