Today we are going to show you the best notebooks for remote work and we are going to talk about what kind of improvements you can make to your home office with simple tools.
Teleworking has become the new way of working for many people. Working comfortably from your home requires having the right equipment. Here are some recommendations to help you achieve this.
Why do you need a notebook to be able to work from home?
The whole world is facing a totally exceptional situation due to the advance of the COVID-19 virus. Faced with the growing number of cases of infected citizens, companies have implemented action protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. One of the most common has been teleworking.
Thousands and thousands of companies and offices have sent their workers home. For its practicality and given its use, the recommendation at this point is to buy a laptop for teleworking at home. Now comes the interesting part. It seems difficult to choose the perfect computer for teleworking, but we are going to help you out.
In addition, it seems like all the promotion of laptops and PCs in general, is aimed at gamers and so it’s harder than usual to find the right machine to work from home. If you are familiar with any of these situations, stop your worries right now. Here’s a detailed and comprehensive guide to finding the perfect laptop for your home office.
Unlike laptops for gamers, computers focused on facilitating professional work, have a number of specific features. What we need is a good performance with office applications, internet browsing, video conferencing, battery life, etc.
Specs of a perfect notebook for remote work
When thinking about the features that a home office notebook should have, we have to look at the tasks we are going to do. The conditions are not the same if we are programmers, if we have an administrative job, or if we are writers or graphic designers.
Based on the characteristics of our work, we will have to look for specific features. Fortunately, there are designs and computers designed for almost all needs and tastes. You need to make sure that you are investing your money correctly.
But in general, the best laptops for teleworking are light, allowing you great freedom of movement and, depending on the job, they may or may not require a lot of power. However, they are fast and comfortable for presentations and stuff.
For today’s jobs, we recommend you to buy a notebook with a good camera for videoconferencing. Similarly, if your work involves spending a lot of time typing, you should look for a laptop that, despite being small, strives to have a good, large and pleasant keyboard. Touch screens are another common feature of many models of laptops specifically designed for work.
Price is another relevant aspect when buying a laptop. Keep in mind that the most sophisticated components that increase the price of a computer are those designed to improve the performance of the PC for gaming or design. If your work is more focused on office tasks or does not require powerful design programs, you will not need very powerful components, so the price will be lower.
If your work is focused on design or you usually use tools that require a good graphics card and good RAM, then its price will be higher. In the latter case, the most recommendable are those known as workstation laptops.
Best notebooks for remote work and home office
Taking into account the general interest and always looking for the greatest convenience for the average work, we have selected these three models of laptops for teleworking as the best. Of course, there are other options, but these, beyond adjusting by price and features to what you will demand a machine to work from home, will give you a guide of what to look for, if you are interested in other models or brands.
Lenovo ThinkPad L15
This has been described as the perfect laptop for professionals and business users by the Lenovo brand itself. With this statement, we are clear that we are going to find here one of the most suitable models for teleworking for the vast majority of users.
Mobility, endurance, battery life, and working comfort. These are the key aspects with which the Lenovo ThinkPad has been re-designed, thus showing one of the most iconic and famous laptop prototypes of the brand.
It has a fast-charging function, which allows users to charge the device up to 80% in just one hour. The L590 will facilitate the work of any professional who wants to telework for up to 12 hours at a time, without the need to recharge the battery.
We see how the multi-touch screen is optional and has a 2 × 2 AC WiFi system and a large number of ports, to stay always connected. The fingerprint reader is also optional, and for performance, it has 8GB RAM, an Intel Core i5-8265U processor (1.6/3.9GHz, 6MB cache), and 256GB storage. In short, a professional computer that meets all the requirements of portability, battery, comfort, and performance that we need in a computer for our home office.
Asus Zenbook 14
We have chosen this computer for its lightness, it is one of the thinnest laptops on the market, which makes it one of the most practical to carry everywhere. If you move from one place to another and if your office can be your home, a train car, or the neighborhood coffee shop, this is the best choice for you. In addition, its battery will not leave you stranded, it has up to 21 hours of autonomy and a quick charge function. In less than an hour, it can charge up to 60% of the battery.
