Photo credit: iStock

By Dave Warner, Systems Engineer at Cenetric

Research has shown that we waste up to 20% of our time on computers waiting for them to, well, compute. Slow, laggy systems take away from productivity and, eventually, team morale.

If your company’s laptops are running slow, it might be time to give your team a tech update. But what should you look for — and should everyone get the same one?

General considerations

When you’re purchasing a new laptop, first think about who’s going to be using it and what they’ll be doing with it.

Team members who travel a lot might want something slim and lightweight — perhaps even a hybrid/2-in-1 device instead of a laptop. At the same time, an engineer or accountant might want a system large enough for a built-in 10-key pad. Employees who work with a lot of data will need something powerful.

Technical specs to be aware of

When it comes to technical specifications, everyone on your team will need something different. Over- or under-buying the power and speed you need might end up costing you more in the long run, so it’s good to start with a baseline for each type of user.

• For a standard office user: A current-generation Intel i5 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 or 512 GB of storage on an M.2 solid state drive.
  
  
• For a technical worker: An Intel i7 processor, 16 or 32 GB of RAM, and 512 MB to 1 TB of storage. Look for a 15.6″ screen, as that’s the smallest you usually can go and still have a 10-key pad.
  
  
• For a salesperson: Something small and lightweight like a 12″ or 13″ Ultrabook with an i5 processor and 16 GB of RAM — or a tablet like a Microsoft Surface.
  
  
• For someone doing heavy-duty graphics/CAD work: As much processor power as possible, a dedicated graphics card, and likely 32-64 GB of RAM.

Photo credit: iStock

Brands we often recommend for our clients

When we’re buying for our own team or our clients, we almost always go with the Dell Latitude or the Lenovo Yoga. But, of course, specific uses call for other models.

For Dell, the Latitude line is our mainstay because it covers standard users, technical staff, and sales staff equally well. For high-end systems, we typically go with Precision Workstations. Executives and sales staff often find the XPS line to be a very good fit.

For Lenovo, the Thinkpad line is their flagship line-of-business brand and is similar to Dell’s higher-end Latitude models or the XPS line. The Thinkbook line is excellent for standard business users and comes in at a lower price point than the Thinkpad.

Cenetric is your vendor-neutral tech guide

Although Dell and Lenovo are some of our favorites, it’s important to remember that Cenetric is vendor-neutral and always gets our clients the right solution for them, not us.

While we have partnerships in the industry, we are free to use and recommend any systems we know will suit our clients best. We’ll never, ever push a solution because a partnership requires it.

Want help implementing new software or technology in your business? Whether you’re in Kansas City or beyond, Cenetric has the experience and availability to support your team. Tell us about your project and we’ll be in touch to get started right away.