Portable to work

I'm not reinventing the wheel when I say there are thousands of jobs and trades. Many of them involve moving around, loading or unloading, or carrying tapas to diners' tables, but there are also other jobs where we'll be doing most of our time. I'm talking about those jobs where we'll depend on a laptop to work , and the best computer will depend on the task we'll be performing.

There are many types of work that can be done on a computer. Some simply involve writing text, for which almost any computer will do, but others require more powerful components, such as those for multimedia editing. In this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know to choose the best laptop for work , including information for students, which is a different kind of work altogether.

Best Laptops to Work

Apple MacBook Pro

The Apple MacBook Pro is one of the most popular laptops for work among many users. It's a machine with an M3 Pro or Max processor that runs the company's macOS operating system flawlessly, aided by 18GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in the base model, as well as a 16.2-inch Liquid Retin XDR display.

Apple's displays have been among the best since the beginning, and this MacBook boasts a Retina display where everything is perfectly visible without oversaturated colors that would strain your eyes. Its touchpad is one of the best on the market, a multi-touch Force Touch trackpad that, in addition to the most common gestures, also allows you to use extra pressure to launch special options.

The most basic MacBook Pro is currently priced at around €2100 , which isn't much considering everything it has to offer.

Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 13 is a laptop whose lightness is one of its strongest points. It features a 13.4-inch screen and weighs just 1.2 kg , making it easy to move around. The screen is Full HD (1920x1080), ensuring good image quality. Despite its light weight, it offers more than enough battery life for a full day of use.

The operating system, Windows 11, will be powered by an i5 processor and 16GB of RAM , which will allow us to perform tasks smoothly; they won't be quite enough if we're interested in multimedia editing.

Microsoft Surface Pro 9

The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is a laptop designed for all kinds of tasks, but it will likely perform best in those that require creativity. Like all Surface devices, it's a hybrid laptop with a touchscreen that can be used as a tablet and as a desktop computer, running Windows 11 in this case.

Inside, this tablet-laptop features an i5 or i7 processor, 8-16 GB of RAM , and an SSD hard drive, ranging from 256 GB to 1 TB in the entry-level model, ensuring that virtually everything you do will run smoothly. As a tablet, it boasts a good 13-inch screen (2736×1824) and a variety of sensors and components, including cameras (8MP main and 5MP selfie).

Given that it is an official Microsoft device, its price is somewhat surprising: currently, it is available for approximately €1500.

Lenovo Yoga Duet 7

If we want a laptop for work where we need the best possible image quality, then something like the Lenovo Yoga is what we're looking for. Its high-resolution screen is packed into a panel that's just under 14 inches (13.9″ to be exact). But beyond that, to handle the screen's resolution smoothly, they've also included very advanced internal components.

The processor included in this Yoga is the Intel i5, which ensures that, together with the 256GB SSD hard drive, everything will open in the blink of an eye. In addition, everything that we open will run seamlessly, thanks to the 8GB of RAM that have been mounted on this computer.

The price for which we can get this Lenovo Yoga is not low, but it is not as high as one would expect for everything it offers us.

Huawei MateBook D16

A good laptop for work, offering excellent value for money, is the Huawei MateBook D16. For around €1000, this laptop features an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD . It also boasts a large or standard 15.6-inch screen, providing ample workspace.

One of the points that makes this Huawei interesting is that it has the Huawei One Touch, which is a fingerprint sensor with which we can protect all our information with an extra security step without sacrificing comfort. .

How to choose the best laptop to work with

Autonomy

Initially, laptops weren't designed to be left away from a power outlet for long periods. Their battery life was rather limited, and their main advantage was portability; they could be left unplugged for a short time and then plugged into the next wall outlet. This has changed, and battery life is becoming increasingly important . One of the reasons, the simplest, is convenience.

