Ordering a work laptop for your business can be a challenging and complicated affair. There are numerous laptops to choose from with different features and systems. How do you know which laptop is the best for your company and for the work that you are doing?
Business laptops are usually designed for portability and long periods of usage compared to consumer laptops. They may also be more expensive than consumer laptops due to having more features and built-in components. Here are some of the best tips when ordering work laptops for your company.
Budget
Set a budget and stick to it. This helps to optimize your shopping strategy and prevents you from overspending. Before setting a budget, you should have ideally viewed several ideal laptop models and calculated the total cost, bearing in mind the number of laptops to purchase.
Not every business requires the best laptop features and technology and it would be wasteful to consider high-end options if you are only using the laptop for basic tasks such as Microsoft Office and researching. However, sacrificing quality for the cost may result in a laptop that is slow, frustrating to use, and easily runs out of storage or breaks down easily. This would compromise basic tasks and result in inefficiency.
Usage
Consider what type of work will be done on the laptop and how frequently it will be used. If the laptop is involved in basic tasks such as editing, streaming videos, and sending emails, laptops such as the Lenovo ThinkPad and HP ProBook offer good options for basic usage.
However, for slightly more intensive usage with higher-end tasks such as video editing and multitasking, more processing power is required. Some laptop models better suited for above-average usage include the Macbook, Lenovo IdeaPad, HP Elitebook, and Dell Latitude.
If you require superior usage as the work laptop is going to be used for multiple, labor-intensive applications such as engineering and design or gaming, then you may need to consider a powerful laptop with a high processing power such as the Macbook Pro or a Dell XPS 15. Knowing the level of usage needed from your work laptop will help you to shortlist the specifications needed and help you set a more accurate budget.
CPU
When considering specifications, the most important one is the CPU. The CPU is the first thing you should look at and greatly affects the usability of your laptop and how smoothly it runs for its intended purpose. Most mid-range CPUs such as the Intel Core i5 and the AMD Ryzen 5 are suitable for most businesses and are known for their reliability. They are great if your work involves regular multitasking or basic video editing.
Lower range CPUs such as the Intel Core i3 may be better suited if you only need to send emails, store photos, documents, or post on social media. High-end CPUs are generally not needed in work laptops unless heavy processing power is needed such as for intensive video editing and design.
Some examples of high-end CPUs are the Intel Core i9 and the AMD Ryzen 9. While having a more powerful CPU means better performance, having one would not contribute to your work experience if your work is not processor-heavy.