Best Laptop For Consultants – Reviews

Looking for the best laptop for consultants?

We’ve got you covered.

Not all laptops are great for consulting. After hours of research, we’ve come up with a list of excellent laptops that are great for consultants.

Without further do, let’s dive in.

Best Laptops For Consultants

Check out our top choices:

• Lenovo ThinkPad T480 – Editor’s Choice
• MacBook Pro 13 – Mac Pick
• Acer Aspire 5 – Budget Choice

1. Lenovo ThinkPad T480 – Editor’s Choice

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is our choice for the best laptop for consultants.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is a well-rounded laptop that comes with all the features you would expect in a laptop for consulting. If you are fine with spending a decent amount of money, this laptop could be your daily driver.

With a 14″ display, this laptop is one portable one. 4.19 lbs is not a lot of weight, and you can carry it around without any problem.

The display is an anti-glare one with a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. The anti-glare aspect is very handy as you can’t see your reflection even when working in a bright room. The screen has a maximum brightness of 220 nits which could be better.

The IPS panel gives you excellent colours and vibrancy. The viewing angles are also great, which means you can present to your clients, and they’ll get a good idea of what’s on the screen without losing any colours or details on the screen.

The presence of a fingerprint reader surely makes this laptop a good choice when it comes to consultancy. It allows you to encrypt your files for added security. It brings OS-level protection as well. Thanks to this fingerprint reader, you can also easily log in to your laptop.

The Intel Core i5 8250U brings a good amount of power. This low-power processor comes with a base clock speed of 1.60GHz and a maximum clock speed of 3.4GHz. The smart cache memory of 6MB should come in handy when working with office applications like word processors and spreadsheet apps.

The memory department comes with 16GB of DDR4 RAM. This is a lot of memory and will treat well when multitasking. Doing research and browsing the web is a big part of consulting. This memory will allow you to keep as many tabs open as you want, and it won’t refresh them as well.

For storage, we have a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. This is a solid amount of storage and should be enough for most consultants without any issues. The SSD makes using your laptop a lot better. It opens and closes applications instantly and keeps the laptop’s performance on point.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 comes with enough connectivity options for a modern laptop. You get a USB-type C port to help with data transfer, power charging, and external displays. There is a couple of USB 3.1 gen A ports for fast data transfer and connectivity.

You will find an RJ-45 port for wired internet connectivity. There is an HDMI port and also a headphone jack that will come in handy as well.

The battery life of the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is good. You get around 8 hours of battery life, which we call an all-day battery life. You should be able to last an entire day with this battery without recharging your laptop.

Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is an excellent laptop with a powerful processor, a beautiful display and solid battery life, making it the best laptop for consultants in 2020.

2. MacBook Pro – Best Mac For Consultants

The MacBook Pro 13″ is our best apple laptop for consultants.

With excellent portability (weighs 3 lbs), this MacBook Pro is a solid laptop and brings a lot of power to the table.

Our display is a 13.3″ display, and it comes with a Retina resolution. This resolution is made up of 2560 x 1600 pixels, resulting in more than 4 million pixels on your screen and an effective pixel density of 227 PPI. The display comes with an aspect ratio of 16:10, which makes it a good choice for media consumption.

Unlike the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, the MacBook Pro comes with a maximum brightness of 500 nits which is crazy good. You can whip out your laptop and work wherever you want, even if that place is flooded with lights. Given the portability of this laptop, it makes a good companion with great brightness during travel.

The battery life is one of the compelling features of the MacBook Pro. Light use allows the laptop to last 10 to 12 hours easily. This is a high-performance laptop, and Apple is doing serious engineering here to get this kind of battery life. Even with a heavy load, you should be able to finish your day with some juice left.

This laptop’s Intel Core i5 processor gives you enough power to handle your load. This is a low-voltage processor, but it does pack a punch when it comes to handling applications. You can even run heavy applications without any issues, which is nice.

There are 8 gigs of DDR4 RAM in the memory department. This RAM enables you to run multiple apps side by side without losing performance. For most consultants, this memory should be more than enough. Opt for the 16GB model during the purchase if you need more memory.