Good battery life lets us forget about the charging cable for longer. Furthermore, and this depends on our work, it allows us to go longer without plugging it into a power outlet, which is important if charging for hours isn't an option. If our work prevents us from charging our laptop, we should consider buying one with longer battery life. But how long is good battery life? Generally speaking, good battery life is above 5 hours . If this is important to us, there are laptops that offer nearly 10 hours of battery life.

Reliability

Nobody likes being in the middle of a task and having to stop because something is wrong. This can happen more frequently in computing; anything can fail, so it's worth trying to limit how often we see these kinds of failures. Therefore, we need to look for equipment that offers good reliability, and to do this, we'll have to consider several factors, which, in my opinion, starts with the operating system.

It's always been said, and the blue screen of death is the best proof, that Windows is the least reliable of the three most popular operating systems. The most reliable system, considering that there are dozens of popular Linux distributions, is Apple's macOS. A good Linux distribution is also reliable, but you'd have to choose one with a large company behind it for that to be the case. For example, Ubuntu. Even so, Windows isn't as problematic as it was a few years ago, and its reliability can be improved: acquire a computer with mid-to-high-end components , such as an Intel i7 processor or an AMD Ryzen 7, 8GB of RAM, and an SSD. This will give you reliability and the benefits we explain in the next section.

Unlimited

The performance required in a laptop for work will depend on the tasks you intend to perform. As we've explained, a significant part of performance is related to the processor, but also to the SSD. When we talk about performance, we can also talk about speed, and for a laptop to be fast, we need to look for something with at least an Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor . If we opt for something less powerful, we'll end up with a machine that struggles to open any application.

On the other hand, the hard drive is also important to consider. SSDs offer faster read/write speeds, and choosing one with this type of modern drive will make everything quicker, including booting the operating system. RAM shouldn't significantly impact performance, but it's worth starting with 8GB if you want to be able to run multiple processes simultaneously without putting too much strain on the computer.

Stability

Stability and reliability go hand in hand. Reliability means that the software won't stop working. Stability also means that everything it does, it does well. Therefore, to achieve stability, we'll need to look for practically the same things we look for when seeking reliability, including a good operating system and components such as a good processor, ample RAM, and a good hard drive, like an SSD. We can also avoid buying a poor-quality hard drive that could cause everything to suffer.

If stability is our priority, it's also crucial to avoid using the latest versions of software , especially if those versions are in beta. A good example is LibreOffice: they typically offer a recommended version for production environments and another with all the latest features. The first has fewer features, but more maintenance releases have been issued, making it more stable and reliable. The more up-to-date version has the latest features, but also more potential issues. If stability is the priority, the first option should be chosen, and this applies to all software. Another example, on Linux-based systems, is choosing releases supported for several years, known as Long Term Support (LTS) versions.

Maintenance

A work computer needs to be a reliable workhorse, one that doesn't require wasting time. Time is money , so it's not worth buying something if you're going to spend a lot of time repairing it, and this applies to both hardware and software. If you want to avoid constantly formatting or reinstalling the operating system, a good option is to choose a computer that uses Windows 10, which, according to Microsoft, will be the last version of its operating system. But no, this doesn't mean they won't release new features; it simply means they will be released as updates, and this will be the case indefinitely. Furthermore, you can also enable automatic disk defragmentation by default, and if you install software from the Microsoft Store, the registry will remain cleaner.

Mobility

When we want to buy a laptop for work, we also need to consider how much we'll be moving it around . If we're going to work from home, we'll probably keep it between a table and the sofa most of the time. But if we're going to work outside the home, and in a different location each time or hour, it's worth buying something lighter. Laptops come in different sizes, and also in different weights.

If our job requires us to carry our laptop around frequently, a 15.6-inch laptop might not be the best option; we'd probably prefer a 13-inch laptop that weighs just over 1 kg. This will ensure good portability, but we'll see less content on the screen. There are also laptops with larger screens that weigh around 1.5 kg, but these are known as Ultrabooks and are somewhat more expensive. If we want a lightweight laptop, a slightly larger screen, and good battery life, then an Ultrabook is the right choice.