As for its technical characteristics, Asus Zenbook has an Intel Core i5 11th Generation. It has 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD. It includes Windows 10 Home installed and this laptop is slim but has room for a good number of ports so you won’t be left without connecting anything: HDMI, USB-C, USB A and microSD card.
For a good teleworker, it is also necessary that your computer has a good webcam included along with a good microphone and speakers. This Asus stands out for being perfect for your videoconferences, as it has a noise-canceling microphone, so nothing external will disturb your communications. The camera is HD and the speakers are Harman Kardon certified.
MSI Creator 15
MSI is a brand specialized in computer components and gaming computers. It brings us a very powerful computer with a large screen. We have to mention its great keyboard with huge keys and a special sensitivity when typing. It is a boost for productivity without any doubt.
This laptop has an Intel Core i7 processor. A brutal 32GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD storage comes in handy. It also includes WiFi 6, the latest internet connection technology that is much faster than the conventional one used by other computers.
And when it comes to graphics power, MSI has always made a difference and this laptop is specially made for creatives, designers and users with a high level of graphic demands. It includes the GeForce RTX 2060, a good GPU so no task is left half-finished. It is also accompanied by an HD webcam and MSI’s Duo Wave speaker for a perfect sound system.
Dell Latitude 3510
It has a simple and elegant design, specially created for workers. It is very light, less than two kilos, so we can carry it from one place to another with total agility. The keyboard includes the numeric keypad, a ‘must’ without which many do not know how to live. In addition, if you need to connect peripherals such as a monitor, a keyboard or a mouse to work more comfortably, it includes three slots for USB and another for HDMI, as well as an SD card reader. Also RJ-45 connector for Ethernet network and headphone and microphone jack.
In addition to this, it has a very good sound system, capable of reducing noise and adapting your tone of voice so it reaches the listener perfectly. The Dell Latitude uses Artificial Intelligence to get the best out of the way you work and is able to adapt the battery consumption to it.
It has a 10th generation Intel Core i5 processor, an Intel UHD Graphics 620 graphics card, RAM up to 8GB DDR4, a 15.6-inch Full HD display with anti-glare and anti-glare technology. In addition, it includes 512GB SSD storage.
This computer is perfect for teleworking thanks to the power of its processor but it is also prepared for all office tasks and to have many tabs and applications open at the same time. It has Windows 10 Pro included too.
HP Elite Dragonfly
HP has designed Elite DragonFly thinking about work and business life. It is a true machine of incredible power, lightweight design, and absolute manageability. It has Intel Core i5 or i7 options.
16GB RAM will be more than enough if you want to browse, download large files or send them, it has a 256GB SSD. It is ideal for work, but also if you play games with the laptop, it is perfect to run any game without a problem.
It comes with Windows 10 Pro, weighs less than a kilo, and does not reach two centimeters thick, so you can not ask more from this computer if what you want is to work decently.
In any case, you should know that any of the four computers we have mentioned will give you a good performance, and it is an investment that you will soon get a good return.
Teleworking and home office accessories
Many companies have started doing a lot of video conferencing and meetings over the Internet. Videoconferencing for meetings is a way of working that greatly enhances productivity and also greatly reduces costs for companies. But to ensure proper communication, there are a number of hardware and software requirements for videoconferencing that must be met.
A key component of success in these teleworking scenarios is videoconferencing, but for this to work well, you don’t just need a good webcam. We will now take a look at the most useful PC peripherals when it comes to being productive from a home office.
Additional monitors
If you have a laptop, it is very likely that sooner or later you will start noticing muscle and joint pain in the neck area. Additional monitors will help you avoid these problems and at the same time make your work much easier. So it is best to use extra monitors, and if you can’t afford multiple devices, a bigger screen will be helpful too.
Headsets
Headsets are common for all home office workers for several reasons. When making a videoconference, it offers privacy because there is no risk of anyone else hearing it.
There are models ranging from headsets to true wireless headphones, you should check them out and choose the best one for your needs.
Cameras
Of course, all the notebooks that we have highlighted have one webcam installed, and usually, they are enough. Beyond that, we can find camera+audio systems, which even have a built-in phone like the Alcatel Conference IP1850 system. Depending on the sector you work in, you can look for other solutions according to your needs.
Most laptops today usually have built-in microphones, but if this is not the case, you can opt for an external microphone for better sound quality.
