9 Tips To Buy A Laptop For Project Managers + Suggestions

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Buying a laptop as a project manager is challenging. You want something fast and reliable but also portable. There are too many choices, with different price ranges and general online recommendations that are not specific to project managers. Luckily we have done the hard work to bring you guidance and suggestions to buy the best laptop for your needs as a project manager.

Based on our experience as project managers, we found that the best laptop for any project manager must contain all of the following specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5/ Core i7 or AMD Ryzen R5/ R7 or Apple M1
RAM: Minimum of 16 GB of RAM
SSD: Minimum of 256 GB of storage
Battery life: Minimum of 10-12 hours of battery life
Graphic Card (Dedicated GPU): Not required. An integrated graphics card in the CPU is sufficient.
Screen Size: A 14-inch screen is an ideal size
Laptop Weight: 1.8 Kg or 4 lbs is a laptop’s most accepted portable weight.
Operating System: Both MacBook and Windows laptops are suitable for project managers.
Touch Screen: Usually not required, but it’s good to have as an option.

Laptop Specs For Project Managers

Specs	Requirements
*Processor (CPU)*	Intel Core i5/ Core i7 or AMD Ryzen R5/ R7 or Apple M1
*RAM*	*16 – 32 GB*
*Storage* (SSD)	*256 GB or higher*
*Battery Life*	*Minimum of 10-12 hours*
*Dedicated Graphic Card (GPU)*	Not Required. The integrated graphic is sufficient.
*Screen Size*	*14-inch*
*Laptop* Weight	1.8 Kg or 4 lbs
*Operating System*	*Windows or MAC (Depending on your preference)*
*Touch Screen*	*Optional choice*

Is the above a bit confusing? The specs are intended to give you a fast laptop for multitasking and portable enough to travel and work with for hours without having to charge it.

Project managers are always going from meeting to meeting, spending hours on zoom calls and programs such as excel and Microsoft projects. The specs required for such a laptop are quite affordable and suit every budget.

When a project manager is in the market, they are often upsold to the most expansive and overkill specs for their needs. Because online reviews and store salespeople do not understand how much processing power you need verse portability and battery life.

Below, explain exactly each requirement, followed by recommendations of the best laptop for project managers that you can buy now.

Table of Contents

The Top 9 Things To Look For In A Laptop As A Project Manager

When buying a laptop as a project manager, you should focus on two things:

The newer, the better: The latest in the market by Microsoft or apple is always the best laptop you should buy.

The higher the specs, the better: following from the last point, if the laptop has very high specs is always better than the one with lower specs; however, the price will be high.

1- The Processor Is The Most Important Thing In A Laptop

buying a laptop for engineers
Laptop For Project Managers

The processor is the brain of your computer. The better it is, the more multitasking you can get from your laptop. We found that less than a Core i5, Ryzen 5, or Apple M1 will not be very beneficial for any type of project management. On the other hand, Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 or higher offers the best value for speed and multitasking.

Processor (CPU) Type You Should Get

Processor (CPU) Type	Description
Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen 5	The entry range offers great speed and multitasking abilities.
Intel Core i7 / AMD Ryzen 7	Mid-range offers the best value for project managers
Intel Core i9 / AMD Ryzen 9	The high range is usually too much for most project management tasks and, in most cases, is not recommended.
Apple M1 Chip	Equivalent to i5/R5 & i7/R7 (Entry to Mid-range) Depending on the optimisation of the chip, which is only available for apple computers

Subsequently, you should avoid anything lower than the above such as Intel Core i3 and AMD Ryzen 3, because it is only designed for budget laptops and is often not suitable for project managers’ uses.

There are many terminologies and specific naming for each type of processor that might confuse you. If you are not tech-savvy, we would recommend sticking to the recent laptops released to date or our recommendations below.

2- Do Not Get Less Than 16 GB of RAM

RAM is the active memory that works with your processor. The higher the RAM, the better the multitasking and project managers should not get anything less than 16 GB. The RAM help keep those high volumes of search tabs and programs running without crashing or freezing your computer. The RAM is the second most important thing in a laptop.