For storage, we have a 256GB solid-state drive. Apple SSDs are super fast, and this one follows suit. The solid-state drive gives you a decent amount of storage and keeps the laptop’s performance in check. You get a snappy everyday performance thanks to this SSD.

You won’t find a dedicated graphics card in this MacBook Pro model. The integrated Intel UHD graphics card is a good one and will handle graphics well. If you’re not a gamer, then there is no reason why this integrated solution won’t work for you.

The MacBook Pro comes with a couple of USB-type C ports for connectivity. This USB type C port is versatile, but that’s the only option available on the MacBook Pro, disappointing many people. You have to get adapters if you don’t have a USB type C device, which is inconvenient.

Overall, the MacBook Pro is a solid laptop for Apple. You get Apple’s excellent design, superfast SSD, and a gorgeous display that pair well with an Intel 8th gen processor. Without a doubt, this is the best Apple laptop for consultants out there.

3. Acer Aspire 5 – Budget Pick

The best budget laptop for consultants is the Acer Aspire 5 slim laptop.

This Acer Aspire 5 laptop comes with a super affordable price tag and offers a budget laptop experience. You won’t be able to run virtual machines with this laptop, but handling your everyday needs shouldn’t be a problem.

We have an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor at the helm. This processor is an entry-level one and comes with 2 cores. It can handle your daily apps without any issues. With this processor in place, browsing the web, researching, and running office applications will be fine.

There are 4 gigs of RAM in the memory department. This memory is adequate for light use. You can run a couple of apps side by side, and there shouldn’t be any performance issues because of that.

One good thing here is that Acer has gone with a 128GB solid-state drive. Though the storage space is less, we do get an SSD which is excellent in terms of speed. The SSD makes up for the performance we could have lost due to other hardware.

The 15.6″ display on the Acer Aspire 5 model comes with an FHD resolution. It has an IPS panel underneath, and you get good colours with excellent viewing angles. You will love this display for watching movies and tv shows. The display is also excellent for running two apps side by side, thanks to the widescreen.

The battery life on the laptop is decent. With a light load, you can get around 5 to 6 hours of battery life which is not bad for a budget laptop like this one.

The Acer Aspire 5 is an excellent entry-level laptop, giving you a neat computing experience at less than $350. This is the best budget laptop for consultants.

What To Look For In The Best Laptop For Consultants?

Trying to find the best laptop yourself?

We love that about you.

Here are some important things to know before hunting for your laptop.

Solid Input System

Getting a consulting laptop means you’ll use a lot of Word and Excel on that machine. This directly warrants good input devices on your laptop.

A laptop must have a good keyboard with a neat layout and comfortable keys. The key travel on your keyboard should be decent and give you a satisfying typing experience.

If you’re going to work with numbers a lot, then go for a keyboard that comes with a number pad. Unfortunately, only 15.6″ laptops come with a dedicated number pad. So if you favour a number pad, you’ll lose portability.

Having a backlit keyboard is also advantageous in many ways. It will allow you to work in dark situations and is a boon to have. It might increase your cost, but having one is always super handy.

The trackpad on your laptop must be a Windows Precision trackpad. This is because it supports Windows gestures and will be a pleasure to use.

Bad trackpads can make your life difficult, so make sure to get a laptop with a trackpad that is proven to give you your money’s worth.

Upgradability

If you want to go for something simple now to save costs, you need to ensure that you can upgrade that laptop in the future.

Find out if you can open the laptop and service it yourself. Even if you’re not adept with these things, a service guy should be able to do it easily.

Make sure the laptop comes with extra memory slots and SSD bays. This will help you upgrade your laptop’s memory and storage space, respectively.

You should also be able to access the battery on your laptop easily. Opening the battery compartment and replacing or checking the health of your battery must be relatively easy.

Budget

This one depends on your appetite.

If you want to get a laptop that blows everything out of the water, then be prepared to shell out thousands of dollars. High-end laptops will give you all the bells and whistles you need, and there will not be any need for future upgrades.

If you have a small budget, you can use a simple laptop that can handle your daily workload. This way, you can have a laptop to work on your projects and get things done.

Either way, this aspect depends on the user and what they can afford.

Display

Getting a good display is paramount for any laptop.

