How to choose a Business Notebook

Which laptop is best for business?

From the thousands of laptops currently available on the market it’s difficult to know which one to choose.  Picking the wrong one can be a costly mistake and if you are buying for business use, particularly if the laptop needs to join a network, then there are extra considerations to take in to account.

Key Decisions 

• Which processor is right for me?
• How much memory will I need?
• How long does the battery need to last?
• Which operating system should I choose?
• 32 or 64bit?
• Do I need Windows XP mode?
• How light does the notebook need to be?
• What screen size do I need?
• Do I need dedicated graphics? 

We aim to answer some of these questions below but if you need free one-to-one advice just pop in to any branch of Micro Plus for free advice or give us a call on 01691 670960 or click here to send us an email.

Operating System

Choosing the wrong operating system can be an expensive mistake.  If the laptop is for business then we strongly recommend Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate – if it is going to be connected to a network then choosing one of these is a must – avoid Windows 7 Home editions.  If you are planning to run specific software then you need to know if it will run on a 32bit or 64bit platform.  If you need 4GB or more then Windows needs to be 64bit.  If you have already bought a laptop and have found it’s not up to the job or is running the wrong operating system then give us a call – we can help.  We provide and install Windows Professional operating systems and upgrades including the Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade which will take a Windows 7 Home Premium computer up to Win 7 Professional.  

Ports

Do you plan to use your laptop with an external monitor or a projector?  If so you need to make sure the one you choose has a suitable VGA, DVI or HDMI port and that the graphics controller and software will support an external monitor.  Also decide how many USB ports you will need.  Will you need USB3 or will USB2 do?  If you need to connect the laptop to legacy hardware that uses a serial or parallel port then you will need to buy a suitable adapter. We can help with this and we stock several USB to Serial and Parallel adapters.

CPU (Processor)

It is the processor that does most of the work.  As the brain of your laptop, the CPU will determine its responsiveness and performance in completing the tasks you give it. If you're planning to run basic applications, use email and the internet then a Celeron (preferably Dual Core) should be adequate.  Basically, the more cores in your processor, the more calculations it can handle at once, making for better response times when you're running multiple applications. For anything more demanding and if your budget will cover it then a Dual Core Pentium or Intel Core i3 would be the way to go and if you are running multiple applications, graphics or design software, CAD, VMware (or any virtualization platform), SQL or other demanding programs the we would recommend a Core i5 or Core i7 CPU.  The CPU is not easily upgraded so make sure you pick the right one.  Give us a call if you need any advice.

Optical Drive

Most laptops will include a DVD ReWriter but these are becoming less and less important as more people use USB flash drives or online storage to backup or transfer files.  In fact, if weight is an important factor, then we would recommend considering a laptop without an internal DVD drive – you can always add an external USB DVD drive for around £30 if you need to install software from CD or DVD.  Generally laptops with long battery life don’t include a DVD drive.  If you want to watch movies on your laptop then it may be worth considering a model with a BluRay drive.

Weight and Screen Size

Weight and Screen Size are intrinsically linked – lighter laptops have smaller screens.  There is always a trade-off between laptop weight and screen size – decide what screen size you need and work from there.  If you are happy using a 12 or 13 inch screen then you should be able to find a laptop with a longer battery life and is lighter in weight.  

RAM

For basic business applications 2GB RAM is usually enough.  If you want to run Microsoft Office we would recommend 3GB RAM as a preferred minimum but this is not essential.  The more simultaneous applications you are planning to run will also influence the amount of RAM you will need.  It is also worth noting that if you have a 32-bit operating system then only 3.2GB (approx) memory will be available to use, regardless of the amount installed.  If you need 4GB or more then you need to choose a 64-bit version of Windows.  If your laptop doesn’t have enough RAM then we can supply and fit a memory upgrade from around £30 – we keep the most popular upgrades in stock.

Wireless & Bluetooth

Look for a laptop with 802.11n wireless network adapter.  Most current models will support the wireless-n standard and should help with signal strength.  If you need to connect to a specific business network then you may need a laptop with one of the older wireless standards a, b or g.  If this is the case, we can help – give us a call.  We can source laptops with specific wireless standards and we also stock internal and external wireless upgrade kits for notebooks – we recently sourced and installed 450 wireless upgrade kits on behalf of a customer that needed a specific wireless standard.

Bluetooth can be very useful in a business laptop, particularly for connecting to mobile phones, headsets and some mice – but if your laptop hasn’t got Bluetooth support it is very easily rectified. We stock internal and external (micro-sized) Bluetooth wireless adapters from around £15.

Business Notebook with Dedicated Video Card

Some business applications, usually graphic design based or CAD software, will require a notebook with a higher performance video controller with dedicated memory. Even if you don’t need dedicated graphics at the outset, unless you're very sure that you won't ever be using your laptop for anything involving more than just the most minimal graphics and your budget will stretch to it then go for the graphics option.

Have you already bought a laptop? Is your laptop not suitable?

If you have already bought a laptop and have found it’s not up to the job or is running the wrong operating system then give us a call – we can help.  We provide and install Windows Professional operating systems and upgrades including the Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade which will take a Windows 7 Home Premium computer up to Win 7 Professional.  We also supply and install memory upgrades, hard drive upgrades (including solid state drives) and if the notebook is beyond upgrading then we also offer a part-exchange service whereby you can trade in your old laptop and get up to £100 off a new one.

Other considerations

There are lots of other scenarios and questions that may need to be looked at depending on your exact requirements...

• Mechanical or Solid State Hard Drive
• Multiple language options
• External mice
• Docking station or port replicator
• Matt or Gloss Screen
• LED or LCD technology
• Numeric Keypad
• Multitouch Keypad
• Touchscreen

Pop in to any branch of Micro Plus in Oswestry, Shropshire or Wrexham, North Wales for free advice or give us a call on 01691 670960 or click here to send us an email about laptops for business.

We have access to a huge range of laptops from all of the major manufacturers including Dell, Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo and Sony.  We are not tied to any particular make and we will give you honest, impartial advice and make sure you get the best deal. We regularly supply and maintain computer equipment in Oswestry, Wrexham, Chester, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Wem, Telford and throughout Shropshire, Cheshire, Mid Wales and North Wales.

You can see our full range of laptops online here.