RAM Capacity You Should Get

RAM Capacity	Description
16 GB of RAM	This is the best choice for project managers and also the best value for money
32 GB of RAM	It offers high multitasking abilities with double the capacity of 16 GB, usually an overkill for most project management applications.

Subsequently, avoid anything less than 16 GB, such as 8 GB, because it will give you a hard time and struggle to get anything done. Moreover, 64 GB is overkill and very expensive for project managers’ normal use; therefore, it is not recommended.

We found it difficult to recommend anything less than 16 GB of RAM. Why? Because running your operating system takes at least a third of that RAM, leaving you with 10 or 12 GB in the best cases.

Most programs these days generally tend to take more RAM due to the level of sophistication and graphic processing. Most internet browsers, such as Google Chrome, take more RAM the more tabs it has open.

Therefore, anything less than 16 GB will definitely give you a hard time. In fact, if you can afford to go above 16 GB to 32 GB, the outcomes are even better as you can not have enough multitasking power, which is what project managers like.

3- 256 GB Of Storage Is More Than Enough

Here is the thing computer memory is not relevant these days, and a 256 GB of storage is usually more than enough.

Why? Most project managers’ outputs from their programs are not big in size; they might require heavy computation when running them hence why you need a good CPU and RAM, but not file size. In addition, there are always cloud storage options, so you will never have to worry about storage.

Storage Capacity You Should Get

Storage Capacity	Description
256 GB of Storage	The lowest option of storage recommended for project managers
512 GB of Storage	Usually, the best value between price and use
1TB+ of storage	Recommended for those with large files such as videos and images

However, you should not cheap out and get something like 128 GB if somehow you found it in the market! Your operation system will probably need 25% of it, leaving you with little to work with.

256 GB will be the best option to get. If you can afford to go higher to 512 GB or even 1 TB and not break the bank, it can be more beneficial over the long run. Most laptops are un-upgradeable to higher storage options after purchase, so you need to find the best option based on your use before purchase.

If you need more storage, cloud options such as Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive are the best options to store all your documents.

However, if you are old school, Check our recommendation of the best Portable SSD to buy on Amazon.

4- Get A Laptop With Full Day Battery Life

Focus on getting a laptop with at least 10 hours of battery life, with 12 being the best option you can get. Most laptops nowadays can offer a range of 10-12 hours, with some can go up to 16 and 18 hours of battery life.

Laptop Battery Life You Should Get

Battery Life	Recommended For
10-14 Hours of Battery Life	Project Managers who work from home or the office. These are the least mobile project managers and do not have to travel anywhere.
14-16 Hours of Battery Life	For project managers who travel a lot.
16+ Hours of Battery Life	For fully mobile and remote project managers.

As a rule of thumb, computer usage is usually 3-4 hours less than manufacturer recommendations.

The manufacturer will test the battery’s performance in ideal conditions. This means running light programs on low brightness.

This is why you should avoid laptops with low battery life because they usually will give you less than recommended. For example, an 8 hours battery life might only give you 5 hours on a single charge depending on your usage.

Moreover, for any computer you buy, the battery will be the first thing that degrades or deteriorates in capacity. Because they are lithium batteries, which means their capacity degrades with every charging cycle. For example, if you can get a 10-hour battery life, it will degrade to 8 or 7 in a few years.

5- Dedicated Graphic Card Is Not Necessary

An integrated graphics is a graphic processing unit built into the processor that shares the processor memory. This is what most project managers require.

In contrast, a dedicated graphics card or Graphics processing unit (GPU) is a hardware unit built into the PC with its own memory. And as the name suggests, it deals with graphics. This is usually not required for project managers’ use.

A laptop with a dedicated graphics card can run more complicated programs. However, the huge tradeoffs are expensive and chunky laptops as those graphic cards require lots of cooling and consume more battery life than integrated graphics laptops, which project managers do not need.

