Black Friday is only a few months away, which means it’s the perfect time to start planning your business purchases. And whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, new workstation tech is always smart to upgrade when the end-of-year sales roll around. In particular, laptops are a key piece of technology which your business will depend on for daily tasks.
So, if you’re looking for a new business laptop to stay connected, here we’ve provided a list of the top 5 models this year. Without further ado, these are the best laptops you should be looking out for in the Black Friday sales:
Top 5 business laptops to buy online
Laptops under £500
ASUS VivoBook 15 X1500EA
- Monitor: 15.6″
- Processor: Intel® Pentium® Gold 7505 Processor
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Operating system: Windows 11 S
Described as an “entry-level laptop”, the VivoBook 15 offers a budget-friendly option for smaller businesses. Users report decent performance as well as a good quality, large OLED screen with great visuals.
On the downside, it suffers a shorter battery life (6 hours) and doesn’t deliver all the features you may need for your business. For example, the speakers aren’t the best quality which may not be optimal for online meetings.
Laptops between £500 to £1000
HP ProBook 455 G10
- Monitor: 15.6″
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Operating system: Windows 11 Pro
Hailed for its sturdy design, the HP ProBook is a solid choice for small to medium sized businesses. It has built-in security features, including HP Sure Sense, HP’s brand anti malware AI technology to detect and protect against attacks.
Moreover, the HP ProBook contains the GeForce RTX 2050, a powerful graphics card useful for media and design work. It’s a decent laptop with a strong processor for more demanding office tasks and business applications.
One of the drawbacks is it may not be suitable for conducting all kinds of heavy-duty work, such as video and audio editing.
Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5
From £679.99 direct from Lenovo
- Monitor: 14″
- Processor: 13th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-13420H
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Operating system: Windows 11 Home 64
This laptop is the latest gen model from Lenovo, proving to be a durable device of mid-range affordability. Its new processor boasts strong performance, suitable for multitasking and handling critical business applications.
The ThinkPad offers great advantages for remote workers, with a long battery life and quick charging time. Plus, its medium weight (approximately 1.6kg) makes it easily portable for workers on the go.
With a comfortable keyboard, the ThinkPad is perfect for long sessions at your business desk and offers a suitable IPS display for video conferencing and presentations.
Laptops between £1000 to £2500
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
From £1,183.20 direct from Microsoft
- Monitor: 13.5” or 15”
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel®Core™ i5-1245U
- Memory: 8GB, 16GB or 32GB RAM
- Storage: 256 GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD
- Operating system: Windows 11 Pro
This 5th gen device boasts a sleek new design and improved camera, touchscreen and all-day battery life. Abundant in new features, such as facial recognition, your business can benefit from enhanced security and seamless performance. Above all, users praise the Surface Laptop for its portable design (under 1.3kg) and upgraded CPU. This allows employees to take their devices on the go and run heavy duty applications with ease.
Compared to other brands, Microsoft’s user experience is often unanimously agreed as the best, and the Surface Laptop is no exception. Its new touchpad proves more responsive than previous models, and the keyboard comfortable for users. All in all, it is perfect for a multitude of work tasks such as content creation, coding, presentations, running productivity apps and more.
Apple Macbook Pro
From £1,699.00 direct from Apple
- Monitor: 14″
- Processor: Apple M3
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 512 GB SSD
- Operating system: macOS 14 Sonoma
Enhancing the latest MacBook Pro, the new M3 chip claims to be 40% faster than the previous M1 Pro. This transcends the potential of our current GPU and CPU in everyday business laptops. So, it goes without saying, this is a powerful laptop proven to speed up demanding tasks without draining consumption.
It includes a range of security features, such as Touch ID, encryption, and the Secure Enclave coprocessor to protect your device. The touchpad is highly responsive and recommended for long work sessions at the desk.
Lastly, if your business already relies on Apple products, the MacBook Pro is clearly a stellar choice. It delivers seamless integration with other products, where you can utilise iCloud to share and store data securely between devices.
How to keep your business laptops safe online
Once you’ve made a purchase, it’s important to protect not only the laptop itself, but the data you store in it. Cybercriminals are constantly on the lookout for ways to bypass your system and access sensitive personal information.
So, here we have put together the top 5 ways to stay safe online in 2024:
Password security
Password security is the most importance aspect of protecting your employees’ online identity. Follow these key tips for creating and managing passwords:
- Avoid using predictable words and phrases that are easily guessed. Many people use an address, a pet’s name or their favourite sports team.
- Always use long, complicated strings of text and numbers. Ideally, you can create strong passwords from an online password generator, such as https://passwordsgenerator.net/
- Change all the passwords you use on a regular basis. This includes online services information and your laptop login password.
- Never store your password in a text file on your computer.
- Use a secure password manager platform like LastPass to manage your login information.
Software updates
Software vendors regularly release updates to their software platforms that not only improve useability and make them look nicer but close any existing backdoors. These entry points, also known as ‘exploits’ are often used by criminals to gain unauthorised access to your laptops and therefore your business data.
If any of the software you use recommends that you perform an update, it’s best to immediately click ‘Yes’, instead of ignoring. In particular, operating system updates are a crucial way of keeping your laptop secure. Ensure that you also switch on automated updates for these, as human error is typically the cause of cyberattacks.
Email security
Your employees must constantly be on the lookout for suspicious and fraudulent emails. From banks and tax agencies to delivery companies and credit card companies, hackers are posing as anyone legitimate to catch you out. These phishing emails contain links to malicious websites that harvest your data and often sell it on.
The key is to be critical – if an email looks suspect, or you weren’t expecting it, check again before responding. Any attachments or links with instructions should also be disregarded. If in doubt, always go to the legitimate site, which will always start with “https://”.
Protect against fake WiFi hotspots
Fake WiFi hotspots are a growing problem across the UK. To piggyback onto a person’s Internet connection, hackers broadcast wireless networks in public places. This may include common remote working spaces such as cafes or libraries.
Hackers will use a similar name to legitimate networks to lure employees to connect without question. Once a user has connected to the fake network, the network captures their login data and browsing history, before passing it onto a hacker.
WiFi users should never assume they have chosen the correct WiFi, especially if working in a new public space or business. Finally, always take the time to verify the official WiFi by checking the display or asking staff.
Use a VPN, if necessary
In addition to connecting to secure, official WiFi, you may also want to ensure your employees are using a VPN. Also known as ‘virtual private networks’, VPNs mask your identity online by re-routing Internet traffic through a server that guarantees anonymity. This makes it much harder for hackers to disrupt a network, access a device, or identify a person.
For extra guidance on choosing the right business laptops, or to schedule a no obligation chat about your London IT support requirements, contact us today!