Best Laptops For IT Professionals

aspects Having to choose a reliable laptop for your work can be a bit complicated. You have to consider all the requirements to get the best performance out of it. Having the best laptop means having a laptop that is durable, powerful, and has a solid storage capacity. Moreover, if the laptop is under your budget that will give you a plus point therefore looking for a laptop at a reasonable price will also be one of your priorities.

There are a ton of devices in the market that you could consider the best laptops for IT professionals as they will provide you with an appreciable experience at a satisfactory price. Although, to get the right device you will have to keep your eyes open and pick the right one according to your needs.

Not every laptop will suit your needs and will not provide you with the features and experience you want. As an IT professional you will need SSD storage as well as professional-level Windows and a smooth performance preventing the laptop from lagging even under the high pressure of work.

Furthermore, consider a powerful processor to make the overall performance sleek, and considering that you are looking for a professional laptop going for Intel Core i7 to i9 will be your best option. Anything less will get the job done as well but the performance will not be relatively the same.

Lastly, look for RAM between 8GB to 16 GB minimum, and go for more if you have the budget. These are the most reliable options for you as they will provide you with enough space to store all the files and documents and will still provide you with a smooth-running performance.

Best Laptops For IT Professionals

GETAC B360

SPECIFICATION:

• WEIGHT: 5.1 pounds
• BATTERY: 12 hours
• STORAGE: 512 GB (upgradeable)
• RAM: 8GB (upgradeable)
• DISPLAY: 13.3 inches
• PROCESSOR: 10^th generation Intel Core

BODY

Getac B360 is not like other laptops we use for our daily needs. It is a rugged device with more of a robotic mechanical look to it. The laptop weighs 5.1 pounds and looks like something straight from the Transformer movie to me. It is a pretty professional laptop and comes with a very durable body. It is a perfect device for law enforcement, and construction works. Due to its solid body type, it is perfect to be used under harsh conditions.

The laptop comes with a metallic top plate and thick plastic hinges. Moreover, the ports of the laptop are covered and the screws on the device are exposed which gives it that mechanical touch. The company assures that the device comes with military-grade durability, which makes it perfect for professions that need their devices secure and unable to be cracked open.

On the three sides of the laptop, you will find plastic covers that keep the laptop protected from liquid and dust, and at the top, you will find a carrying handle which makes it pretty convenient to carry around like a suitcase. Next to the carrying handle, you will also find some indicator lights, which indicate functions like power, battery, and connectivity. At the center of the hood, you will see the Getac logo.

DISPLAY, KEYBOARD, STYLUS, AND PORTS

It features a 13.3-inch display but the bezels surrounding it are quite big, too big compared to a ton of laptops out there. The display is touch-sensitive and features a sunlight-readable mode which allows the screen to appear vibrant and bright even in direct sunlight. At the top of the screen is the webcam, and the keyboard looks fine as well.

The keys have a comfortable key travel and are pretty clicky as well. The keyboard is backlit supportive as well but is not very bright therefore will help you a bit only in the dark. You will find the touchpad quite responsive as well and has an adequate size. At the bottom of the touchpad, you will find two mouse buttons which work fine as well.

Surprisingly, Getac B360 comes with a stylus as well. The slot for the stylus is located on the left side of the laptop. The stylus works pretty efficiently on the screen and is a pretty handy tool for touchscreen devices. At the top of the laptop, you will find three buttons one of which is the power button and the other two are special function keys which are referred to as Quick buttons as well.

The device also comes with a couple of ports well protected and covered. The ports include an SD card reader, a smart card reader, a port for SSD, an audio jack, a USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI port, a Serial port, a Kensington lock slot, and a power supply jack. All the ports present on the laptop are covered with thick plastic lids which keep them protected from dust and liquid. Nevertheless, the ports are easy to be accessed and are present in a decent quantity.

FEATURES

The first and foremost important thing when looking for a professional laptop is to look for an upgradeable laptop. This allows you to move to a better version of the device gradually when you could afford it. Getac B360 is an upgradeable laptop that adds one more point to this laptop.

The minimum RAM that you could get in this laptop is 8GB but you could always move up to 64GB whenever you find it convenient. Secondly, you will get the secondary storage of 128 GB minimum, but you can upgrade it to not one but two 1TB SSD which is pretty impressive and makes the laptop impressively efficient.

The laptop comes with a removable SSD port therefore it depends on you if you need the extra second SSD or not but it always comes in handy for professionals. When talking about the processor, guess what? It is upgradeable as well. You could get the least of Intel Core i7 and can move up top Intel Core i9.

However, if you are a professional and are looking for an efficient performance my advice is to not go below Intel Core i7 and the more the merrier. It features a Sunlight Readable mode which can be enabled through a button present above the keyboard. This comes in pretty handy for using the laptop outdoors or in bright lighting. 

