When your small business is in the market to buy new computers for your employees, chances are good that you’re considering laptops. Company laptops make it easy for your team to work remotely – whether from home, the airport, a client’s office or a hotel. While some businesses may look only at cost when choosing a laptop, it’s essential to consider other factors that contribute to the quality and durability of the product, because it will receive heavy daily use.
When buying laptops for your business, your goal is to find durable devices that improve productivity and ensure ease of use. To do so, you must focus on long-term usage instead of inexpensive pricing. While laptops range in price from $300 to $3,000, opting for high-end laptops in the $1,200 to $2,500 range can save you stress and frequent repair costs in the future.
Although everyone loves a bargain, and it’s easy to be drawn in by low prices and discounts, it’s best to focus on laptops with specs that ensure efficient daily task performance. Cheaper laptops typically have cheaper components, which can result in poor performance because of issues like slow processing.
Underperforming machines can impede employee productivity. In contrast, high-performing devices with more functionality, longer battery life, larger solid-state drives (SSDs) and faster processors support work efficiency.
Consider the following factors when you start your business laptop search:
To avoid these issues, consider a laptop’s price-to-performance ratio to help you evaluate if a machine’s price tag matches its performance and durability. This ratio measures a product’s ability to deliver performance relative to its price. It’s best to review the specifications of each laptop you’re considering to ensure you receive peak performance for the extra money spent.
Tip
TipProactively upgrade your business technology periodically to boost security, keep employees happy and maintain the ability to run the latest software applications.
Buying a new business laptop can be daunting. Many of the best models look similar, use the same operating system and provide many of the same features. The first step in choosing the best business laptop for your employees is to review each option’s specifications.
Sarah Petrova, senior hardware engineer at Intel and co-founder of Techtestreport.com, listed the following specifications to consider when choosing a business laptop:
Did You Know?
Did you knowMobile device management solutions for your business laptops, smartphones, tablets and other mobile technology can secure applications, permissions and policies across various platforms and providers.
Business laptop costs range from $500 to $3,000 depending on the model, processing power, screen quality, battery life and amount of RAM.
Business laptops tend to be more expensive than consumer models. However, for this extra price, you’ll receive a higher-quality product with additional components that can last for years. These components include a stronger battery, a better graphics processing unit (GPU) and additional USB ports.
“You can get solid business laptops that you could use for at least three to four years for $1,200,” Petrova explained. “However, when you need more performance, high-end GPU and processing power models can cost anywhere from $2,300 to $3,000. These models will be good for the next four to five years.”
Since most businesses require only essential office-work functions like web browsing, emailing and drafting documents, 8GB of RAM is enough for most users. If you often run multiple programs and execute numerous tasks simultaneously, then you might need 16GB or more.
To ensure your data transfers as quickly as possible, your business laptop should have SSD storage instead of the traditional HDD. SSD storage is usually quieter thanks to the lack of a rotating magnetic disk and can handle more writing cycles than a standard HDD. Most of the time, 256GB to 512GB of SSD memory is enough.
AMD and Intel have become the go-to processor brands for many business laptop buyers. They usually offer high processor speeds at affordable prices. While these processors are generally safe options, gauging processor speed depends on the number of cores, according to Anh Trinh, managing editor of GeekWithLaptop.
“A quad-core [processor] with 1.8GHz is better than a dual-core with 2.2GHz,” Trinh advised. “For a business laptop, you’re going to need more than 1.6GHz to compete with modern-day software.”
Laptops usually operate more slowly than desktop CPUs because they are designed for energy conservation. Most laptops have two cores, though some high-performance laptops have four cores. For higher processor speeds, you’ll want at least a quad-core system.
Business laptops are built differently than consumer laptops in various ways. For instance, business laptops usually last longer and have more configuration options. They’re also built more for security, as they typically store sensitive information. On the other hand, consumer laptops typically include unnecessary, preinstalled software and more creative design features.
Typically, laptops last between three and five years. After that period, you might need to replace the computer, as it might not be able to support the advanced and necessary applications your business must run. Desktop PCs usually last about a year longer than laptops.
Due to small business budget constraints, choosing the cheapest business laptops on the market can be tempting. However, sacrificing quality isn’t a good idea when it comes to business laptops. Weigh your business’s needs and the available options and specs to choose a laptop that best supports your company and employees.
Sammi Caramela contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
Home / Handy Tips / Laptop Buying Guide
Buying a laptop can be a confusing and time-consuming undertaking. With so many devices available on the market, you’re spoilt for choice, and it can be hard to work out what’s important versus what’s a gimmicky extra.
We know how hard it can be to filter through the fluff to get to what you really want to know when buying a laptop, so we’ve put together our best top 10 list of considerations, to help you hit the market more prepared.
