How to Buy a Business Laptop update_2014


Business laptops may not be the sexiest players in the PC market, but where the actual number of units the big laptop manufacturers ship each year is concerned, they represent a significant segment.

What constitutes a business laptop these days? The lines get blurrier every time a system so classified launches with multiple color options, a metallic finish, different screen option, and all sort of wireless and port acronyms. And with prices reaching all-time lows, businesses would rather save money buying a whole fleet of cheap consumer laptops than spend three or four times as much on an enterprise model.

Lines are even blurring between tablets and laptops. Once they were separated by operating systems, but tablets running "real" versions of Windows are the hot new products aimed at businesses. Some of these tablets even have physical, detachable keyboards. But make no mistake, business laptops have their place in the commercial world, and choosing the right one can determine whether you run a company that's successful or one that suffers from too much downtime. In this buying guide, we will walk you through essential business features, the parts you'll need, and, more important, how to differentiate a business laptop from a consumer model.

The ABCs of CPUs and RAM
Dual-core processors, particularly the Intel Core i3/i5 series or AMD E-series and A-series APUs, are the norm in business PCs, though quad-core processors such as the Intel Core i5/i7s and the AMD A-series are available for more strenuous business applications. Intel-based ultrabooks, and their kin, the AMD-CPU-equipped sleekbooks, by definition use ultra-low voltage processors, which help keep the laptops thin, while extending battery life to approach eight or nine hours and beyond. Even though some midrange business laptops may not qualify as ultrabooks under Intel's strict definitions, many thinner and lighter laptops use the same CPUs and other components.

Higher-powered, low-voltage, and standard mobile processors can be found in desktop-replacement and entry-level laptop categories. You'll also find the occasional desktop-class processor in power-users' systems and mobile workstations. The corollary that the more powerful the processor is the shorter the battery life usually holds true, especially among the latter categories.


Storage: Plenty to Go Around
Dell Latitude E7440 TouchWith businesses using video, multimedia PowerPoint slides, and multi-megapixel photos in staff meetings, a spacious hard drive is a good idea. A 500GB to 750GB hard drive is a good balance between economy and space. While meager in their storage capacities and pricier, solid-state drives (SSDs) don't have any spinning parts and are therefore better suited to take a licking on the road. SSD-equipped systems also boot faster and launch apps faster as well. Look for at least 128GB capacity for a SSD boot drive on a Windows systems or for Flash storage on a MacBook; 256GB is even better.

Optical drives are less critical for consumer PCs these days, what with being able to stream multimedia content from the Internet or downloading content directly to hard drives. But IT managers are reluctant to let them go, because you may need it to burn copies of projects for your clients, and you'll still need to read the occasional CD or DVD sent to you by a supplier or customer. You can of course hook up an external USB DVD drive to any laptop without one. Blu-ray drives are only necessary if you need to view movies as part of your work. Their usefulness as a data transport medium was squashed by the ubiquity of broadband Internet.

Do Your Really Need High-Powered Graphics?
Most business PCs come with integrated graphics, whether from Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. Integrated graphics are fine for business laptops, since you won't be playing 3D games on the system. (Installing games is the easiest way to make a system unstable, and you don't want your money-earning system to go down unnecessarily.) Most professionals who require discrete graphics will use them for specialized tasks like GPU acceleration in Photoshop, high-definition video creation like in Adobe Premiere, or 3D graphics visualization used in architectural drawings and CAD software. Mobile workstation-class laptops will usually come with some sort of discrete graphics, either for their 3D capabilities or to drive multiple monitors.