You can run the vast majority of programs you need just fine with an integrated graphic if you have at least 16 GB of RAM and Core i5 or AMD R7 processors.

However, if you must get a graphics card, do not get anything less than 4 GB of dedicated graphics memory, as less would not make much difference compared to just spending the money to get a better processor like Core i7 or AMD R7. Nvidia is usually the best when it comes to graphic cards with its Nvidia GeForce RTX Series. Therefore, anything at or above RTX 2060 is generally very good for a laptop.

6- 14-Inch Screen Is The Best Size

Project Managers favour portability over performance. It is true that the higher the specs of the laptop, the more expensive it becomes. However, it also becomes heavier, chunkier and bigger, making it less portable and consuming more power. Therefore a 14-inch screen or less is the best option to get.

The 14-inch screen offers the best combination of portability and screen real estate. However, a 13-inch screen is also a good choice if you want something very light. In comparison, 15-inch offers the best screen real estate with portability. Anything above 15-inch, such as 16 or 17-inch, becomes less portable as they become heavy and altogether hard to fit in a backpack.

7- The Lighter The Laptop, The Better

You should consider getting something light and small. Luckily those laptops are available, and some with quite attractive prices. We recommend anything less than 4 lbs or 1.8 kg for maximum portability.

Project managers work in a dynamic environment, which means one day you will be working in the office, the next will be in a meeting on the opposite side of the city, and one day you will just be working on site. The unpredictability of the work environment for some project managers requires a more reliable option that can give you more battery life with ease of use and portability.

8- Operating System Is Based On Your Preference: Windows Or MacOS

Everyone has a preference. Some prefer Mac, and others prefer Windows. The choice completely depends on your preference as both are good options based on your use as a project manager.

Windows laptops offer a more flexible operating system, while MacOs is usually limited to the apps you can download from the app store.

In most cases, we found that preference, region and the company dictate the choice of which laptop to get.

9- Touch Screens & 2In1 Are Good To Have But Not Essential

It does not matter if your laptops have all the bells and whistles; as long as it has the basic functions, you are good to go. A laptop might have a touch screen it can rotate 360 degrees and comes with a pen. Some have non of that, and still, they will do just fine.

Most of your time on this laptop as a project manager will not relate to any of these feathers, so do not feel pressured to get all those extra additions that will cost you more money and will not be used as much.

In our opinion, if you have some extra bucks to spare, get a laptop with higher specs, such as more RAM and a better processor. This will make a significant difference to the computer’s performance ability.

However, getting a better screen resolution is probably the best thing you can do if you have more money to spend. High resolution is good for the eyes, especially with extra dimming options; a 1440p is probably the most affordable option currently and way better than a 1080p screen.

As for the touch screen, it would not make much difference to your experience, and most likely, you will find yourself rarely using it.

Macbooks are not touch screens, but they are very successful. It is just the cherry on top if you get it with the laptop but absolutely not essential.

Bonus Tip – Avoid Older Models & Second-Hand Laptops

Always buy the latest in the market. Even if you find an older model with what seems to be higher specs, it will not be as good as the latest in the market. Second-hand laptops might be cheap, but they will do you more harm than good as a project manager.

The main reason to avoid second-hand laptops is that computer processing performance tends to degrade with time and become slower.

This has nothing to do with the manufacturer or the laptop specs. This is something that happens to all computers.

Also, the battery performance tends to degrade, as mentioned earlier. And you do not want a low battery life laptop.

Finally, the screen resolution and the visual system also tend to degrade after a while. The screen is made of pixels that usually burn out after long use, and you end up with dead pixels that can affect the quality of the screen.

Overall, buying second-hand is not a good deal once you factor in all the above.

Top 10 Laptop To Buy Now For Project Managers 2023

If you went through the above, you should know enough to pick the best laptop for you. The following are our picks for the best laptop you can buy now in the market that offers the best value between price, power, speed and portability: