Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display 13-inch ($1,199)

The Retina display reduces glare up to 75 percent while maintaining incredible color and quality, and the pixel density is so high your eyes can’t discern individual pixels. It’s impressive on the performance side, too.

Available in 13-inch or 15-inch configurations, this notebook offers Intel HD graphics, runs Windows 7 Home Premium, a USB 3.0 port and a 128 GB solid-state drive (SSD).

This touch-screen Ultrabook runs Windows 8, offers six hours of battery life, a 3rd Generation Intel Core i5-3317U processor with TurboBoost technology and a durable Corning Gorilla Glass 2 display.

Running Windows 8, the XPS 13 also offers Intel Smart Connect technology, which keeps your email, contacts, calendar and social networks up-to-date, even when the notebook is in sleep mode.

With a 13.3-inch IPS display, weighing just 3.4 pounds, and a mere .67 inches thick, the Yoga, which runs Microsoft’s new Windows 8 OS, is among the best of the convertible notebooks around.

Available in 11-inch or 13-inch versions, the updated Air now has Intel 3rd Generation Core processors, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of flash storage. The Facetime camera has been upgraded to a 720p model, and the notebooks now have ports on either side that support USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 technology.

The semi-rugged convertible tablet PC is Panasonic’s first Toughbook model optimized for Windows 8, and offers 11 hours of battery life, and a daylight-readable touch HD display with anti-reflective and anti-glare treatments for outdoor use.

The 13.3-inch widescreen display includes a glossy, anti-reflective finish that provides better color intensity without any glare, with graphics powered by the Nvidia GeForce GT 640M LE chip with 1 GB of dedicated video RAM.

This Windows 8 notebook sports a 15.6-in. Radiance Full HD flush display, 3rd Generation Intel Core processors and Thunderbolt technology, which lets you transfer a full-length HD movie or back up music at lightning fast speeds.

The first Ultrabook to feature a 14.4-inch diagonal ultrawide-HD TruBrite display with a cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, it provides an about 30 percent greater view of tiles on the Windows 8 start screen.