Best Laptop for Business and Personal Use 2020 Reviews – Top Laptops for Business

Laptops have really revolutionized the way we use computers thanks to the versatility that they offer when compared to desktops. In the past, before the emergence of laptops, working away from the office or home in a remote area was quite a challenging task due to the immobile nature of desktops. When laptops came, everything changed for the better. Today, thanks to laptop computers, we are able to handle even the most advanced tasks on the move.

Laptops have now simplified the experience of working on the go and made it quite easy and convenient. There are various types of laptops that are designed and suited for various types of work. We have gaming laptops, graphic design laptops, business laptops, and general personal use laptops.

In this guide, I’m going to talk to you more about the buying guide for laptops that are designed for business and personal use. Of course, I know you are aware of the importance of doing your due diligence of finding out more information about the various laptop options available before closing a deal to buy one. Doing this will help you to get the very best laptop for business and personal use.

It is no secret that choosing the right laptop for business and personal use for the first time can be quite a challenge for you. There are so many laptop brands out there that are constantly competing with each other to get customers to buy their products. In their attempts to lure customers, they usually put out lots of marketing information as a way to sway customers to buy from them. It is such a myriad of marketing information given by the various computer brands out there that can confuse you in making the right choice.

Fortunately, I have your back covered here in this article because I’m going to offer you all the necessary information you need to make an informed decision when buying your next laptop for business and personal use.

Top 5 Laptops for Business and Personal Use

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1. DELL XPS 15

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DELL’s XPS 15 is one of the best performing laptops manufactured by DELL and that in of itself is a token of its quality.

The laptop comes equipped with a 16GB RAM DDR4 type with 1 TB HDD. It uses a 4.5GHz i7 core processor with a memory speed of 2666Mhz. Its graphical capabilities are powered by the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4GB) which when packed with the 16 GB RAM allows it to be a quite powerful machine for your gaming needs. It has a total of 3 USB ports, two of type 3.0 and one of 2.0.

The device, however, isn’t perfect as some customers have reported issues related to the fan’s performance and many other customers have also reported issues regarding poor battery life.

The XPS15 runs on Windows 10 OS and with an additional price of 79$ comes equipped with Microsoft Office and Norton Anti-virus for an additional 27$. The base price of this machine is 1850$ for the model with 1TB SSD and 1500$ for the one with 256GB SSD. Regardless of the model you purchase, this remains a very solid choice despite some technical shortcomings.

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  • Thunderbolt 3.0
  • Fingerprint reader
  • SD Card reader
  • Touch screen

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  • Brand: DELL
  • Series: XPS
  • Dimensions: 9.3 X 14.1 X 0.7 inches
  • Screen size: 15.6 inches
  • Processor: 4.5 GHz Intel Core i7
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4 (expandable)
  • Graphics processor: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
  • VRAM: 4GB

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  • Lightweight
  • Great performance overall for gamers and creators alike
  • Great surround sound

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  • Battery life is poor.
  • Despite great overall performance some customers have reported issues concerning the laptop fan. The device heats up a lot after a considerable amount of time.

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2. LG Gram I7Z990

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LG’s Gram series is full of impressive installments and the I7Z990 is no exception. Billed at 1450$ it is one of the cheaper entries on this list but by no means does it lower price drag down its quality. 

The 17Z990 comes with a 17-inch screen and a 16:10 display with a maximum resolution 2560 X 1600 pixels making it visually serviceable. 

The device comes equipped with 16GB RAM DDR4 and an Intel Core i7 1.8GHz processor. The Graphics coprocessor is Intel HD Graphics 610 and the graphics card ram size is 16GB. 

Despite all these positive traits hogging the spotlight, there are a few negative ones. According to some customers, the speakers of this machine are very poor and it also has a bad SATA drive.

