all right if you’ve been watching this channel for a while you’ll know that I worked at a big Wall Street bank that was for most of my career now while there I had a ton of experience working from home i was there right throughout co where guess what we all worked from home for 2 years well today I thought it would be fun to share what you should be looking for in a laptop for working from home and the peripherals to go with it then after that I’ll be listing my favorite work from home laptops that are available to buy right now and finally I’ll go through my specific setup like always everything I talk about today will be linked down below and on our website bestlaptop.deals please ensure you do check out the best laptops for home and office list as that list will be kept up to date well after this video goes live all right before we corporate employee you’re most likely remoting into your office computer or one of your company’s servers in this case you just don’t need a powerful laptop almost any modern processor with 16 gig of memory it’s going to be fine for you but it’s not just about performance when working from home you’ll want a laptop that is quiet home offices they just don’t have the same level of ambient noise as a big open plan one there is nothing more annoying than being distracted by a laptop’s fans the quietest of all laptops is of course the MacBook Air it doesn’t have a fan at all if you do want a Windows laptop that is quiet based on the hundreds or so that we’ve tested the safest bet is one with an Intel Luna Lake processor also known as Core Ultra Series 2 with a V at the end in the laptop world these manufacturers they do like to keep product names as confusing as possible but it does keep us in business the other option is to go with a Ryzen 5 or 7 processor from AMD just make sure that it’s their current generation of processors laptops with their newer ones they do tend to be quieter than their older ones now I would avoid a laptop with a more powerful processor unless you specifically need that say you want to program video edit or game laptops with more powerful processors they tend to have downsides not only are they more expensive but they often have more fan noise they feel warmer to the touch and less battery life regardless I’ll provide recommendations for both these type of laptops when I go through my favorites at the end now if you’re considering a Mac be aware that most companies use Windows if you remote in from a MacBook you’re going to find that certain keys are switched i found this issue particularly noticeable on Excel and specialized applications like programming IDEs now I’m not saying you can’t get a Mac apple’s laptops are very high quality and with current laptop prices Apple’s MacBooks they actually offer tremendous value so here’s who I think could buy a MacBook based on my personal experience when I was in management I was mainly on Zoom calls and was more reviewing documents first creating them in a role like that you know a Mac was fine i just had to put up with hey I need to remember to press a different key when I was an individual contributor though that was earlier on in my career at that stage I was creating documents i was doing data analysis or coding a Mac would have been an absolute pain last point on laptop processors I promise you you may see laptops with Snapdragon processors from Qualcomm like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 these processors use the ARM architecture and a different version of Windows software it just isn’t as mature on that version this can lead to incompatibility issues where some applications don’t work or just don’t work as well in my testing remote work apps they do work on Qualcomm laptops but given how many laptops are available I just don’t think this is a risk you need to take even Microsoft’s own Surface laptops that are sold to businesses have Intel processors all right let’s talk about what screen size to get if you are working out of a small apartment and you don’t have room for an external monitor get a laptop with a large display seeing more content on screen makes you more productive i’d go for 15-in or larger but don’t buy any old large screen laptop the amount of content that you can see on screen it’s not just about the screen size it’s also about its resolution and how bright it gets a high resolution screen it makes more text look nice and crisp this is extremely important when using Excel or coding and data science apps a minimum of 180 pixels per inch that is what I recommend set another way avoid a large display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution or lower for brightness you want around 400 nits to comfortably see the screen in any indoor environment now if you have more space say you’re in your own dedicated office you can get any size laptop and just pair it with an external monitor keyboard and mouse a small size laptop gives you the best of both worlds maximum portability when out and about and a desktop setup when at home little note though I find the experience of switching between a very small laptop’s display and a large external monitor quite jarring and I end up just not using the laptop’s display at all for me I prefer a 16-in laptop if you’re going to use the laptop’s display sierra on the other hand is very happy using a small Pro at 13 in display with an external monitor look it’s a personal preference