In general, you can have fast, small or cheap – pick two (you can’t have all three). If a laptop is fast and small/lightweight, it generally won’t be cheap. If it’s fast and cheap, it probably isn’t lightweight. Google search examples like Lenovo X1 Carbon, or Microsoft Surface Book to see what I mean. If you need more help selecting a business technology tool that’s best for you, contact the superstars waiting for your call on the Qoverage Helpdesk at 972.352.3091, after you’ve read our recommendations below.
Here are the steps to successfully buying a business laptop:
- Choose a screen size. 13”, 14”, 15”, or 17” (quite large). You’ll need to see some examples in-person to decide your preferred balance between portability and the screen size and resolution that works well for your eyes. Swing by Best Buy or Costco on your way home to see some for yourself – you’ll probably know it when you see it. But read below before you buy anything yet!
- Processor marketing has made it impossible for a consumer to know what they’re buying. Some Intel i3 processors are actually faster than some i7’s. “3.0Ghz” does NOT mean “fast enough”. There are some real duds out there, and you don’t want to get stuck using a slow painful laptop for the next 3-5 years.
To protect yourself from this risk, choose a processor that scores at least 3,000 or higher on CPUbenchmark.net. The higher the score the better; this is a linear scale, so 3,000 is 3x faster than a 1,000. When you’re looking at a laptop’s specs, Google search: “xyz CPU benchmark”, where ‘xyz’ is the CPU model. Make sure the result you use is from the actual “cpubenchmark.net” website. For example, this laptop scores a 3500, which is quite good for a laptop. Desktops PCs can easily score 8,000 or higher, which is why we rarely recommend running a laptop as your primary desktop PC.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-3427U+%40+1.80GHz - Find a laptop with an SSD hard drive or plan on converting your new laptop right away. Depending upon your budget you may have to sacrifice some capacity, but the performance improvement is dramatic and well worth the sacrifice. 128Gb is plenty for me; 256Gb SSD laptops are easy to find. You can probably look at the properties of your current laptop’s C: drive to figure out how much drive capacity you’re currently using.
- Extend the base warranty to three years and add the accidental-damage warranty. Laptops break far more often than desktops, and people frequently spill coffee or drop laptops and crack the screen. This will keep you covered when that happens. You may also want to check out your homeowner’s insurance policy or your company’s property insurance coverage to see what options you have when your laptop is lost or stolen.
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