Is your laptop powerful enough to support your business? The trusty old warrior you’ve being using to surf the Web, check social media and play solitaire may not have the power or functionality you need to manage all the critical tasks necessary to keep your business afloat. And while gaming, video and audio are great features, they don’t necessarily matter when it comes to assessing your inventory and taking care of payroll.
When it comes to a business laptop, durability, portability, processing speed and battery life are more important than other bells and whistles.
If you are considering an innovative upgrade for 2016—and looking to take advantage of all the holiday sales going on right now—consider these top-rated options for business laptops.
Lenovo ThinkPad T450s
This 14-inch laptop is landing at the top of many lists due to its long battery life, sharp screen, comfortable keyboard, and better than average connectivity. It boasts a speedy Intel fifth-generation Core i5 CPU, and offers the longest battery life—at 15 hours—of the other top-reviewed options.
What makes it stand out most however, is its durability. It passed the MIL-SPEC tests for extreme temperature, humidity, vibration, sand, shocks and fungus. The keyboard even has a drain to help protect against coffee spills. If you type a great deal, the concave keys make these laptops ultra-comfortable to use. Prices start around $800.
Dell Latitude 14 7000 Series
Featuring Core i5 power and a 14-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-resolution LCD screen. While not as long-lasting as the Lenovo, it does provide 10+ hours of battery life. It’s definitely meant to take some abuse, passing the MIL-SPEC rating to ensure it can handle dampness, dust, vibrations and extreme temperatures.
It also offers a wide touchpad and integrated pointing stick technology. Many laptops have eliminated dual pointing devices, a great feature if you like to use a pointing stick as your mouse. It doesn’t come standard, but for an additional $168 you can configure the laptop with a touch screen. Prices start at around $1300.
Apple Macbook Pro
For Mac lovers out there, the Macbook Pro doesn’t disappoint. It features the fifth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, and offers more than 11 hours of battery life. The 13.3-inch screen offers 2,560-by-1,600-resolution and a brilliant Retina Display.
The Macbook Pro also comes with a Force Touch trackpad that replaces the traditional mechanical clicking mechanism found on most laptops. Plus it offers top connectivity options, including an HDMI port, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, an SDXC card reader, and two ultra-fast USB 3.0 ports. It also comes loaded with iWork software, making it easy to create, edit and share documents and iLife software. Prices start around $1300.
Acer TravelMate P645-SG-79QV
For those who are always on the road, this light laptop is ultraportable—weighing in at only 3.31 lbs.—but is also extremely sturdy with a magnesium-aluminum alloy and carbon-fiber construction. While it isn’t MIL-SPEC rated, it does offer Acer's Disk Anti-Shock Protection which protects against some shock and drops. The 14-inch display offers 1,920-by-1,080 resolution and comes in a matte finish to keep reflections and glare down.
It also offers a backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, Intel Core i7-5500U processor and Nvidia GeForce 840M graphics. Prices start around $1300.
HP ZBook 15u G2
This mobile workstation offers all you need from a powerful laptop in a slim design. It comes with a 15.6-inch display with full HD 1,920-by-1,080 resolution and a matte finish to reduce glare. It’s also packed with an Intel Core i7-5600U processor and AMD FirePro 4170M graphics.
The chiclet-design spill-resistant keyboard has optional backlighting and comes with a pointing stick in the center of the keyboard, along with an image sensor touchpad for a dual-pointer design.
The HP has a lower battery life than the other top-rated options at around 6 hours, but considering its content—and media-creation abilities, it still offers plenty of battery life compared to other similar workstations on the market. Starting just under $1000.
If you’re on the market for a new laptop, start with these options first. While there are cheap options out there, you want to ensure the technology you choose has the power and durability to support your business for at least the next three years.