When it comes to consulting, you’ll spend a lot of time in front of the laptop. Your display must be of good quality and should come with certain things to guarantee the best experience.

Only go for a laptop with a display resolution of full HD. The resolution of your display decides how sharp the content on your screen will be.

Getting a Full HD screen or above will give you sharp text and excellent pictures on the screen. You can also go for QHD or even a 4K display if you can afford them.

The screen size is another important thing. Going with a 13.3″ screen is a good move if you value portability. These laptops are very light in weight and should be easy to carry around.

If you prefer a bigger screen, choose a laptop with a 15.6″ screen. This screen will give you all the real estate you need, and you will have a widescreen to play with.

Also, be sure to get an IPS panel. This panel brings nice colours and viewing angles to the table. Getting a TN or a VA panel is not a great idea as you will get bad imagery, and those will pale in comparison with an IPS panel.

Battery Life

As a consultant, you should visit your clients and stay there for long hours. One of the less attractive things you could end up doing to asking for a laptop charging port.

Having all-day battery life is very important when you’re a consultant. The laptop needs to have a battery life of at least 8 hours to easily go through your day without needing to charge again.

If you can’t afford a laptop with good battery life, get one that will give your 5 to 6 hours of battery life. This is not ideal, but it will get the job done.

We recommend getting a power bank so that you can charge your laptop when you need it. This will avoid embarrassing moments when you’re outside meeting someone important.

Security

Your laptop needs to have good security.

When consulting for big clients, you need to ensure that the data you’re handling is safe. It would be best if you also assured your clients of the same.

Having a fingerprint reader will take care of this. This adds more security to your laptop and makes logging into your profile much easier.

You can also opt for face scans. They are more accurate than fingerprint readers and can help encrypt your valuable data.

Connectivity

If you’re not for adapters, you must ensure that your laptop has all the essential connectivity options.

The laptop needs to have the following ports.

• USB type C port
• USB 3.0 port
• HDMI port
• SD card slot
• Headphone jack

Some laptops will have all of these, and some only a few of these.

If you like a laptop without all these ports, it is still okay to go with it if you are willing to take the adapter route.

The laptop should come with 802.11ac or 802.11ax WiFi, as it gives you excellent speeds without needing those ugly Ethernet cables. Having Bluetooth connectivity is also a must.

Portability

If you’re moving a lot, you need a portable laptop.

Get a laptop that weighs around 3 pounds. Usually, 13.3″ laptops fall into this category. You can easily slide them into your bag and carry them on without any issues.

If you go for a 15.6″ laptop, they will weigh around 5 pounds, making them slightly heavier. Not that you can’t carry them around, but it is only a tad heavier than a much more portable laptop.

Storage

For consulting, you need a laptop that is fast and snappy.

To get this snappy performance, you need to go with an SSD. Yes, SSDs are costly, but they are worth the premium. They are fast and will give you excellent speeds when it comes to reading and writing. They will also open your frequently used applications at lightning speed.

We advise against going for a hard drive as they are slow and will make your life much slower. It can test your patience sometimes, and you will feel like breaking your laptop (not that we’ve done it).

We suggest going for at least a 256GB SSD depending on your needs. This option gives you both the storage space and the performance you need as a consultant.

Power

The processing power you need depends on the consulting you do.

We recommend an Intel Core i5 processor as it is powerful enough for most tasks and won’t cost you much money.

If your workflow needs a lot of processing power, we suggest an Intel Core i7 processor with a very good clocking frequency.

We would avoid i3 processors as they are entry-level. They are okay for budget devices, but if you want a solid processor, they’re not going to cut.

You can also go for AMD processors that have four cores or more. You can also opt for AMD chips that are equivalent to i5 and i7 processors.

We want the laptop to have at least 8GB of RAM for memory. This is the minimum you should have on your laptop unless you use a budget device.

8GB will allow you to run multiple apps side by side without affecting the laptop’s performance. You can also go for 16GB of memory or more if you think that’ll give you a better overall performance.

Conclusion

That’s the end of this post, and thank you for staying with us till this very end.

We hope we can help you find the best laptop for consultants.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, let us know your specific needs, and we’ll get back to you with a laptop tailored to your unique needs.

Please let us know through the comment section below if you have any questions or queries.