and just something to consider finally if you’re planning to get a performance laptop I’d strongly advise going for a larger one powerful components they’re just better called in a bigger machine when it comes to the laptop’s keyboard Lenovo they really rise above most brands here take a look at the new IdeaPad Pro 5i not only is it comfortable to type on with a satisfying click but they even have large arrow keys that’s so you don’t mispress them on the flip side HP has taken a step back with lower travel keyboards on their recent laptops now if your work from home setup is large enough you can of course just get an external keyboard little warning though make sure it’s a quiet keyboard if you’re on the phone a lot no mechanical keyboards please they may be satisfying to type on but they are very distracting for people you are speaking to by the way I personally use my laptop’s keyboard and I don’t use an external one so I pay particular attention to how comfortable the keyboard feels and excuse me towards a larger laptop where the keyboard is less cramped you can of course find keyboards in larger laptops that also have a number pad mouse just like a keyboard it’s honestly what fits your hand best for both of these I’d advise heading to a store and trying some out if you can’t get to a store or the ones you want just aren’t available don’t be afraid to buy a couple and return the ones you don’t want obviously check the return policy first talking about mouse keyboard and monitor let’s discuss ports there are two ways you can go from here either you’re plugging everything into a monitor or a dock and you’re going for that clean minimalist setup or you’re plugging into the laptop itself my strong preference is to plug everything into your monitor or a dock nothing is more relaxing than sitting down to a clean desk with minimal clutter the cleaner setup is getting an external monitor that has a single USBC cable that powers your laptop and runs data these monitors often contain USB hubs themselves just look for a monitor that has the ports you need if you can’t find a monitor with the ports you need just go for a dock like the UG green ones I mentioned these give you more ports and often faster ports i recommend these type over the dongle ones not only do they have more ports but they connect via a USB cable so they sit cleanly out of the way just make sure your laptop has the required connection as the dock needs also for the cleaner setup make sure the laptop you’re getting has its USBC port on the same side as the dock or display you’re connecting with now if you want to plug into your laptop itself obviously make sure your laptop has the ports you need usbs with the same connection type as your keyboard and mouse and HDMI or display port over USBC for your monitor by the way little note for the gamers if you are planning to use an external monitor using USBC make sure that USBC port on your laptop actually connects directly to the dedicated GPU some laptops don’t let’s now talk about one of the most important parts of a remote work setup the webcam unfortunately I have bad news for you almost all webcams in laptops they’re pretty crappy and stuff like high megapixels it sounds better on paper but it just doesn’t necessarily make a difference we found the odd laptop with a decent webcam like the ThinkPad X9 but the only brand that has reliably decent ones is Apple even so none of them are fantastic but before you run out and buy a webcam you want to ensure that you’re correctly lit and your background looks nice and clean like my one this will make a bigger difference than buying a new webcam sit where your window is in front of you and not behind you so adequate lighting is on your face and you don’t have exposure issues if you don’t have enough light in your space that definitely degrades a webcam’s quality so buy a webcam light i did make a video a while back comparing a ton of these which I will link below make sure your background is clean and nicely designed if you need help just check out Pinterest boards for inspiration or go use a service like Decorilla in 2025 those zoom fake AI backgrounds they just look cheap and cheesy if you have got your lighting and background sorted and you still want to improve then it’s worth investing in a better webcam please be careful though of Amazon’s recommended bestsellers i was going to do a video comparing webcams and I bought a ton of these most of these cheap external webcams were just no better than a modern laptop’s webcam i’d strongly recommend you stick to known brands here like Logitech all right enough buying advice from me i’m finally going to walk you through my favorite work from home laptops please keep in mind though a laptop’s MSRP price when you see it it’s not its real price laptops they should really only be bought when on sale and they frequently go on sale we have a price tracker on our website bestlaptop.deal so you can get ahead of this we even call out when a laptop’s price makes it a good deal or a great one and guys we just launched a super cool new feature you can now set up custom price drop notifications all right with that said here are the laptops in order from least performance to most my favorite work from home laptop right now is Lenovo Slim 7i-15 it’s got a big bright highresolution display it’s got a comfortable keyboard and Intel Luna Lake processor and all the ports you need it even has