PERFORMANCE

If everything above is not enough to convince you about its position in the list of the best laptops for IT professionals, let’s talk a bit about the performance it provides. Thanks to the impressive storage capacity and the powerful processor the laptop work pretty effortlessly and there is no chance that you will experience lagging in this device.

Even under an intense workload, the laptop works smoothly and will not give you any problems. You will find two upward-firing speakers on either side of the laptop, but the audio quality is not the best. The display of the laptop appears to be bright and vibrant. It uses integrated Intel UHD graphics, which works appreciably fine.

It features a battery life of 12 hours which is stunning and the laptop can go on without being charged for almost an entire day and that is if you are using the device nonstop. Although if you use the laptop for 2 to 4 hours daily, you could use it for 2 to 3 days without charging it, which is remarkable.

The battery life does reduce under intensive load. But the final battery time will not be disappointing either. Amazingly the webcam that the laptop features support 1080p resolution and the images appear to be quite adequate from it. Therefore, it is a reliable choice for online meetings as well.

Lastly, what comes to mind is that it being such a powerful device, it must get heated quite effortlessly. But that is not the case. It handles heat pretty impressively and does not get uncomfortable even on constant use. Considering everything Getac B360 is a complete package for you if you are a professional, no matter in which field you belong it will leave you satisfied.    

LENOVO X1-CARBON

SPECIFICATION:

• WEIGHT: 2.49 pounds
• BATTERY: 9 hours
• STORAGE: 128 GB SSD
• RAM: 8 GB
• DISPLAY: 14.0 inches
• PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7

BODY

Lenovo X1 Carbon is a lightweight, slim laptop having a weight of 2.49 pounds. It has quite a decent and sleek look to it and appears to be quite thin as well. Its slim body and adequately lightweight make it easy to carry around and travel with. Therefore if you move a lot this laptop will not become a burden for you.

Its chassis is made up of carbon fiber and magnesium and has a quite simple look to it. At the left top of the hood, you will find the ThinkPad logo along with the X1 carbon logo. It comes in a texture of smooth lines and black color only. X1- Carbon is 12 MIL-STD certified which means that the laptop can survive quite alright even in intense environmental conditions. That’s all you will see with the hood closed on this laptop.

 DISPLAY, KEYBOARD, TOUCHPAD, AND PORTS

The laptop features a display screen of 14.o inches and the bezels around it are adequately thin and will not come in your way. At the top of the display, you will find the webcam and above the keyboard, you will see upward-firing speakers. The display supports 1080p resolution. However, it is upgradeable and you can get a maximum of 4K resolution by paying extra.

Moreover, the laptop features a satisfactory keyboard that comes with adequate key travel and the keys appear to be sturdy and feel good to be typing on. You will find the red nipple in the middle of the keyboard and the touchpad is of a decent size as well. At the top of the touchpad, you will find two mouse buttons both have a bottom lining in red and the overall look looks quite decent.

Furthermore, the touchpad features Windows Precision drivers which enable it to execute several tasks. The tasks include pinch-to-zoom, and three-finger swipe to which the touchpad appears to be very responsive. Additionally, right next to the touchpad you will find the biometric fingerprint scanner. It provides you easy access to the laptop as well as makes the device more secure.

As usual, the laptop features a bunch of ports, which include two thunderbolts 3 ports, an Ethernet jack, two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI port, an audio jack, and a Kensington lock. Unfortunately, you will not find any SD card reader slot. Therefore, you will need an adapter if you need to convert videos and pictures from your SD card to your laptop.

FEATURES

Lenovo X1 Carbon is an upgradable laptop and you could always move up to a more efficient version whenever you have the budget for it. We have talked that you could upgrade its display resolution to 4K but apart from that. You could also upgrade its several configurations. Starting from the processor, you could get the minimum of Intel Core i5.

But it can be upgraded to Intel Core i7 for a more sleek performance. The minimum RAM that you can get is 8GB however the maximum that it offers is 16GB which is still not the best but better than 8GB. Lastly, talking about the storage capacity that it offers. You can get the least 128 GB SSD and move up to 1TB SSD. All you have to have is money and you could make this laptop perfect for a heavy dosage of daily professional work. 

PERFORMANCE

The laptop features a very decent storage capacity and could be used for quite a heavy workload but the RAM could have been better. However, the performance that it will provide will still be satisfied that there is not a high probability that the laptop will lag not until a constant heavy workload is applied to it.

It features the graphics of Intel UHD 620 and the display appears to be quite bright. The colors appear to be vibrant and well-saturated. Nevertheless, the 4K resolution panel will appear to you a bit glossy and is pretty reflective as well which can become irritating for some people.

