It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur. In the 2020’s entrepreneurs all over the world are running entire businesses with only their skills, talents, and their laptops. You may have the passion, work ethic, and skills to launch and run a successful business, but what about your hardware?
If you want to grow your business in this competitive landscape, you must make sure that you are well equipped. This includes having the right technology to run your business efficiently. Although smartphones have come a long way, they have yet advanced enough to replace a powerful laptop.
The right laptop will help you become more efficient, productive, and help you stay on top of your business in the 2024. That is why we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best laptops that will help you grow your business. Whether you need a great but affordable laptop or a more powerful machine, there is a laptop out there that is right for you and your business.
But before you buy a laptop that will be used for business, there are many things to consider.
What is Your Budget?
When selecting the right laptop for a business you must also consider your budget. There are 3 price tiers to consider; entry-level, mainstream, and premium.
- Entry-level– These laptops price for about $600 or less. These are good options if you don’t have a lot to spend on tech for yourself or your team. Although you may find something that will work for you in this price bracket, I do recommend you stay away from the laptops that are less than $300. For some options, check our article 5 Best Business Laptops that are Under $500. These are great to get you started but as your business grows, you’ll most likely need something more powerful with more features.
- Mainstream–These computers are priced between $600-$1,000. This category also has the most options to choose from. If you are looking for a reliable, powerful, and capable laptop for a modest price, a machine in this category is your best bet.
- Premium–If you are looking for the best of the best, you will find a few premium laptops that can handle just about anything your workday can throw at it. The average price for these premium laptops start at around $1,000. For the price, you’re gain longer battery life, improved performance from more powerful internal hardware, higher-resolution displays overall better build quality not to mention reliability.
What will you be doing day-to-day?
An important question to ask yourself is “what will you be doing daily within your business?” If your work consists of just using web applications and answering emails, you may do just fine with a simpler laptop. However, if your workload is a little heavier and you will be doing things like downloading files, invoicing, using spreadsheets, uploading videos, etc, a more powerful laptop is a better choice. For me, I found that I enjoyed the speed of a faster premium computer. It saves me time which is a top priority for me.
Will you be traveling?
When choosing the right laptop to run your business, another thing to consider is whether or not you will be traveling. If you intend to be moving traveling with your laptop, then you may opt to choose a lighter laptop with a longer battery life.
Do you need a touchscreen?
We are not getting accustomed to having touch screens on just about all of our tech. From phones to vehicle displays, most devices now operate using touchscreens. But a touchscreen isn’t necessary for your business, it may not be a good idea to purchase a laptop with this option. Touchscreen laptops are usually heavier than those that are not touchscreen. Also, touchscreen machines use a lot more battery power than those without, even if you don’t actively use the touchscreen feature.
What operating system will work best?
When selecting a laptop it is important to decide which operating system is going to serve you best. There are three primary operating systems available; Chrome, Windows, and Apple OSX. The majority of computers in the world use Windows. This means you will have more options to choose from if you decide you would like a Windows-compatible laptop. Macbooks and Macbook Pro computers use Apple OSX. These laptops have a reputation of having a well-designed interface, great screen quality, user-friendly features, and all of the other things you’d expect from a premium laptop. And, of course, Chromebooks operate using Chrome OS designed by Google.
Answering these questions will help you narrow down which device is best for you.
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This beast of a laptop is a Lenovo gem that can handle lengthy jobs. Together, the Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM, along with the 512 GB SSD hard drive, work at top speed to bust out anything you throw at it. The carbon-reinforced chassis protects against spilled coffee and accidental drops. For added security, the X1 Carbon has a fingerprint reader on its power button.
The 14″ high-definition touchscreen display allows for a hands-on, intuitive approach to your work. You can enjoy working from anywhere with a reliable battery life of up to 15.5 hours and a recharge time of under an hour. Previous models of this machine were not equipped with Bluetooth but since 2019 these models now have that option.
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The newest HP Pavilion is definitely worth a look in 2023. The Pavilion line has always been one of HP’s most recognized computers. The latest model contains the 12th Generation Intel Core processor for performance where you need it. This Aero is ultra-light (2.2 pounds) which also makes it a great laptop to travel with. You can expect to get an amazing 10 hours of battery life from this machine which is more than some of HP’s other laptops which will begin to die out around 6-8 hours.
This laptop has a beautiful display with 100% sRGB display powered by Radeon Graphics with shared graphics memory. As always, a full-size keyboard with a 10 keypad and fingerprint reader is a nice addition. At around $1,000, this is a business laptop well worth the price.
When creating a list of the best business laptops available, Dell XPS laptop is not to be ignored. We also listed it as one of the best business laptops with a touchscreen. These computers have a reputation for being one of the better Windows laptops available. . With the XPS 17, you get many of the same features, power, and performance, but with a spacious 16:10 17-inch screen. You have the option of selecting a 1920 x 1200 pixel non-touch version or a 3840 x 2400 model.
Almost all of the laptop’s specifications are amazing. It comes with an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA RTX graphics card. This business laptop is not a gaming laptop but can handle some light gaming without issue. Dell has also equipped this laptop screen with Eyesafe technology. This tech is designed to reduce harmful blue light all while maintaining vivid color.
If you are looking for a capable 2-in-1 laptop that can handle a hefty workload, this is one of the best options on the market. The design doesn’t sacrifice power. The 4k video play is excellent. This device is a perfect choice for artists and other creative professionals who need a tablet to work on.
