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Find the Best Business Laptop

In and out of meetings, conferences and cubicles calls for a special kind of laptop - we are of course talking about the ultimate business laptop. A portable little thing, requiring little of your time for maintenance and perfect to bring and set up at meetings and business trips. Below you'll find all preferable laptop features that you need to look for when buying a notebook for work. Here you will also find our laptop recommendations.

Recommended Business Laptops

Key Features for business laptops

Size - retain portability and keep the size to a 15 inch maximum. Simplicity - keep it clean, with no unnecessary programs or other RAM and CPU-consuming features. Fast processor - make sure the processor is fast enough to handle multitasking. Long battery life - during business trips, meetings or conferences, being able to work without an outlet for hours might be important.

Size

The size of the business laptop is important, in terms of storage capabilities as well as screen size and weight. The hard drive should be able to store your documents, spreadsheets and presentations with a remaining margin of at least a few GB's. However, the aforementioned types of files are usually small, so you don’t necessarily need the largest hard drive. Besides, by keeping backups and dated files stored on an external hard drive you will be able to save additional space. Keep your work laptop free from unnecessary bloat and it will run longer and faster.

Screen

Regarding screen size it all comes down to how you will use the laptop. If you are constantly on the road or off to meetings, the more portable a laptop is the better. A 12-inch laptop weighs little, is easily transported and can be connected to external projectors and monitors if greater resolution is needed. On the other hand, if you always keep it in your office or cubicle, there isn’t much of a reason to get an ultraportable laptop – they’re quite expensive and don’t provide as much screen real estate.

CPU, Memory and Graphics

A good business laptop should be fast and efficient. Dual core processors like Pentium Dual Core, Core 2 Duo or AMDs Turion X2 will guarantee decent processor speed. With 2 GB or more RAM you will be able to multitask with little limitation. As far as the graphics card go, you will probably be fine with integrated graphics such as Intel’s GMA950, X3100, or 4500MHD. With these chips you won’t have gaming or high-end graphics capability, but they cost much less.

Connectivity

Both Wi-Fi and Ethernet are invaluable features concerning connectivity in a business laptop, and you’d have trouble finding a laptop without it nowadays. However, you might also have some use for Bluetooth if you want to sync data with a smartphone. At least 3-4 USB ports is also a good guideline if you want to avoid using a hub for connecting external peripherals.

Accessories

As we have stated above, portability, performance and durability are important in a business laptop. When you use it for hours a day, an external and ergonomically correct keyboard/mouse kit might also come in handy to avoid repetitive strain injury. Also consider using a docking station if the option is available. That way you don’t have to connect and disconnect 6-8 cables each time you move the computer.

Recommended:

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    Although it looks completely different (apart from its measures,) the Lenovo X300 is a direct competitor to the MacBook Air; it's a 13.3" super-slim, business oriented laptop that fits into a standard size interoffice envelope. Read more

  2. Review by

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    A healthy refresh to the previous generation X61 series, the Thinkpad X200 is the business professionals dream for mobile computing. Read more

  3. Review by

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    The VAIO Z series is one of Sony's premium ultraportable series, and is priced accordingly. Like most VAIOs it comes with a little extra, such as a high-resolution 'X-BRITE' LED-lit screen, a Blu-Ray player and dedicated graphics. Read more

  4. Review by

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    The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is well rounded ultraportable laptop that not only looks good but packs enough power to handle every business related project. However, you may have to forgive some of the ruggedness found in the ThinkPad line for looks. Read more

  5. Review by

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    EliteBook is HP's premium business laptop series, which incorporates laptops with 12, 14, and 15-inch screen sizes. The 6930p is HP's 'Balanced Mobility' 14-inch model based on the Centrino 2 platform and customizable with an ATI dedicated graphics card. Read more

  6. Review by

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    Fujitsu's Lifebook is a highly diverse series of business-oriented laptops ranging from tiny 8.9" ultraportables up to more traditional models like the one we're looking at today. The Fujitsu Lifebook 8410 is quite large and heavy for a business laptop with its 15.4-inch frame and 6 pounds (2.7 kg), so those who travel a lot might want to opt for one of the smaller models in the Lifebook lineup. That being said, the 8410 is quite pleasing to the eye with a nice-looking aluminum LCD cover and an overall build that looks solid. Read more

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