Operating System

The operating system you choose for a laptop for work depends on several factors. The first is what software you need . The vast majority of software is available for Windows, so, in general, Windows is a better operating system for work. However, it is the slowest; I think that's a given. Many professionals opt for a computer with macOS because it offers great compatibility with popular applications, as well as stability, speed, and reliability. The downside is that some apps won't be available for Apple's operating system.

There's also the option of Linux . It's less compatible than macOS and has far fewer popular applications than on Windows, but if you choose a good distribution, its stability, reliability, speed, and security are unmatched. Among Linux-based systems, we also have Android, specifically its Android-x86 fork, and Chrome OS, but these are two operating systems that I personally wouldn't recommend for a work laptop.

Definitely:

• Windows: maximum compatibility.
• macOS: balance, but there will be programs that we will not be able to execute.
• Linux: the best user experience if we can work with open source software.

Most frequent programs for those looking for a laptop to work with

Autocad

If you're looking for a laptop to work with AutoCAD, you'll want a good-sized screen, meaning at least 15 inches with a 1360x768 resolution (1920x1080 is recommended). A dedicated graphics card is also essential , as this software is quite demanding. While 4GB of RAM is sufficient, 8GB is recommended. Windows 7 or later is required.

Photoshop

If you're looking for a laptop to work with Photoshop, you don't necessarily need a very powerful one, but a 2GHz processor or faster and 2GB of RAM are recommended, although 8GB of RAM is also recommended if you plan on creating very demanding projects. Regarding the screen, while not mandatory, a 15-inch laptop is worthwhile because you'll be able to view more content, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or Quadro T1000 graphics card is also recommended. Windows 7 or later is required.

Office

If we're going to use a laptop to work with an office suite, the computer doesn't need to be very powerful. For Microsoft Office, a 1GHz processor, 2GB of RAM , and... not much else, is sufficient. Or so Microsoft says. Considering that we also have to run the operating system, I would recommend at least doubling those specifications. If we want to use Microsoft Office offline, Windows 7 or later, or macOS 10.8 or later, will be required. If we can work with other office suites, LibreOffice and other options are also available for Linux.

To work and play

Between work and play, the most demanding activity is gaming. No gaming laptop should use a processor lower than an Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7, 8GB of RAM , and a large SSD hard drive to store several demanding titles. In addition, it will also need a good graphics card, such as one from the renowned NVIDIA brands.

To work and study

Between work and study, work is the more demanding activity. If we want to study, most of what we'll be doing is consuming texts, which may include searching for them with an internet browser. On the other hand, work can require us to create documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, as well as perform some video and audio editing tasks. Therefore, depending on our work, the processor we should look for should be at least an Intel i5/AMD Ryzen 5 and 4GB of RAM. If we want to be on the safe side, it's worth getting something with 8GB of RAM and also including an SSD hard drive in the package.

SolidWorks

If you want to work with the latest version of Solidworks, your laptop needs a 3.3GHz processor or faster, at least 16GB of RAM , a dedicated graphics card, and Windows 7 or later. As for the screen, a 15.6-inch display with Full HD resolution (1920x1080) is recommended.

Lightroom

If you want a laptop to work with Lightroom, you don't need a high-end machine , but a large 15.6-inch screen is a plus. As for RAM, 4GB will work, but 12GB is recommended. To improve performance, a dedicated graphics card and a mid-to-high-end processor, such as an Intel i5/AMD Ryzen 5 or its higher-end counterparts (the "7" generation), are recommended.

Use virtual machines

To use virtual machines, it is recommended to use at least a computer with an Intel i7 processor or equivalent and 8GB of RAM . This is sufficient to run both the host and guest operating systems, but we should consider more powerful components if we want both operating systems to run simultaneously with good performance.