With more people than ever before now working from home for some or all of the week after the big shake-up caused by the COVID19 pandemic in 2020, the boundaries between our home and work lives are more blurred than ever, and this has also extended to laptops. For long before working from home became mainstream, companies were implementing ‘bring your own device’ policies allowing employees who wanted to, to use their own laptops for working rather than the company-provided option. This means that for most people who are looking for a new laptop today, both work and leisure need to be considered. You might be using your laptop for spreadsheets by day and playing video games by night. So, what should you look out for?
Durability
If you work on your laptop for eight hours a day in the week, and then play games and watch videos on it on the weekend, use it for online learning, sending personal emails and perhaps a side hustle, then you are going to need a device that is seriously durable. Even if you are using your laptop for personal use, if it’s getting used all day for work too then a business laptop might be worth investing in as these are better designed to withstand a huge amount of use, compared to consumer laptops which aren’t built to be used quite as often.
Applications
Before you go out and buy a laptop, it’s a wise idea to think about the type of applications that you are going to be using it for. Don’t just think about what you do at work – even if all you normally do on your laptop is write things in Microsoft Word and answer emails during your working hours, if you’re gaming in the evening, you’re going to need a powerful processor and graphics card. Or, if you have a side hustle making personalized items to sell on Etsy, this Lenovo Cricut Laptop could provide the perfect solution to all your needs.
Portability
Think about how portable you need your laptop to be. If you work from home three days of the week but go into the office to catch up in-person and work with the team on Monday and Tuesday, then think about how easy it’s going to be to move your laptop from your home office desk to your work desk, especially if you walk or take public transport to get to work. The last thing you need is a sore back from carrying a super heavy laptop all that way with you.
Security
Finally, if you’re using a laptop for both work and leisure, it’s probably going to be housing a lot of data, so security is a key consideration. While you can make any laptop more secure with the addition of antivirus and security software programs, it’s worth looking out for something that offers extra layers of built-in security like biometrics.
With more of us working from home on our own devices, knowing what to look out for in a laptop that you’ll be using for both work and leisure purposes is more important than ever.