The number one consideration for most new laptop buyers is budget, and getting the best bang for your buck. You may want a top end gaming machine, but with a hefty price tag in the many-thousands, that may not be feasible. Working out your budget for buying a laptop is a great start, so that you know where to start looking.
Laptops generally come in three budget related tiers:
Just behind budget in importance is what operating system (OS) you want for your new laptop. The top three most popular OS on the market right now are:
If a Chromebook isn’t what you’re looking for, but you’re stuck weighing up the differences between Windows vs Mac, check out our comparison blogs:
Laptops are designed to be highly portable, but the balance against this is screen size. If portability is more important, then laptops with a smaller screen size and thin, lightweight design will be more attractive. These types of laptops are often marketed as Ultrabooks, have a screen size between 12 – 13.3 inches, and weigh less than 1.5kg.
When you’re looking at your laptop screen for hours on end, you’ll understand why screen quality and resolution is so important. Full HD screens have a pixel size of 1920 x 1080p, and are great for video, graphics and gaming, not to mention general quality of image viewing.
If you aren’t sure if you need a full HD screen, the best option is to head into your local computer store and check them out in person. Tech specs don’t always give a clear idea of the actual user experience.
How long your battery will last is typically front of mind for most new laptop buyers, especially if you’re using your computer on the go between the office, home and out and about. How long the battery will last is, unfortunately, often quite different to what it says on the box, and impacted by variables like:
Rather than look at the number of hours the manufacturer quotes, review the battery rating watt-hours (Wh) or milliamp-hours (mAh). The bigger the number, the longer the battery will last.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is key to computer performance, especially if you do lots of multitasking on your laptop – such as simultaneously editing photos, writing documents, creating spreadsheets, web browsing and video streaming. It’s how much system memory your laptop comes with, out of the box, and is often expandable.
The more RAM you have, the faster your laptop will be able to access data, and the more applications you can run smoothly at any one time. These days, 8GB of RAM is the minimum that you should buy a new laptop with. If you use lots of power-hungry software, look for 16GB or more, to ensure all your applications run without issue.
Think of the CPU (central processing unit) as the heart of your laptop. CPU’s are manufactured by two main chipmakers – Intel (core i5, i7, i9) and AMD (Ryzen) – and what’s best for you will come down to whether you’re trying to maximise speed or value, as well as what you’re using your laptop for.
You’ll find Core i5 in the majority of mid-range laptops, and i7 and i9’s in the higher-end laptops. While Core i7 and i9 CPUS offer the best performance, laptops with these CPUs can generate a lot of heat from the bottom of the device. Keep this in mind if you plan to use your laptop, well, on your lap.
Not sure what CPU is best for you? Check out the Best CPUs for 2021 from our friends at PC Mag Australia, to help you make the choice.
When buying a laptop, not only will you need to consider the amount of storage it comes with, but also the type of storage. Gone are the days of heavy, large hard disk drives, with solid-state drives much more common now. This helps keep laptops light-weight, faster and quieter. Solid state drives come in sizes from 128GB – 1TB.
Not sure if you’re looking for a laptop with a solid-state drive or a hard drive, or what the difference really is? Check out our blog Hard Disk Drive vs Solid State Drive: What’s the Difference?
When you have a laptop, you have peripherals to plug in – mouse, keyboard, portable hard drive, phone chargers – so the number and type of ports available is important. Common types of laptop ports include:
It’s not uncommon to have more peripherals than ports to plug in via, and for many peripheral devices to have different ports to what you can accommodate. You can purchase a range of adaptors to make up for this.
A hub is also a good way to turn one laptop USB port into 4 or 6, so there are ways to make up for only getting one or two USB ports on your new laptop. Ideally, you’ll want at least one USB 3.0 port, at minimum.
Brand is our final consideration factor in our laptop buying guide, and you have plenty to choose from. Mac OS is only available on Apple branded laptops while Windows OS is featured by a plethora of laptop brands – HP, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, Dell, Huawei, and, of course, Microsoft’s range of Surface laptops.
Brand is an important consideration, from the point of view of aesthetics and build quality. The best way to get a feel for what brand is best is to do your research, read reviews, and check out the different brands available in store. Much will come down to personal preference, but doing your homework on what brands are more reliable, better quality, and likely to last longer, will save you money in the long run.
Buying a laptop doesn’t need to be hard work, when you have the experts on hand to give you the advice and service you need. Here at Computer Cures, computers are our business. We have the inside knowledge and experience to advise you on what laptop is best for your needs, as well as how to setup and maintain it, so that you get your money’s worth. Don’t take a gamble with your next laptop purchase – call the experts so you make the right decision.
The team at Computer Cures are laptop experts, with the knowledge you need to help ensure your next laptop purchase is the very best one you can make. Give us a call on 1300 553 166 or fill out our contact form; we’re here to help.
1300 553 166or fill in our online enquiry form today to set up an appointment with a local laptop technician