Read This Before you Buy Laptops for Your Business

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By Gary Sargent Vendor Relationship and IT Product Manager

You might think that buying notebooks for a business was pretty straightforward.

And, quite honestly, it can be.

Except that we see so many people get it all wrong – just because they don’t ask all the right questions before they buy.

The commonest mistake is an understandable one – people focus entirely on getting the highest-looking spec for the cheapest price.

There’s nothing wrong with thinking about both these factors, obviously.

But there are a number of key questions any business needs to address before they go piling in and grabbing the cheapest and shiniest product on offer. If they don’t, they risk wasting money.

What happens a lot is that one or several new staff join a company and immediately they need to fully kitted out, which means they need a notebook.

Or, does it?

This is the first thing you should consider.

What are these notebooks going to be used for?

I think we’ve all seen it – the office full of deskbound workers using notebooks. Now, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense because the desktop is generally going to be cheaper than a notebook of equivalent spec and also probably easier to work at for hour after hour.

So, do you really need portability?

If yes, then move on to the next question.

How much portability?

We’ve already established you need to be portable, but you should also consider how much portability you need.

By this I mean, what are the notebooks going to be used for while away from the office.

If the truth is that they will mainly only be used to check and reply to emails, then maybe a smart phone or perhaps a netbook or tablet will fill the role.

But, if you are convinced this employee is going to need plenty of processing power, rule out phones and a netbook.  And if they need a keyboard and a good-sized screen, well, you are probably looking at a notebook not a tablet.

What’s your budget?

So, once you’re sure you need that notebook, then ask yourself how much you can spend.

There’s no point in specing out your requirements and then finding you are way over budget.

Equally, though, don’t get fixated on going up to your cash limit.   Note that ‘How much you can spend’. It’s not ‘Need to spend’.

Lots of people will decide on a budget and then they’ll select all the add ons they can get within that budget – like a bigger hard drive, extra processing power or a larger screen.  And that’s whether they really need them or not.

I’d say that was wrong. Decide on your budget limit and then discuss your needs with your supplier with value for money in mind. Explain your budget, but a good supplier will always try and meet your requirements for the best price.

What operating system is on offer?

This is an important one.  Definitely be price focused, but don’t get carried away by the ultra-low prices we often see in the consumer market.

If this notebook is for business use, then you need an appropriate, business-orientated operating system. And those aimed at the home consumer market just won’t come up to scratch. In fact, they’ll be useless, largely because of their lack of networking capability.

What about screen size?

Obviously, you need to think about processing power, disc size and other specs, but screen size is really vital.

Take the trouble to think about what programs you’ll be running.

If you opt for a screen size that’s too big, it’s going to affect portability – and, if you go too small, you are going to find working on a spreadsheet all but impossible.

A few years back the 17-inch screen was the most popular. Now that seems to be most popular with the home user.

It might be helpful to know that, these days, the most popular sized screen is the 15.6 inches. To cover most bases, I’d recommend that.

What about warranties?

The standard warranties are usually 12 months, but can go up to three years.

I’d recommend having a good think about an extended warranty because there are now some very flexible packages on the market suitable for a big variety of buyers.

If you’re using a notebook mainly in a desktop environment then you’re going to need a different kind of warranty to someone who is traveling with their notebook all the time.

A cheap home-use laptop will usually come with ‘return to base’ cover for 12 months; but when you look at a top-end business notebook you might expect 12 months or longer of collect and return cover.

You have options to upgrade, of course, and you might think it’s worthwhile taking this cover up to on-site repairs carried out the next day.

You can go further and have on-site repairs carried out the next day throughout Europe.  And these days there are packages available where the first line of support is to talk through the problem and assess the owner’s technical ability. If it’s felt they are capable of doing it, a part can be sent out and the owner carry out the repair themselves.

The kind of cover you need will come down to how valuable the notebook is to your business, how important it would be to get the notebook up and running again if it broke down.

What I would say though is that I wouldn’t take it as a given that the bigger, better known brands necessarily have the best warranties. So, do have a careful look at the coverage on offer. And, as usual, always talk to your dealer.