10 Best Laptops for Work and Study (Inexpensive But Good for Home)

Updated 11.26.

Once again, our team, with the help of professionals from the electronics repair shop, has collected the best laptops for study and work at home and in the office. We tried to understand the characteristics and parameters that you need to pay attention to when choosing a laptop for work. We examined in detail the models for working with documents, as well as for modeling and rendering.

A good laptop is a friend, comrade, and almost a brother. A laptop is a real alternative to a personal desktop, combining the mobility of a tablet and the power of a full-fledged computer. Whether you want to have a full-fledged workstation with a full-size keyboard on hand, or a device powerful enough to run video games, a good laptop should be your constant companion.

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Which is the best laptop to buy for work

A reliable laptop in today's world allows you to perform a variety of tasks: from simple office work to complex and resource-intensive operations like video editing or drawing design projects. And you can decide on the choice of a laptop if you consistently study its most important characteristics:

• processor frequency
• RAM size
• hard disk type
• video card type
• screen

Processor labeling by manufacturer simplifies selection

The main measure of the performance of any modern computing device is the frequency and number of cores of the central processor... The more of both, the faster the laptop will run. The number of cores plays a paramount role when choosing, since even at a low CPU frequency, load distribution will save you from "brakes". Two of the world's top manufacturers Intel and AMD have already made our choice easier by labeling their products.

• If the description of the laptop contains the name Intel Celeron / Intel Pentium / Intel Pentium Silverthen it is poor performance. Suitable for watching movies, surfing the Internet and processing documents.
• An average performance notebook carries processors ranging from Intel i3 beforei5 or AMD Ryzen 3 to 5... These notebooks are most suitable for work and study. Perfect price / quality ratio.
• And already series i7 / i9 or Ryzen 7 boast the computing power for serious tasks. Laptops with this equipment are used to work with resource-intensive applications for processing graphics or video games. But such models will cost significantly more.

We need more memory

The second most important criterion when choosing a laptop is the number random access memorythat you can equip your laptop with. The size of the RAM directly depends on whether the laptop will slow down and load programs for a long time. It has a huge impact on the number of open tabs in the Internet browser.

Modern laptops require a minimum 4 GB of RAM for comfortable work. And the best thing would be to purchase a device with a reserve for the future. It is optimal if you have at least two slots for RAM cards. Then its volume can be easily increased by changing the RAM cards to more capacious ones.

Fastest of the drives

Overall performance also depends on type of hard driveon which the operating system is installed, and in this criterion you need to look at the possibility of installing solid-state drives in a laptop. If the OS can be installed on an SSD, then fast work will be ensured due to the speed of data read / write. The compromise option is a hybrid SSD + HDD. And the slowest of all is the HDD magnetic hard disk.

Graphics are important

To process graphic information, both the resources of the common RAM-memory and a separate chip can be used. In this case, the microprocessor that uses its own resources and is responsible for the video is called discrete graphics card... Naturally, the distribution of tasks has a positive effect on the overall operation of the system, so a laptop with independent graphics processing will function better under load.

TN or IPS?

If we are talking about graphics, then it is worth paying attention to the screen that will show you video information. And there are several criteria here:

• LCD type
• Screen diagonal
• Maximum image resolution

Modern matrices - TFT IPS... Screens with them have good viewing angles and excellent color reproduction at any diagonal: from 11 to 19 inches. They have one minus - a low response speed, which means that they show a dynamic picture with a slight blur. Thus, if you are purchasing a laptop for gaming, it would be better to have a predecessor matrix TFT TN. Otherwise, IPS is better at any resolution, starting with inexpensive 1366 screens^x768 up to super-quality displays from 4K (3840^x2160).

Optimal screen diagonal - from 14 to 15.6 "... With such a diagonal, the laptop itself becomes an optimal-sized device that easily fits on the table without taking up much space, and at the same time is able to solve a variety of tasks as efficiently as possible.

Battery power consumption is an important indicator

Naturally, all productive electronics consume electricity in proportion to their work, so you should think about the battery capacity of your laptop, because, as we said, mobility is the main advantage of such devices. Without going into technical details, you need to look at the battery life of the entire system. Good battery with a capacity of 40 watts per hour will provide operating time without power supply on average up to 5 hours under normal load.

