In this article, I will share with you what you should look at buying laptops for small businesses.
This way, you will be hard to fool by opinions from others who can be sponsored.
I will plan this guide to be understandable even for everyone with little or limited experience.
STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR BUDGET
Setting up a budget before starting shopping is important to avoid overspending.
Getting the right laptops is what you should do.
Overspending on high-cost options is a waste of money and underspending ends up with you having to buy again since your employees don’t have what they need.
To optimize your budget more, instead of getting the same laptop specs for all of your business people, get different tiers of devices based on user needs.
Also, it’s better to stick the one or two laptop manufacturers to simplify maintenance.
These are some price ranges that can make things simpler for you.
BELOW $300:
I recommend you laptops in this price range only if your employee needs them for word processing or very limited web browsing. Because most laptops in this price range have very limited storage and performance.
$300 – $600:
In this price range, you can get good Chromebooks. Because they usually come with very limited storage but a good build and display, they make a good choice for employees like receptionists or assistants.
$600 – $1,000:
Many businesses get laptops from this price range because here where you start to see comfortable keyboards, good battery life, and decent performance.
ABOVE $1,000:
Laptops in this price range are ideal for user who needs extreme performances like developers and web designers, or other who need sleek laptops like chief executives.
STEP 2: DEFINE THE OPERATING SYSTEM
MAC OS
Apple laptops were known to attract creative professionals who need high-quality screens and extreme performance even for a premium price.
I recommend Apple products only if you are in a field where a luxe vibe matters, your work relies on a program that is only available on Mac, or you don’t have a problem with overspending.
WINDOWS
Among the things that make Windows laptops popular is their large choice of configuration and prices.
The later versions of Windows started showing some productivity advantages like a virtual assistant that can check the weather, schedule appointments, or multi-task with multiple virtual desktops using Task View.
Like I will say later if you are still hesitant about which operating system, go with windows. You will offer your employees a familiar and easy-to-use OS that even new IT pros can provide you support for.
CHROME OS
Chrome OS is a new operating system from Google that is created first for students.
If your work consists of storing your files on the cloud, like web writing, these types of laptops can save you money without sacrificing performance or screen quality.
If you are still unsure about which operating system, get Windows because you are unlikely to regret it since it is the business standard worldwide.
STEP 3: DEFINE THE LAPTOP DESIGN
TRADITIONAL OR HYBRID LAPTOPS
Hybrid, 2-in-1s, or convertible are all a type of laptops that double as a tablet. Some come with a detachable keyboard while others fold down on themselves.
Considering their prices, these types of laptops are still ideal only for employees who need to switch often between typing on a physical keyboard and drawing on a touchscreen.
KEYBOARD
As a small business owner, it is in your favor to choose laptops with comfortable keyboards to help your employees be productive.
Smaller keyboards are counter-productive the same as a large keyboard with too much space between keys, especially if your business relies on typing a lot.
How the keys feel pressing them is also important. So make sure to test that before you buy.
WEIGHT AND SIZE
Weight and size play a huge role in laptop portability.
If you are getting a laptop for someone that will travel with it a lot, get something below 3 lbs in weight and up to 13 inches in screen size.
TOUCHSCREEN
Do not go with a touchscreen even if the laptop user will be using it from time to time. The touchscreen feature makes the laptop expensive, heavier, and eats a lot of battery.
RIGIDITY
There are few chances that your small business requires rugged laptops because these ones are made to suit police, fire departments, and people who work in construction, oil, or fishing field.
STEP 4: DEFINE THE SPECS
Now that you defined the budget, the operating system, and the laptop design, you are ready to determine the laptop specs your small business employees need.
CPU
CPU (or processor) is the engine of the laptop and this is what makes people spend extra getting more than they need.
LOW-END CPUs:
These CPUs are ideal only if your business doesn’t have a budget and requires only word processing or very light web browsing. CPUs in this range include anything from Intel Atom, Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron, and AMD E-Series.
SLIGHTLY ABOVE LOW-END CPUs:
These CPUs are found usually on hybrid laptops that are used for basic tasks. CPUs in this range include anything like Intel Core m3, m5, and m7.
MID-RANGE CPUs:
This is the CPU range that most business falls in. With these CPUs, you can multi-task opening a multitude of Chrome tabs and spreadsheets without major lag. These processors include Intel Core i3 and i5.
HIGH-END CPUs:
If your business requires regular intensive tasks like vector-based processing. You can then opt for high-end processors starting from Intel’s sixth- and seventh-generation Core i7 to the Intel Xeon.
RAM
Considering the programs of the time of writing this article, I recommend you laptops with at least 8GB. This way, the laptop will be able to remain fast and give you years before start having to purchase or upgrade.
STORAGE
This choice relies heavily on the laptop user. If the laptop will be used by a video editor, then the best choice is to have at least 1TO to not have to clean storage every time they start up the laptop.
Another important thing is the choice of the storage type, HDD or SDD. The second type is what the world goes to, it makes starting the laptop and opening programs faster but it’s expensive.
BATTERY LIFE
Since you are buying the laptop for your business, I don’t think that the laptop battery life is that important for you.
If it’s not the case, laptops like the Macbook Air are known to have batteries that can last more than ten hours on a single charge.
Another important thing about the laptop battery performance is how fast the laptop charge itself. Any laptop that can get up to 50% under 30 minutes is a fast-charging laptop for me.
That’s all for my business laptop buying guide, if you still have any questions do not hesitate to ask me in the comment below.
Also, I recommend you check the best laptop for home businesses on my blog, an article that can be interesting for you as a small business owner.