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  • Thunderbolt 3.0
  • DTS Headphone Port
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Touch screen

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  • Brand: LG
  • Series: Gram
  • Product Dimensions: 15 X 10.5 X 0.7 inches
  • Screen Size: 17 inches
  • Processor: 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4

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  • Lightweight
  • Overall good performance
  • Serviceable battery life

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  • Speakers are nothing to write home about.
  • Bad SATA drive

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3. Lenovo 11.6″ HD IPS Chromebook 2019

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Lenovo’s Chromebook is by far the smallest, lightest and cheapest entry on this list and this by no means is a dig at this fine product.

The 2019 Chromebook comes with a screen 11.6 inches in size with a 1366 X 768 HD resolution. It uses IPS technology (in-plane switching technology) which allows for wide viewing angles. It operates on the Google Chrome OS and averages a battery life of about 10 hours. It has 4GB RAM DDR3 which is the lowest on this list, a 64GB hard drive, and a MediaTek graphics processor. It is also equipped with a 720p camera. 

All this combined gives you a solid product coming at a very cheap price of 250$ that’s great for official use but that’s all it’s limited to.

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  • 10-point Multi-touch Screen

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  • Brand: Lenovo
  • Series: C330
  • Product dimensions: 8 X 11.4 X 0.8 inches
  • Screen size: 11.6 inches
  • Operating System: Google Chrome
  • Processor: MediaTek MT8173C
  • RAM: 4GB DDR3
  • Storage: 32/64 GB

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  • Lightweight and small in size making it very easy to carry around.
  • Cheap and fantastic for official use.

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  • Despite its cheap price, it’s not very versatile.

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4. Microsoft Surface Laptop 2

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Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 2 sets the bar very high for what a laptop can be. Billed at a range between 850-1300$, it is very affordable and is well worth the money. 

Its slick and elegant design at the surface followed with 8GB/16GB RAM and an 8th generation Intel Core i5/i7 processor at its center makes it a strong entry on this list. The screen size of 13.5 inches and invisible omnisonic speakers makes using this machine a pleasant experience. It’s thinner body allows it to be very easy to carry to work, school or anywhere. The machine also comes with a surface arc mouse and a surface pen which provides the user more ways to get productive.

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  • Touch screen
  • Stylus support

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  • Brand: Microsoft
  • Series: LQQ-00001
  • Product dimensions: 12.1 X 8.8 X 1 inches
  • Screen Size: 13.5 inches
  • Operating System: Windows 10 HOME
  • RAM: 8GB LPDDR3
  • Processor: 1.6GHz i5
  • Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB

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  • Slick and elegant design
  • Lightweight
  • Easy to carry
  • Great performance

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  • Low graphics processing.

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5. Apple MacBook Air

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Apple across the years has released products that don’t just set the bar for official use but are the bar. The MacBook is the rule as well. 

Boasting their most technologically advanced MacBook yet, it comes with a 13.3 inches high-resolution retina display which gives you 48% more colors than what a non-retina display would provide. It also uses the 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor and Intel UHD Graphics. People concerned about security features can breathe a sigh of relief as the MacBook Air comes equipped with Touch ID which allows your private info to stay private. It also features the Apple T2 Security chip which is basically doubling down on security in layman terms.

 It utilizes up to 16GB of memory, has up to 1TB of storage and is as light as 2.75lbs. To appease environmental enthusiasts, it’s also made out of 100% recycled aluminum. What’s not to love?

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  • Touch ID
  • Thunderbolt 3.0

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  • Brand: Apple
  • Series: MacBook
  • Display: 13.3 inches with IPS technology
  • Processor: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 617

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  • Lightweight
  • Great performance

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  • No USB/HDMI ports

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Laptop for Business and Personal Use: Buying Guide

Factors to consider when buying a business or personal laptop

Obviously, there are so many considerations that you need to look out for when shopping for a laptop that you’ll be using for business and personal purposes. Even though you might think that the considerations you have to make when buying a laptop in general, there are certainly important factors to look out for when buying a business laptop.

Resolution and the screen size

It is a good rule for you to choose a business laptop that has a wider screen that will provide you with a good resolution. The minimum resolution for a good business laptop is usually rated at 1920 × 1080. It is never a good idea to go for a screen size that is smaller than a 15-inch screen laptop.

