Buying laptops for your business: Step 3 Choosing a laptop design.

Step 3 in choosing new laptops for your business is to consider the design. Here’s our guide about the many variations available in laptop design and function and how best to choose the right one.

Laptop design isn’t about colour or finish

By choosing a laptop design that’s best for you and your team, we don’t mean just choosing its colour, or whether it should have a matt or glossy finish. Differently designed laptops function differently and offer certain advantages and ease of use, depending on how you work.

The best way to choose your laptop design is to consider the work you and your team do.

Work through these questions and you’ll get a much better idea of what’s available and how to choose what you need.

Do you need a traditional or hybrid laptop?

Traditional laptops are, as you would expect, those that open on a hinge at one side, just like the millions of laptops you see people using every day.

Hybrid laptops are anything outside of the traditional model, are sometimes called convertible laptops, or two-in-ones, and can work as a standalone tablet device.

With a hybrid laptop, the screens either detach from the keyboard or have a 180-degree movement so it can be folded and used as tablet.

Consider whether you or your team spend time travelling or need the ability to use a tablet with a touchscreen and a laptop for typing on.

Cost wise? You’ll need to increase your budget for a hybrid model of laptop or the same specification.

Do you need a comfortable keyboard?

Don’t discount the importance of a comfortable keyboard. If possible, always try a keyboard out before you buy. It doesn’t matter if the laptop has an amazing screen or other desirable factor, if the keyboard is not comfortable it can be a significant barrier to productivity.

Small keyboards can be uncomfortable to type on so make sure it’s right from the start for your purposes and the hours, or not, you spend typing.

Yes, you can always use a separate keyboard, but this is not ideal when you can get an optimum keyboard from the start.

How much travelling do you need to do with your laptop?

Portability might be a concern, or it may not. It depends how much you travel with your laptop and how much you use it while travelling. Dimensions and weight may need to come higher up the list of non-negotiables than size of keyboard and screen.

You and your team may spend many hours travelling and need highly portable devices. If so, check that the laptop will support however many ports you require and has your required battery life.

Do you really need a touchscreen or stylus?

This cool add-on will also add cost, weight and battery life, so think carefully first before deciding if you really need a touchscreen and stylus or if it’s just a nice to have.

Does your laptop need to be rugged?

This is an easy yes/no question to answer. And most businesses will not need rugged laptops. But, if you or members of your team work in remote, rural or semi-outdoor conditions, you may need your laptop/s to be rugged. Public service personnel, such as police and the fire service, would use rugged, highly resilient laptops.

If you work in agriculture, fishing or construction, and are carrying your laptop around with you in non-office conditions you will also need a rugged laptop. They often come with accessories unmatched by mainstream laptops, for example, vehicle battery pack and mounts. Typically, rugged laptops will be waterproof, drop-proof and useable even with gloves on.

You should be well on your way to refining your choice of laptop now.

From Step 1, Setting a budget, to Step 2, Choosing an operating system, catch up on the series designed to help you easily and quickly, choose the right laptops for your business, from the millions on the market.

Next in the series of Buying laptops for your business: Step 4 Choosing the technical spec.

Need help choosing your laptops? Get in touch with our tech team who will be glad to advise you.

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