Useful little things

The rest of the selection criteria is a matter of your taste and working environment. For example, if you have a wireless network connection at home or in the office, you shouldn't monitor the presence of an Ethernet port. Prefer to work with a mouse and often connect flash drives? Pay attention to the number of USB connectors and their standard. Better to have headroom and more than 2 connection slots, and USB 3.0 is faster than its predecessor.

Best low-cost laptops for everyday tasks

Let's take a look at different laptops for everyday use.

In terms of price / quality ratio, in 2020, the Asus VivoBook 15 X512DA has beaten everyone. This inexpensive laptop for work and the Internet is thin and compact, it seems to consist only of a screen and a keyboard. The proprietary NanoEdge display with a bezel thickness of just 5.7 millimeters has a declared viewing angle of 178 degrees. The lid moves on a special ErgoLift hinge, which, when opened, raises the case to a comfortable hand position. The sound should be noted separately: high-quality large speakers and a good amplifier allow you to receive a clear and high-quality stream of music.

Even in the smallest configuration, this laptop is a worthy representative of its family. The Asus VivoBook 15 X512DA-BQ1211 is powered by a Ryzen 3 3200U processor - 2 cores with 2.6GHz performance.The preinstalled amount of RAM is 8 GB, expandable up to 12 GB. Maximum screen resolution - FullHD (1920^x1080), which displays the image of an integrated video card from another AMD - Radeon Vega 3. A 256 gigabyte SSD is preinstalled, plus there is a connector for connecting an HDD. But there are models with Ryzen 5 and 7 processors.

Let's take a look at another model with almost the same characteristics. Asus Laptop 15 X509 - somewhat more expensive, but worth paying extra. It was conceived as a workhorse without an image function, in contrast to the previous 512th considered. This is not a VivoBook, but something very similar to it. The same screen, full-size keyboard, and the same crisp sound. Plus, the case is reinforced with metal inserts and the HDD bay has shock-absorbing shock absorption, which reduces the risk of drive failure in case of accidental impact.

The performance of the Asus Laptop 15 X509FL in the minimum configuration with an Intel processor is quite good. The Core i3 in combination with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics card works, despite the lower frequency compared to Ryzen 3, at the same level. In general, Asus X509FL is more expensive than its fashion counterpart with comparable functionality.

As an alternative for a lower price, you should also consider a compact laptop with a good battery - Lenovo Ideapad 330 in a variety of variations. These laptops can use a wide variety of processors and graphics, but one thing remains unchanged - ergonomics.

Take the Lenovo Ideapad 330-15IGM line. This series belongs to the category of low-budget, due to the use of Intel Pentium and Celeron processors with a low clock speed and an integrated video card. Nevertheless, it is equipped with a sufficient amount of RAM, solid state drive and almost all models in this series come with FullHD resolution. In general, not a purebred horse, but quite a riding animal.

Another laptop of a similar class Acer Aspire 3 A315-42G. A characteristic feature of 42G, regardless of the installed processor, is the presence of a discrete video card Radeon 540X, excellent audio system and 3 USB ports.

In a Ryzen 3 configuration, this laptop is comparable in resource power to the Asus X509. But there are nuances: its weight is 1.9 kilograms, the battery is designed for 5 hours, and the viewing angles are much smaller.

The best powerful and energy-intensive laptops

Now let's take a look at more powerful notebooks for graphics and simulation.

The first in line is the practical Apple MacBook Mid 2017. The most powerful model from Apple has all the advantages of a Pro-class laptop: a powerful processor, solid state drive, excellent graphics and a capacious battery.

The 2017 MacBook Mid comes with a 2.9GHz quad-core Core i7 processor. The amount of RAM is 16 GB. Graphics are both integrated (Intel HD Graphics 630) and discrete (AMD Radeon Pro 560). But for all the sophistication of this model, there are some disadvantages in laptop cooling. Under constant high load, the processor gets very hot and activates protection, reducing the frequency. That is, it won't work for a long time with resource-intensive applications.

