Laptop Guide: Why Business Grade Laptops can be Better

When you go to buy a laptop from one of the big manufacturers such as Dell, HP or Lenovo the company websites go out of the way to steer you to either the “Home” or “Business” section of the site depending on what kind of buyer you are. So if you’re buying a computer for your home, say a laptop that will sit on a desk near the kitchen, should you just ignore the business laptop offerings from each company? Not at all, and many smart buyers in

fact skip right to the business notebook lineup for any purchase they make simply because there are a few facts about business laptops that can make them more desirable than consumer targeted laptops.

Better Build Quality

90% of the time business laptops are going to have a more sturdy build than consumer grade laptops. Business laptops often will be made of magnesium alloy, aluminum or carbon fiber. Hinges are often made of metal to withstand the frequent opening and closing business users dish out to their laptops. Any IT manager buying laptops will want them to handle the rough use employees often give them so plastic hinges and bodies just won’t cut it. Lenovo ThinkPads, Dell Latitudes and HP EliteBooks are well known to be able to take falls, drops and knocks and not be affected.

To put some numbers around it, according to a PCWorld survey of consumer and business customers, HP (the largest laptop manufacturer in the U.S.) consumer laptop buyers reported 11.4 percent of the time within 3-years there was a problem with a core component, such as the CPU, RAM, or hard drive. Business customers reported only 7.2 percent failure rate within three years.

Better Durability Testing

This goes hand-in-hand with having better build quality, business notebooks are tested more rigorously during the design and engineering phase. As an example, see this article regarding howHP tests their EliteBook lineup of laptops. Or how about watching a video to see how Lenovo tests the hinges of their laptops:

The testing process is extensive, especially for premium business laptops such as the ThinkPad and EliteBook series.  If test engineers are able to break the laptop, which is their very goal, the designers have to go back and fix the root cause of breakage.  Test engineers do typical things such as drop and vibration tests but also go a step further by doing environmental testing such as subjecting a laptop to extremely salty air for several days just to check for corrosion in a marine climate.  Now, most people won’t be using their laptop on the beach day in and day out, but it’s nice to know that’s been tested for.  The same level and rigor of testing is not done on consumer laptops that cost $400.

Better Ergonomics

With business laptops it is form over function.  While a business laptop may not look as snazzy as some consumer laptops, you can be assured features such as the keyboard will be well designed.  Business buyers demand usability and ergonomics over glitz and so that’s what you get.  The amount of time and effort that goes into designing keyboards and making them exactly right is amazing,measuring millimeters of clearance and size are scrutinized:

It’s expensive to do months of user testing and data collection, but that’s exactly what companies producing business notebooks do to try and achieve the best and most usable design possible.

Matte Screens

Matte screens are found on most business laptops and are better for your eyes since they are non-reflective and thus reduce eye strain.  Glossy screens, found on just about every consumer grade laptop, are used to enrich colors but are very reflective in any environment with strong backlighting such as an office with fluorescent lights.  This reflectivity can be both annoying and lead to eye strain after several hours.  Below is a side by side comparison of a laptop with a glossy screen and laptop with matte screen when placed next to a window, see how much reflection the glossy screen gives versus the matte?  That can really lead to eye strain after several hours.

Better Support

The support center you get for business and consumer are separate and the business support is generally better and quite often times the warranty you get will be more generous.  Many Dell business laptops are sold with 3-year warranty standard.   I’ll cite the PCWorld reliability survey once again to demonstrate the improved support you’ll get with a business grade laptop:

Meanwhile, 21.6 percent of Dell home laptop users report their issue was never resolved by Dell support, a problem affecting only 13.6 of the company’s business notebook customers.

While it’s bad that an issue might not get resolved by support, at least you have a much improved chance of having your laptop issue fixed if it’s a business notebook.  Companies simply make sure their business customers are taken better care of because that’s where the fattest margins are.  Yes, money talks, it’s just the way the world is.

Timeless Design

Consumer laptops can often be glitzy and look good this year, but who knows what the fashion will be next year and whether such a laptop design will still look current.  Business laptops tend to have a more timeless design, consider the ThinkPad which hasn’t really changed its all black look and red nub pointing stick in decades.  Like a good business suit, a well designed business laptop will still look classy and professional years into the future.

Docking Station Options

Docking stations are rare to non-existent on consumer laptops but found as an option on a majority of business laptops.  A docking station makes it easy to arrive at your desk and plop down your laptop and get to work right away without having to plugin various cables and monitors.  A docking station also expands the number of ports available on your laptop.

Conclusion

Often times with business laptops you’ll end up paying a bit more for the same specs as what you’ll find in a consumer laptop.  Some may view that as a way for a company to markup costs for business buyers and get a fatter margin, but in fact it is often well worth the extra cost due to a higher quality product you are getting.  Since manufacturers know that most consumers shop on specs and price alone, they can cheap out on things such as the laptop case, keyboard and screen that don’t get much attention from consumers.  The focus is really on trying to cram the fastest components into the cheapest package to win the consumer over.  Business buyers tend to focus on other things such as overall build quality and often care little about things such as graphics cards or processor speed and core count.  Smart buyers seeking quality over quantity of specs are aware of this and often start their search in the business section of offerings.  And just because you’re not buying for a business doesn’t mean you cannot shop from a business section of a website, at checkout they may ask for your company name, but simply fill in your own name and that’s all it takes to place an order. Happy laptop shopping!