I’ve reviewed a lot of laptops for PCWorld and I’ve been noticing one thing I don’t like: the costlier the laptop computer, the less ports it tends to have. It’s been trending this manner for some time now, however these days it’s gotten quite a bit worse—and that sucks.
In my time as a laptop computer reviewer, I’ve seen price range choices filled with ports, generally even managing to suit Ethernet jacks into their small frames. But I’ve additionally seen luxurious top-end fashions with nearly no ports in any respect, and that’s downright unsuitable. Some even omit the headphone jack!
These days, for those who’re out there for a premium laptop computer, there are some actual gotchas to pay attention to… and connectivity is one in every of them.
Premium laptops typically skimp on ports
Laptop producers appear to suppose clients need to pay extra cash for fewer ports, however that’s nonsense. The thought {that a} skilled spending $3,000 on a 4.5-pound laptop computer doesn’t need the choice of plugging in an HDMI cable is solely ridiculous to me. But going by the various laptops I’ve reviewed, laptop computer producers don’t agree with me. They suppose you’ll pay additional if it means fewer ports.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Here are a couple of examples of laptops I’ve reviewed over the previous yr alone that exhibit this form of angle in direction of ports:
- The Dell 16 Premium is a $3,199 high-end laptop computer with discrete Nvidia graphics, however it omits HDMI and USB-A ports.
- The Acer Aspire Go 15 is a superb $499 laptop computer that delivers each USB-A ports and an HDMI port.
- The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 is a $1,899 premium laptop computer that lacks a headphone jack. You get two USB-C ports… and that’s it!
- The HP EliteBook 6 G1q with 5G is a $1,695 enterprise laptop computer with 5G driving up its worth, however it someway manages to additionally pack Ethernet and HDMI right into a compact mobility-focused machine.
Over and over, it’s the identical story performed out: producers design high-end laptops with aesthetics, thinness, and tapered edges in thoughts whereas price range laptops are designed for practicality. Somewhere on the market, I’m certain there’s a laptop computer designer who’s dreaming about wi-fi charging with the last word aim of making a port-free laptop computer. Ugh.
If you ask me, it feels just like the true luxurious day-to-day expertise nowadays is to go for a “budget” laptop computer that doesn’t pressure you to plug in a USB hub or hook up a high-speed dock simply to output to HDMI, join a standard USB-A drive, and even plug in a pair of headphones.
Business laptops tout their ports
What’s amusing is that producers are pushing modern designs with minimal ports as premium choices, however in relation to enterprise laptops they’re all about advertising and marketing the port choice. “This laptop has lots of ports so you don’t have to worry about taking a dongle with you,” they are saying. “That’s a big upgrade for workers.”
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
It’s completely true and PC producers ought to tout it. But PC makers themselves are guilty for ports changing into a uncommon commodity.
A price range laptop computer has loads of ports, a premium laptop computer prices additional as a result of it removes these ports, after which a enterprise laptop computer constructed for work prices additional and delivers an inexpensive number of ports. That’s the panorama we discover ourselves in proper now.
Even Apple’s MacBook Pro has HDMI and a headphone jack
You may assume this state of affairs is Apple’s fault and that PC producers are chasing Apple’s design decisions. That’s not true. MacBooks provide extra ports than “luxury” Windows laptops.
For starters, all of Apple’s MacBooks nonetheless have audio jacks. Meanwhile, a handful of Lenovo machines don’t have any headphone jacks, together with the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 and Lenovo Yoga Book 9i. If 3.5mm audio is essential to you, beware of shopping for high-end Lenovo laptops!
Foundry
To be honest, Apple has dropped the USB-A port from its machines and the bottom MacBook Air solely presents two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports. Still, all MacBook Pro fashions have HDMI ports and SDXC card slots.
So no, Apple isn’t guilty right here. Only a PC producer would promote a high-end $3,199 machine for professionals and skip the HDMI port. Only a PC maker would resolve a laptop computer doesn’t want an audio jack. Even Apple refuses to take away the normal 3.5mm audio jack from laptops!
Thin laptops are the brand new small bezels
Thin laptops are good to carry. When I choose up a evaluation laptop computer and really feel easy steel and glass with a tapered edge and an nearly impossibly gentle weight, I’m instantly impressed.
But as soon as I attempt to plug in gadgets and notice there’s no USB-A or HDMI, I wince. If there’s no 3.5mm audio jack, I scratch my head in confusion. That’s not what I would like from a laptop computer. Instead of simply carrying a laptop computer, you now have to hold a laptop computer plus a hub.
It jogs my memory of the skinny bezel craze a couple of years in the past. Laptop reviewers targeted a lot on the scale of the bezels round a laptop computer’s display screen—the smaller the bezel, the extra premium the machine.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Personally, I don’t see the purpose. Yes, a streamlined laptop computer design will be good. But you’ll be able to see precisely how the bezels look in photographs—you don’t want me measuring the bezel with a ruler and assigning a laptop computer evaluation rating primarily based on the scale of a machine’s bezel. There’s far more to a laptop computer than that.
In the identical means, laptops are more and more differentiating themselves extra on design than performance. If eradicating the HDMI port and even the headphone jack makes the laptop computer look like a formidable artwork piece in a photograph or in-store show, producers will go for it.
Ports aren’t the one issues that get sacrificed both. Sometimes an exquisite laptop computer will really feel gentle as a feather however lack the battery life to get me by a workday. Why? Because the laptop computer producer has prioritized gentle weight over lengthy battery life.
Note the ports when shopping for a laptop computer
If you’re buying a laptop, I all the time suggest paying specific consideration to its ports. There’s a great probability you’ll need a minimum of HDMI, an SD card slot, and perhaps even Ethernet. Extra USB-C ports are good, too, particularly on laptops that cost through USB-C. (I like to see a USB-C port on each side of the laptop computer so you’ll be able to plug in on both aspect to cost.)
When we review laptops here at PCWorld, we all the time record the ports they provide, and I all the time take that into consideration when writing up the professionals and cons of a laptop computer. That’s how essential they’re.
Sadly, if you need a ports-packed laptop computer nowadays, you’ll in all probability have higher luck with a price range laptop computer than a premium one. On the opposite hand, for those who nearly by no means plug something into your laptop computer, you may love a thin-and-light premium laptop computer with minimal ports. As for me? I don’t need to dwell with a laptop computer so “luxurious” that it has no audio jack.