When talking about the speakers that the laptop features you can’t expect a lot from them. Although they could fill an intermediate-sized room with the audio and the audio appears to be adequately punchy. Considering everything the laptop provides you with a battery life of 9 hours which is pretty reliable if you ask me.

You can use the laptop for a decent amount of time before having to recharge it. The battery does reduce under workload but will still remain acceptable to an extent. Unlike many other laptops, X1 Carbon comes with two webcams both next to each other at the top bezel. The first one is the IR cam and the other one is the non-IR cam with 720p.

Surprisingly, the non-IR version appears to be remarkably sharp and even captures the slightest details but the condition is to have good lighting. Unfortunately, the laptop can get relatively hot under an intense workload and can surpass the threshold point of 95 degrees. Except that it is quite an amazing laptop for professionals as well as daily use.

HUAWEI MATEBOOK 13

SPECIFICATION:

• WEIGHT: 2.87 pounds
• BATTERY: 9.6 hours
• STORAGE: 512 GB SSD
• RAM: 16 GB
• DISPLAY: 13 inches
• PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7

BODY                                 

Huawei MateBook 13 is a lightweight laptop having a weight of around 2.87 pounds. It comes in an aluminum body and provides you with the options of two colors which are Mystic Silver and Space grey. It has quite a decent and classy look to it with the Huawei logo at the center of the hood. The laptop is reliably slim and therefore can adjust in your backpack quite efficiently. Carrying it around with you as well will not be an issue. It looks somewhat like a minimalistic version of the MacBook as its metallic finish and colors are almost identical.

DISPLAY, KEYBOARD, TOUCHPAD, AND PORTS

The laptop comes with a touch-sensitive display of 13 inches and the bezels around it are reliably thin. At the bottom of the screen, you will see the Huawei logo and at the top, you will find the webcam. The display is pretty responsive and vibrant as well.

Matebook’s keyboard also looks like an almost replica of the Macbook laptop and has a decent key trip between the keys. The number pad is missing but the keys are pretty clicky and are satisfactory to type on. The touchpad has quite a decent size and appears to be responsive as well. At the top of the keyboard, you will find the power button and that is pretty much it.

It being such a thin laptop the availability of the ports is quite limited and you will not find a lot of port options on it. But the ports that the laptop features include two USB Type-C ports, and an audio jack and that’s pretty much it. The power button a the top of the keyboard also acts as a hidden fingerprint scanner. It makes the device more efficiently accessible to you as well as keeps it safe from others to access.     

FEATURES

As you are looking for the best laptops for IT professionals, it is important for a laptop to tick all the requirements to be called a professional device. And the storage capacity and the memory that it comes with are reliable for a device to be used professionally.

Huawei MateBook 13 comes with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD which gives you quite a smooth and sleek performance. The storage space is enough to store a decent amount of files and documents even the relatively big ones as well. Moreover, it features the powerful 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor which could have been better than i9 but it will still get the job done quite impressively.

These are all the specifications that the device offers and with all this, it does work quite effortlessly. You will not have to worry about the device lagging under most circumstances until and unless you are working on a very heavy work project. That is when the probability is that the device can get a little bit sluggish. 

PERFORMANCE

When talking about the performance let’s first start with its display quality. The display supports the 2K resolution and the images on it appear to be bright and fairly saturated. It comes with a combination of Intel UHD graphics and the Nvidia GeForce MX 150 GPU which makes the graphics look sharp and vibrant.

The audio quality of the laptop is pretty adequate as well as it can create audio that full fill a mid-size room quite decently. Moreover, it also features a Dolby Atmos app which can enable the audio to appear fuller and balanced. When talking about the webcam there isn’t really a lot to talk about.

It features a 0.9 MP webcam which provides you with rather grainy and blurry images. Therefore you should go for an external webcam if you really need to make a video call on this device. MateBook 13 comes with a battery life of 9.6 hours which is decent if you ask me. Even under greater load, the battery will reduce to somewhat 6 to 7 hours, which is still fine for you to work on before charging it.

Lastly, the laptop does get a little bit hot under pressure but nothing too uncomfortable. With that all being said it is quite an adequate device with a decent storage capacity that can be used by an IT professional, as well as an IT student without any problem. 

CONCLUSION

All the laptops mentioned above will work perfectly for you no matter which profession you belong to due to their ample storage capacity and powerful performance. The best one amongst all three is the Getac B360 with impressively durable built, maximum storage space compared to the other two, and stunning battery life.

It will be the best option to consider if you have to deal with a heavy workload often. Nevertheless, the other two will do appreciably find as well that’s why all of these three have made this list of best laptops for IT professionals. However, if you are a student and looking for more affordable options you could check out top-rated laptops for students.