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Question from Janessa: My company allots every employee $1000 every 2 years to buy a new laptop, and I have until January 28 to pick one out and put in the request for it.
I’ve checked out some laptops online and I’m really confused about what I should buy. Even though the company is paying for it, this laptop will be mine to keep. The problem is there are so many to choose from!
Can you point me in the right direction?
I’ll mainly be using it to work on Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, but I’ll also be doing a lot of research using Google Chrome.
Every now and then I might want to edit a picture or two but that isn’t a major consideration. I DO NOT use my computers for playing games so that isn’t a consideration at all.
Could you could recommend a couple of specific models for me to consider? Like I said, I’m at a total loss.
One more thing: I’d like to spend as much of the $1,000 as possible because I won’t get to pocket the savings if the laptop costs less than that amount. In fact, I wouldn’t mind adding a few bucks from my own pocket to get a really good laptop if I need to.
Rick’s answer: You’re pretty lucky, Janessa. Most companies that supply computers for their employees to use retain ownership of the machines and severely restrict what they can do with them. Your company seems to be quite generous.
Given the tasks you described above, I recommend choosing a laptop with a really fast CPU and plenty of RAM and SSD storage space.
You’ll be able to add more RAM and/or a bigger SSD later on if needed, but you’ll have to decide on a CPU from the get-go.
You didn’t mention a specific brand that you prefer, but with $1000 to spend you’ll end up with a really good machine regardless of your choice.
As requested, here are a couple of options for you to consider:
1 – This ASUS Vivobook K3704VA-DS96 17X Laptop comes with a powerful Intel i9 CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a speedy 1TB SSD.
As you can see, this machine has plenty of RAM and SSD storage space for both data and program storage.
It also has a 17″ screen which is a really good size for a work laptop.
Windows 11 Home comes pre-installed.
As you can see, this machine packs offers plenty of power and style for a price that’s fairly close to the aforementioned $1000, but you will need to add just a few bucks as you mentioned.
2 – This Dell 16 Laptop is comparable to the ASUS mentioned above, but it comes with a very capable Intel core i7 CPU in stead of the i9 as well as a slightly smaller 16″ screen.
However, it also comes with 32GB of high-speed DDR5 RAM and 1TB of super-fast SD storage, making it quite easily capable of handling the tasks you mentioned.
The Windows 11 Pro is a step up from the Windows 11 Home on the ASUS but that isn’t really a big deal since this will be your personal machine.
Bottom line: Those are my recommendations, Janessa. I truly believe that either of these laptops would do a fine job for you.
That being said, I believe the ASUS would be an overall better choice since it comes with a faster CPU and a larger screen. Even though it comes with less RAM, you’re likely to find that 16GB is plenty (you can always add more later if you ever feel the need to do so).