Business Laptops Buyers Guide
When selecting a business notebook computer, most companies look beyond price and focus on features that are important to the mission-critical tasks of small-to-medium and even large companies. These include such things as the weight, physical size, communications capabilities and the power and speed of the system’s CPU. Durability is also important since many of these systems will be used by a mobile workforce and have to endure the bumps and bruises of business travel.
In terms of weight and the general form factor, it is best to find a system that balances the features and power you need with the overall heft of the system. Most business users will opt for a smaller LCD screen and a thinner form factor over a larger and more bulky multimedia system. Ideally, “road warriors” want the weight of their laptops to be about five pounds or less. Such safeguards as self-parking hard disks or SSDs are also desirable to protect business data an against minor bumps or drops that cause damage.
In general, the higher the storage drive capacity the better, especially since more business users are dealing with multimedia-rich files and large spreadsheets. A flash-based solid state drive is useful, since there are no moving mechanical parts, but a better and more flexible option might be a traditional or hybrid hard drive. Traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) are also much less expensive and can easily be swapped out, if necessary.
Many business notebooks have built-in security features, or even incorporate a GPS function to track stolen or misplaced laptops. By far one of the more important features, however, is the system’s communications capabilities, which should include a built-in Ethernet port for wired connectivity, and support for multiple wireless technologies, including 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, a cellular modem and Bluetooth short-range connectivity.
Recent Business Laptops Reviews
Review
Dell XPS 11 Review: Flexible or Flailing?
The 360-degree hinged Dell XPS 11 2-in-1 laptop/tablet offers a solid Windows 8.1 experience in both modes and offers good connectivity, but will its odd keyboard make it fall flat?[...] Read full article
Review
HP EliteBook 850 Review
This premium 15.6-inch business-oriented notebook incorporates state-of-the-art technology into an 0.8-inch thin chassis with very little not to like - here's our take. Read full article
HP Review
HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation Review
HP reinvents its mobile workstation notebook line with the HP ZBook 17. The device offers strong performance and ample connectivity, but is it enough to justify the steep price?[...] Read full article
Lenovo Review
Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Ultrabook Review
Lenovo brings affordable thin and light mobility to the business sector with the 14" ThinkPad S431. This Ultrabook features a 1600x900 touch display and excellent ergonomics. Read full article
Laptop
Lenovo ThinkPad T431s
Equipped with a 1.9 GHz third generation Intel i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD and Intel HD Graphics the Lenovo ThinkPad T431s offers solid performance capable of handling[...] Read full article
Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
The ultraportable form factor of the Yoga 11 and the stronger performance levels of the Yoga 13 collide in the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S. Lenovo looks to make its 11-inch[...] Read full article
Laptop
HP EliteBook Revolve 810
Equipped with a 1.9 GHz Intel Core i5-3437U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB mSATA SSD the HP EliteBook Revolve 810 offers a strong level of performance for a[...] Read full article
Laptop
HP Elitebook 2570p
The 12.5-inch 2570p is an evolutionary update to the 2560p designed for traveling business professionals. The 2570p was the smallest full-featured notebook in the EliteBook family (only bested by the[...] Read full article
Lenovo Review
Lenovo ThinkPad T431s Review
The Lenovo ThinkPad T431s trims the fat to offer an incredibly portable form factor with middling specs. Keep reading to see what is good and bad about this laptop. Read full article
HP Review
HP EliteBook 2570p Review
This 12-inch business laptop isn't the newest or sexiest Windows PC, but the 2570p is mighty appealing to IT pros looking for a relatively rugged solution for employees. Read full article
Dell XPS 11 Review: Flexible or Flailing?
The 360-degree hinged Dell XPS 11 2-in-1 laptop/tablet offers a solid Windows 8.1 experience in both modes and offers good connectivity, but will its odd keyboard make it fall flat?[...] Read full article
HP EliteBook 850 Review
This premium 15.6-inch business-oriented notebook incorporates state-of-the-art technology into an 0.8-inch thin chassis with very little not to like - here's our take. Read full article
HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation Review
HP reinvents its mobile workstation notebook line with the HP ZBook 17. The device offers strong performance and ample connectivity, but is it enough to justify the steep price?[...] Read full article
Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Ultrabook Review
Lenovo brings affordable thin and light mobility to the business sector with the 14" ThinkPad S431. This Ultrabook features a 1600x900 touch display and excellent ergonomics. Read full article
Lenovo ThinkPad T431s
Equipped with a 1.9 GHz third generation Intel i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD and Intel HD Graphics the Lenovo ThinkPad T431s offers solid performance capable of handling[...] Read full article
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
The ultraportable form factor of the Yoga 11 and the stronger performance levels of the Yoga 13 collide in the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S. Lenovo looks to make its 11-inch[...] Read full article
HP EliteBook Revolve 810
Equipped with a 1.9 GHz Intel Core i5-3437U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB mSATA SSD the HP EliteBook Revolve 810 offers a strong level of performance for a[...] Read full article
HP Elitebook 2570p
The 12.5-inch 2570p is an evolutionary update to the 2560p designed for traveling business professionals. The 2570p was the smallest full-featured notebook in the EliteBook family (only bested by the[...] Read full article
Lenovo ThinkPad T431s Review
The Lenovo ThinkPad T431s trims the fat to offer an incredibly portable form factor with middling specs. Keep reading to see what is good and bad about this laptop. Read full article
HP EliteBook 2570p Review
This 12-inch business laptop isn't the newest or sexiest Windows PC, but the 2570p is mighty appealing to IT pros looking for a relatively rugged solution for employees. Read full article