a charging capable USBC port on either side so cables aren’t likely to get in your way for a 15-in laptop it’s also very compact and lightweight so if you want to carry it around with you it won’t break your back its main downside though is its trackpad which feels cheap but in a work from home setup you’ll probably use a mouse anyway if you are planning to use an external monitor and you do want a smaller laptop you could go with the 14-in version that laptop has the best battery life of any we’ve tested it only has a 1920 x 1200 resolution display though which as I said it’s not my favorite but on a smaller 14-in panel it’s not the end of the world plus that specific OLED display is actually pretty good if the Slim 7i’s are too expensive I’d recommend going for a ZenBook 14 get the AMD model if you don’t do any gaming or the Intel model if you do i’m referring to very light gaming here neither of these laptops are capable of much more the ZenBook it feels a little cheap compared to the Slim 7i that I just mentioned but it does shine amongst laptops below $1,000 if you’re okay with a MacBook all Apples right now are great if you do plan to work off the laptop screen itself I’d go for the MacBook Air 15 it’s still such a compact and lightweight laptop that’s if you want to take it with you just be aware of the concerns that I raised earlier about a MacBook for remote work and MacBook Airs they have very limited ports so you’ll probably want to get a dock if you do have more money to spend and you want Windows I’d step up to one of Lenovo’s ThinkPads the ThinkPad X915 specifically it has a bright high resolution display a haptic trackpad good port selection with USBC ports on either side a very large battery and an unusually good webcam there is a 14-in version but its battery is significantly smaller and it just isn’t as special as Lenovo’s premium 14-in laptop the ThinkPad X1 Carbon which is my next choice that laptop it oozes quality and it is incredibly lightweight if you do plan to carry your laptop around with you this one is fantastic it only weighs 2.2 2 lb and unlike most laptops that are this light it doesn’t sacrifice on build quality the X1 Carbon has a comfortable keyboard and good port selection its only nits are that its USBC ports are all on the left side its trackpad isn’t haptic and is small to make room for the buttons needed for the red track point but again given you’ll probably be using a mouse when it’s docked not so much of an issue what is a bit more annoying though is that its battery is small compared to the slim 7 i14 that I mentioned earlier and it is very expensive x1 Carbons though they frequently go on big sales so as I said set a price drop notification on our website if you want to step up to a Windows laptop which is more powerful the IdeaPad Pro 5i is my pick both the one from last year and this year are fine just keep an eye out on the display there is a really good OLED panel and there’s a not so good IPS one the IdeaPad Pro 5i comes with a powerful Intel H CPU and there is a powerful AMD version too the Pro 5i has a comfortable keyboard lots of ports and you can even get it with a low-end dedicated GPU be aware though all USBC ports and the HDMI port are on the same side if you can’t find the Idea Pad Pro 5i HB OmniBook Ultra is a good alternative it is only a 14-in laptop though not a 16 if you want a laptop with a more powerful GPU that is better for gaming or video editing I’d go for Asus’s Zephris G16 it’s a very slim and portable gaming laptop the light silver color it looks very stylish on a desk it’s powerful it doesn’t have much fan noise at all and it remains very cool to the touch i’d try to get the 5070Ti model if you can afford it that’s the sweet spot for this laptop below that you only get 8 gig of VRAM which throttles the GPU a little bit in some games above the 5070Ti the GPU just isn’t fed enough wattage in this thin chassis if you aren’t a gamer though and you’re just doing high-end creative work or coding and you’re okay with a Mac the MacBook Pro 16 is a fantastic option just like the G16 it’s cool and quiet in real world performance use but its processor is much more powerful macbook Pros are also one of the only laptops right now to have Thunderbolt 5 ports which is future proofing your purchase also I haven’t talked about this about Apple’s laptops you do tend to see more content on their screens for similar sized Windows ones they just have better font rendering which makes it easier to see small text without needing to squint now if you want even more performance from a Windows laptop get the HBO in Mac 16 it can effectively drive Nvidia’s highest end laptop GPUs now in our test the new Legion Pro 7i it did deliver better performance but the Omen’s ports are in a much more convenient location if you value a clean desk setup the Omen’s going to be the way to go like the G16 I recommended earlier the Omen also remains very cool and quiet in most use cases which is rare given how powerful it is it is even pretty quiet in intense gaming all right so I said at the beginning that I’d finish with my desk setup but this video it’s getting a bit long so let me know with a comment below if you want me to do another video where I walk you through all the gear that I use with my laptop i hope this guide helped you pick your next laptop until next time go do something awesome with your day and I will catch you later