Quality keyboard

The keyboard is one of those computer parts that most laptop brands usually compromise in their attempts to make the devices lighter, smaller, and versatile. Well, when shopping for a business laptop that you probably will be using for your personal use, you need to look at the quality of its keyboard. A quality keyboard lets you work for extended periods of time on your laptop without hurting your fingers and straining your wrists.

Processor

A computer for general use needs to have a dual-core processor with integrated graphics will just suffice for you. However, if you need a laptop that you will be used to do heavy lifting work which includes; video editing, 3D design & modeling, or any other typical demanding work, then you would definitely need a machine with a quad-core processor that has a graphics card. You can check this guide for help choosing a laptop processor.

Budget

The best way to go about looking for your next laptop for business or personal use is to set a clear budget for the laptop you want. Not having a clear budget may make you end up spending a lot more than you actually wanted to spend. You don’t need to go for the top-of-line laptop in order to get a gadget that you will use to get your task done. All that is important is something that will perfectly suit your bottom line for wanting to have a laptop.

You would be better off considering the purposes for which you will be using a laptop rather than its sleekness. If you are going to need to perform high-tech tasks such as development or graphics design then it is perfect to choose one that can meet such requirements. On the contrary, if your business will involve performing just support staff work then an entry-level laptop would still do the work.

Here below is a guide that will help you to strike a balance between the cost of a laptop and quality based on the budget range:

Those priced $300 and below – within the budget of $300 and below, you should be able to find low-end laptops running on Chromebook and Windows operating systems. If you are going to be using your laptop for business, then this budget range wouldn’t be ideal. They usually have a much build quality, limited storage space, and even a slow performance speed.

$350 to 599 – for this price range you will only find mediocre Windows laptops but still find some good Chromebook laptops for business. The reason why you will find Chromebooks at this price range is that they have a low storage space compared to Windows in this price range. This allows them to stay at a low price tag without compromising the build and display quality. You can buy a laptop within this price range if most of the tasks you will handle involve basic things such as Microsoft Office, social media posting, and web browsing. Laptops in this price range may also be adequate for you if your duties will mainly involve limited support staff tasks such as a support assistant, reception, etc.

$600 to 900 – laptops that fall within this price tag are well suited for you if your work will involve more professional business functions. With a laptop in this price range, you will have all the memory and storage as well as a powerful processor that will be able to handle business multitasking work perfectly well. A work laptop that falls within this price range comes with business-class security features which may include things such as fingerprint scanners for added security. You will also get a laptop that has a battery with long life, good display, and a comfortable keyboard.

$1,000 and above – Well, laptops that are priced at $1,000 and above are considered expensive and will provide you with the most advanced features that you need. With this price range, you will get a machine with amazingly faster processor speeds. You will also realize that laptops are $1,000 feature sleeker designs. If your business involves more of developer work, design work, programming then it is advisable for you to buy laptops in this price range.

Operating System

This is the next important factor that you will have to take into account when shopping for the next laptop that you will be used for business. There are three major operating systems that power laptops and desktops alike currently. It is important for you to know the differences between the three operating systems.

Even though there are three major operating systems for laptops which I’m going to talk more about in detail below, I will strongly advise you to choose Windows. As things stand now, it is still the business standard operating system in the world.

Here are the 3 major operating systems:

Windows 10 OS:

As I have already mentioned for you above, Windows still remains as the standard for the work laptop operating system. If you choose Windows, you will have the opportunity to choose a variety of laptops that are powered by them.

Mac OS :

Laptops that are powered by Apple OS X are usually very expensive but they also offer amazing features. If you are a fan of Apple devices then you will certainly go for Apple laptops and pay more to get your laptop.

It would be a perfect choice for you if you are a creative professional who prefers high-quality performance. It would offer you the best performance when working with a program like Dreamweaver, Avid or Maya.

Chrome OS:

This operating was brought about by Google and is the latest entrant in the market. Laptops that run the Chrome OS are generally lower priced because the operating system was essentially created for students. This is not to mean that you can’t get a more business-focused laptop that runs on the OS. It is a perfect choice for you if you prefer storing much of your work in the cloud.

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