MacBooks have always made it easy for creative professionals to get started on their projects right away, allowing them to work anywhere. It’s a small, lightweight, powerful system with next-generation 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU and up to 24GB of unified memory and up to 2TB of hard drive storage. The newest version is most powerful MacBook Pro ever and contains the highly talked about M1 chip. Until the 2023 MacBook Pro with M2 chip is released, this MacBook Pro is still top of the line. The expectation is that the newest model will be available during the spring of 2023
The MacBook offers a high definition display (Liquid Retina XDR), backlit keyboard, Touch Bar and Touch ID, decent speaker system and has a sleek design. The newest models have TouchBars installed, which makes navigating around the interface more seamless, and Siri integration makes for a lot of amusing moments if your iPhone is too close.
The major drawback of the newer models is the push from Apple to USB-C ports, meaning you will have to buy a USB hub if you want the traditional USB-A ports for your devices. This device is also known to heat up quite fast if under a stressful workload, though a well-ventilated workstation can solve that issue easily. MacBooks are also very expensive, so expect to dish out quite a bit for this quality product.
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This versatile machine is perfect for creative entrepreneurs as well as those in other industries that want to bring their ideas to life by hand. This HP enjoys the power of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Octa-Core 1.80GHz processor. With features such as Wireless-AX Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth Combo, backlit keyboard, and a reported 8 hours battery life, entrepreneurs and professionals should have no problem easily getting their work done.
Lenovo fans will be pleased with this smaller, thinner addition to the family. It has the same familiar keyboard and touchpad design of the Lenovo brand and boasts a 14″ full HD display screen with a matte, black chassis finish. This laptop a successor to the nice E590 from Lenovo. The powerful and lightweight device can manage the office long-hauls as easily as any desktop.
It comes with 3 standard USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI output port, an Ethernet port, an SD card reader, and an average webcam. Being only 9.1 x 12.8 x 0.74 inches, this certainly is a space-saver for the workplace.
The small, sexy and classic MacBook Air returns in stride this year. This time, the one-punch lightweight brings some updated graphics and CPU gusto to the table. Its performance struggles to keep up with the competition, but that doesn’t mean it can’t hold its own with multiple tabs open in the browser.
It has a 128 GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM, making it a mid-sized monster of a laptop. The 8-core CPU delivers up to 3.5x faster performance to tackle projects faster than ever. Unfortunately, the MacBook Air takes a hit thanks to its keyboard design, lack of traditional USB-A ports, and an expensive price tag. Otherwise, this slim workhorse is more than decent for the average workload.
For video conferencing, it has a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and three-mic array. The high-resolution, 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display features 500 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, and support for one billion colors for vibrant images and incredible detail. If you are still using a 13.5″ Macbook Air, it may be time to upgrade.
The Acer TravelMate is a great choice. The base system comes with an Intel Core processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, which is quite a package. The graphics card offers enough power for video editing and graphic design. This laptop is only 2.7 pounds and 0.7 inches thick, making it a viable portable option. The TravelMate P6 P614 has also passed several military durability tests, so it can take a beating.
However, its security options are where it shines the most. It has a fingerprint sensor to log in and features an IR webcam for facial recognition. If you get paranoid that someone’s looking through the cam you can cover it with a camera shutter. It also comes with a Kensington lock port in case you have to worry about someone snatching your work laptop at the office or when working remote. Otherwise, this laptop has all the features you’ll need to accomplish your daily tasks and more.
The Surface 4 has much to offer in terms of power and portability. Learning from its mistakes with the previous iterations, Microsoft has made switching from laptop mode to tablet mode easier than ever. Not only that, but the hardware inside this device works well for any type of work, strenuous or not. This model is nearly identical to the 2021 model. You still have an option for a 13″ or 15″ screen, it has the same design, and an all aluminum body.
Microsoft updated the Surface’s processor from an Intel 10th Generation chip processor to Intel Evo i5 and i7 processor. If you want all of these features but are trying to save money, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a nice option.
On our list of the best 17-inch business laptops, we listed the LG gram as underrated laptop. And, we’re doubling down on that statement. This light, powerful, machine with a great display is worth a closer look.
The LG Gram 17 is a very capable device powered by the 12th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor and NVIDIA Graphics. This model comes with 1TB of storage and 16GB of memory with a clock speed of 5200 Mhz. One of the faults of having a 17-inch laptop is the possibility of carrying a larger, sometimes heavier, computer. However, the gram is ultra-lightweight at only 3 lbs. That is a full pound and a half less than the Dell XPS 17. For those who like the gram but do not need a larger screen, the LG gram 16 is a good substitute.
The battery life is really good too. You get about 12.5 hours of battery of continuous work so it can handle longer workdays with no problem. The backlit keyboard with 10 key numeric pad is also nice to have.
This article has been updated and expanded for 2024
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Tom is a member of the Editorial Team at StartUp Mindset. He has over 6 years of experience with writing on business, entrepreneurship, and other topics. He mainly focuses on online businesses, digital publishing, marketing and eCommerce startups.
Article Tags:
Find Your Way · Grow your business · Productivity · Tech · Technology
Article Categories:
Entrepreneurial Lifestyle · Find Your Way · Grow Your Business · Productivity · Solopreneur · Technology
