Mobile Work & Travel Laptops

Buying a travel laptop

With a range of laptop types to choose from, you'll need to decide which type best suits your needs. There's the traditional clamshell style laptop with a hinged screen and keyboard. In addition, there are 2 in 1 laptops (also called convertible laptops) which have touchscreens and detachable keyboards allowing you to use them as a tablet as well as a laptop. Ultraportable laptops are thin, super-light laptops designed primarily for portability. Their thin profile is usually achieved by stripping back on some features such as fewer connection ports. Think about how you'll use your laptop - if you need to do a lot of typing or multitasking, a traditional laptop may suit you better than a tablet or 2 in 1 model. Conversely, if its mainly surfing and the odd email, a tablet or Chromebook could be all you need and will take up less space.

Weight

Travelers may be mindful of the space and extra weight a laptop occupies in their luggage whereas mobile workers usually don't want to lug big, heavy laptops around from place to place. The good news is that ultraportable laptops are extremely lightweight and typically weigh around 1.4Kg or less (around 3lbs). They also feature thin designs making them easy to carry around and use in tight spaces such as on trains or planes with small tray tables. The type of materials used in the laptop have a bearing on the overall weight. In general, cheaper budget models tend to use bulkier, heavier plastic chasses whereas more premium models are assembled with lighter, thinner metal frames.

Battery life

You'll want to choose a laptop with a decent battery life if you're working away from a plug socket for extended periods of time. As a guide, a good battery should provide approximately 8 - 10 hours of usage which should be long enough for most users. If you need more power, you can invest in an external battery which could extend the laptop's working life for up to 24 hours depending on usage. Other options are to invest in a spare battery although this will require powering down the laptop to swap them over. If you shuttle between an office and other locations, it's also a good idea to purchase a second power supply so you can take one with you on the road and keep one in the office.

Screen size

The smaller the screen, the lighter and more portable the laptop will be but if you'll be doing a lot of detailed visual work like photo or video editing, the larger the screen the better. Think about potential eye strain if you'll be using the laptop for lengthy periods of time. Smaller screen laptops may also compromise on some hardware features (e.g. fewer ports for connectivity) to keep the size down so check the specs carefully to ensure you aren't sacrificing anything vital.

Display features

You should also consider the laptop's display features including the screen resolution and brightness. Most laptops have a glossy screen coating which results in a brighter, more vivid display but the downside is you can get a lot of glare when using the laptop in bright locations (e.g. outdoors on a sunny day). If this is likely to be an issue, look for a laptop with a matte screen coating instead. If you're using the laptop for serious graphics or video processing work or for gaming, look at models with a dedicated graphics card as well.

Connectivity

Think about the connectivity features you'll need in the laptop. If you're toing and froing from the office you might want to invest in a dock so you can quickly and easier connect to external monitors and a full size keyboard when you're sat at your desk. Look for laptops with multiple USB ports and at least one of these being the faster USB-C port so you have enough connection points with accessories and peripherals when needed. All laptops should come with a headphone jack for plugging in earphones/headphones; you may also want an Ethernet port for a physical connection to your office network and/or an HDMI port to hook up to an external display. If you're regularly transferring files from a camera, an SD card slot could also be useful.

CPU & RAM

Don't neglect the laptop's core specs - the processor (aka CPU), memory (RAM) and storage. Make sure you have enough processing power to handle the apps you need to run. Most laptops come with either an Intel or AMD processor. Laptops equipped with Intel's Core i3 and i5 processors or AMD Ryzen A10, 3 or 5 will cope with most mainstream applications including web browsing, office work and basic image editing. If you plan to use the laptop for gaming or heavy graphical or video work, a more advanced CPU such as an Intel Core i7 or i9 or AMD Ryzen 7 is ideal for advanced photo or video editing, CAD/CAM, 3D rendering and high-end gaming. Most laptops ship with at least 8Gb of RAM but you should consider models with 16Gb or higher if you plan to do any of the advanced work listed above. As for storage, think about the volume and type of files you need to save. Laptops with 256Gb or 512Gb storage are most common but hi res image or video files can quickly swallow up your disk's storage capacity so you either need to choose a model with a higher capacity drive or invest in external storage instead.

Operating system

Another consideration is the laptop's operating system (OS). There are 3 main OS choices; Windows, Mac (iOS) and ChromeOS. Windows is the most common OS and has the widest range of compatible software apps and hardware devices. The Mac OS is only available on Apple devices, is very user friendly and is extremely popular for graphic design and video editing users. The Chrome OS is a web based operating system from Google. It's a lightweight OS well suited for basic web browsing, email and video streaming and is typically found on budget/entry level Chromebooks.

Keyboard

If you do a lot of typing, consider the keyboard ergonomics. You want to choose a laptop where you can type comfortably over long spells. This calls for good spacing between adjacent keys and a certain amount of resistance when pressing keys as this provides better tactile feedback and helps avoid mistypes. A laptop with a backlit keyboard is useful for working in dark and low-light conditions.

Warranty

Finally, if you travel a lot internationally, a laptop with a good global warranty will give you peace of mind. Most of the main laptop brands offer worldwide warranties but check the specific product to ensure you have the cover you need. With Apple laptops you can visit any Apple store worldwide for service and repair enquiries.