A brand new and high-quality laptop, 2019 Xiaomi RedmiBook 14 ″ Enhanced Edition may also interest fans of elegant, weightless-looking models with powerful filling. Made in an aluminum case, the 14-inch handsome man has a claimed 178 degrees of view and a battery with a capacity of 10 hours of operation. In addition, Xiaomi's proprietary technology allows the battery to be charged to half in just 35 minutes. Another trick is waking up from sleep mode in 1 (!) Second.Separately, everyone notes the DTS Sound 3D sound system, which produces a deep and clear sound.

In many ways, the new product from Xiaomi resembles the VivaBook from Asus, but smaller, thinner, sleeker. Even in the minimum configuration, the RedmiBook 14 ″ Enhanced Edition boasts the latest generation Intel Core i5 processor, coupled with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics card. The only drawback of this model is connected with the screen, it has low brightness and uneven backlighting, which does not allow using the laptop in bright daylight, and it will not work to process photos in compliance with all professional standards. And also, minus or plus, but this ultrabook does not have a webcam.

Another Chinese man can compete in design elegance with products from Xiaomi. Introducing the HUAWEI MateBook D 14 ″ - a laptop with average performance, but some handy features.

And the first of these is a 180 degree opening effortlessly. The second interesting feature of the D 14 is the presence of a fingerprint scanner, which is built into ... the power button. Enabling and simultaneous authorization is convenient. Charging a powerful, no kidding, really powerful battery goes through the USB Type-C connector. And yet, unlike the fourteen-inch fellow Xiaomi, this laptop has a webcam, but its location is unusual - it is located in the keyboard unit. By pressing a button, you open the camera, and when you don't need it, you hide it in the same way.

But all these interesting things, invented in the struggle for the buyer, are leveled by the filling, which is frankly weak for this class of laptop, in the configuration offered for the Russian market. Ryzen 5 without a discrete graphics card does not fare well when working with high-load applications. And 8GB of memory for games running on an integrated Radeon Vega 8 card won't be enough. Plus, the memory is not upgradeable - it's built into the motherboard. In general, the bottom line: the clothes are beautiful, the mind is not enough.

Now, from the Chinese manufacturers that have entered the market relatively recently, let's move on to the "seasoned" ones.

Before us is the fourteen-inch HP 14-cf0019ur - an excellent laptop for work at the university, very dense for its class (thickness - 2 centimeters) and, perhaps, even bulky compared to Asians, but functional and suitable for working with office applications and viewing films. But you shouldn't listen to music on it - the sound is very mediocre.

It is worth noting that the processor here is a Core i5 without discrete graphics, but the matrix is ​​gorgeous - IPS with good viewing angles. In addition, a 256GB SSD is installed by default and there is an empty HDD bay. The battery lasts 5 hours when watching movies, which is also not bad. And most importantly, there is an Ethernet connector, which will allow you to use your laptop for surfing on a local network without Wi-Fi.

Another non-classic laptop "two-in-one" lying in the segment under consideration is offered by the classic manufacturer Dell. The DELL Inspiron 5491 2-in-1 is the entry-level convertible. The screen opens at an angle of up to 300 degrees and ... you can use this device as a tablet - the screen is a touchscreen. The case is metallized and durable enough. Should I take a closer look?

More likely yes than no: there are many interesting things inside. Although there is a Core i3, but the tenth generation - performance at the level. Although 8 GB of memory can be expanded to 32, there are two places. There is a compartment for the HDD. In general, the laptop is interesting.

And the last fourteen-inch laptop from the office series for today is the Lenovo ThinkPad E14. This model is a solid middling in this kind of devices. There are some peculiarities in the form of a curtain covering the webcam and a fingerprint scanner on the power button. In addition, the aluminum top and bottom create a rigid structure that protects the contents from accidental injury.

Overall, the ThinkPad E14 is good. There is a powerful Core i5 processor, but no discrete graphics. There is room for both SSD and HDD. A very good cooling system - even under load it will be comfortable to work with your hands, because you will not feel heating. In general, the laptop occupies a solid middle position in its segment.

Video: how to choose a laptop in 2020