PCMag's holiday laptop gift guide picks a model for each type of user

A pricier year to buy a laptop

As pcmag.com reported, Joe Osborne, the site's lead laptop reviewer and a deputy managing editor, has put together a holiday gift guide drawn from a year of testing. He says the math on laptop pricing has shifted in 2026, partly because of an ongoing memory shortage. Memory here means the chips that let a computer juggle many tasks at once.

The practical result is that most laptops now cost more than they did even six months ago. His advice is to shop more carefully: look for deals both during and after the big shopping holidays, and check the price again before you click "buy."

He also stresses getting the mix right between processing power, portability and features. With prices up, a mismatch costs more than it used to.

Everyday users, students and Mac fans

For people who just need a computer that works, the guide points to a Chromebook with a 15.3-inch screen, a MediaTek Kompanio 540 processor, 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage. ChromeOS, the system on Chromebooks, runs through the web browser. That means no driver installs and fewer clutter-making background programs, which suits a relative stuck on a ten-year-old machine.

For Apple fans, there are two picks. The MacBook Neo is Apple's first true budget MacBook, built around an iPhone-first A18 Pro chip. It has gone up $100 since launch earlier this year, but it is still the cheapest MacBook so far. The MacBook Air, with an M5 processor, is described as one of the most reliable laptops around. The guide says a first-year college student given one could well still be using it at graduation.

On the Windows side, the new all-aluminum Dell XPS 13 matches the Neo's price. It has a backlit keyboard, more base storage, a 120Hz 1600p touch screen and Wi-Fi 7. Osborne notes it is not the powerhouse its name suggests, but calls it one of the most luxurious laptops at that price.

Kids, travelers and big screens

Younger students are harder on their gear, so the guide recommends a rugged 14-inch Dell Chromebook, chosen as its top pick for that age group. It resists drops and spills and has just enough speed for school-issued apps.

For the freelancer who is always moving, the HP OmniBook 5 14 is an ARM-based Windows laptop (built on a type of chip known for efficiency) that lasted nearly 35 hours in PCMag's rundown test. The guide says it handles emails, drafts, spreadsheets and slide decks, and that it is priced aggressively.

If your giftee wants a roomy screen, an Asus Snapdragon model with a high-resolution OLED display and more than 18 hours of battery life is named the pick for desktop replacement. On a tighter budget, the Acer Aspire 16 AI offers a 120Hz display, a 1440p webcam, plenty of ports and a Snapdragon X processor.

Gamers and creators

For the serious PC gamer, the guide picks the Razer Blade 18, a thin 18-inch machine with a dual-mode display. It justifies a steep price, according to the guide, with fast performance and competitive battery life. Osborne frames that price as simply the reality of high-end PC gaming in 2026.

A casual gamer is pointed to the Lenovo Legion 5i. It has a 15.1-inch OLED screen, Nvidia RTX graphics and an Intel Core i7 or i9 processor. It is the guide's suggestion for someone who wants a step above the budget class.

Creators get two paths. On the Apple side, video editors and 3D graphics pros should aim for at least M5 Pro-level performance, while photo editors can manage with a base M-series chip. The guide also says MacBook Pros have historically been reliable, so the money should go further than on comparable PCs. On the PC side is the Asus ProArt P16, with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor, Nvidia graphics options, a 4K 120Hz OLED screen and a DialPad control built into the touchpad.

For the person who has everything

The most unusual pick is the Asus Zenbook Duo, a laptop with two screens. Osborne calls this year's model the best twin-panel machine PCMag has tested. It runs two 3K OLED touch screens on Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processing, and it lasted 30 hours in the battery rundown.

The guide does not list prices for these picks in the text we have, so check current listings. Given the guide's own warning about the memory shortage, those listings may differ from what a review said earlier in the year.