

A wide range of ports: We prefer systems with a mix of old and new ports for maximum flexibility.Higher-resolution, 4K screens are sometimes available on these laptops, but such screens eat into battery life without adding much functional benefit for most people. Most business laptops have 1080p screens that keep text and images sharp, with lots of room to fit more information, and use IPS panels (rather than TN panels) to improve color accuracy and viewing angles a handful have taller screens with a 1920×1280 resolution, which are just as sharp but provide more vertical pixels. A 14-inch IPS screen: We prefer 14-inch business laptops because they’re more pleasant for editing large documents or spreadsheets than 13-inch laptops, yet they’re still smaller and lighter than 15-inch laptops.We prefer Microsoft Precision Touchpads because they’re accurate and compatible with Windows 11’s multitouch trackpad gestures. A great trackpad or pointing device: Though business laptops should be sturdy, most wouldn’t be able to survive anyone throwing them at a wall because of trackpad frustrations.A great keyboard: Business laptops are the quintessential document and spreadsheet devices, so their keys and keyboard layouts should be comfortable to use over long periods.If you need a faster processor or a dedicated GPU for gaming, photo and video editing, or other work, check out our gaming laptop and pro laptop guides. Performance: A good laptop for most people needs to have at least 8 GB of memory, a 256 GB or larger SSD, and a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor or a 4000- or 5000-series AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 processor.
