What is a ‘business grade’ computer?

There are a few notable differences between a computer built and manufactured for business use, compared to computers manufactures for consumer/home use.

The cost

While business laptops will often cost 20%-50% more than consumer alternatives with similar performance specs they, usually are designed to last much longer with heavier use. This means the total cost of ownership is often lower over the typical 4-6 year life cycle of a computer.

• Almost all come with 3 years warranties, compared to the usual 1 year you might see on consumer grade devices.
• These warranties will often include onsite repairs included. This removes unexpected repair costs.
• You often get notably more use and a longer lifespan out of business laptops.

The reliability

As the devices are designed for business, extra care is taken to make sure it can handle the wear and tear it will experience being used heavily every day. Everything from the screen hinge to the keyboard is designed to take the expected wear of business use. Not only that as the laptops are manufactured in mass, extra care is taken with software such as drivers as they know issues will affect millions of their business customers. Everything goes through more rigorous testing. As business models are made in much larger numbers, they also have greater comparability and less issues with operating system and driver updates.

Compatibility, features, support

Business laptops are designed to come with features that would useful in a business environment. This can range from specific connectors to enable the use of docking stations to security and management features. Most will support dual (or more) video output so staff can use multiple screens to maximise productivity.

Business grade computers will also get driver and software updates for years after their initial release, which is important for stability and security. In comparison, updates often stop for consumer devices once they stop manufacturing them, which often happens quickly as models are changed more frequently with smaller amount of device produced for each model type.

They also always come with Windows 10 Professional, meaning you don’t have to buy this upgrade separately, if you need the business features, like being able to logon with your work account or have it connect to an Active Directory domain.

Summary

If you plan to use your laptop or desktop in a business environment, going for a business grade laptop form a well known manufacturer (such as Dell, Hp, Lenovo, etc) is strongly recommended. These devices will last longer and provide a better cost of ownership and less issues compared to your average consumer laptop.