Best laptop model for writers?
Reasonable price please.
Better if it's pink.
Also, truthfully, I'm not a fan of Macbooks.
Better if it's pink.
Also, truthfully, I'm not a fan of Macbooks.
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ElwoodBlues · M
Writing demands nothing in the way of graphics and almost nothing in the way of CPU power. So the good news is almost everything meets your basic criteria.
Most laptops these days have a "full HD" screen of 1080x1920 pixels, but a few have lower resolution. Go for "full HD" (or the premium pick of 1200x1920) so you can get more of a page on your screen.
As a writer, keyboard feel is probably the most important thing, and it's an individual thing. This page lists one reviewer's favorite laptops by keyboard: [b]https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/i-review-laptops-for-a-living-and-these-have-my-favorite-keyboards[/b]
Oh, looky here! An article about best laptops for writers!
[b]https://www.laptopmag.com/best-picks/best-laptops-for-writers[/b]
Their #2 pick, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (9th Generation) has what they call the best keyboard in a laptop for writers, PLUS the 1200x1920 display (they call it 16:10 FHD+). Nice if your budget goes up to $1300.
It's also got several useful ports. That's one other thing to think about. Some laptops (like the thinnest Dells) only ship with a couple of USB-C 4 ports and then you need an adapter dongle to get USB-A, HDMI, etc. I personally write best with a mouse not a touchpad. And I prefer a wired mouse so I'm not faced with sudden battery failure at a bad time. So a legacy USB-A port is perfect for my mouse, or for plugging in a thumb drive to back up to. You may not have these constraints, or you may really want an SD card reader so you can peruse photos from your camera. Anyway, good luck, and happy writing!!
Most laptops these days have a "full HD" screen of 1080x1920 pixels, but a few have lower resolution. Go for "full HD" (or the premium pick of 1200x1920) so you can get more of a page on your screen.
As a writer, keyboard feel is probably the most important thing, and it's an individual thing. This page lists one reviewer's favorite laptops by keyboard: [b]https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/i-review-laptops-for-a-living-and-these-have-my-favorite-keyboards[/b]
Oh, looky here! An article about best laptops for writers!
[b]https://www.laptopmag.com/best-picks/best-laptops-for-writers[/b]
Their #2 pick, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (9th Generation) has what they call the best keyboard in a laptop for writers, PLUS the 1200x1920 display (they call it 16:10 FHD+). Nice if your budget goes up to $1300.
It's also got several useful ports. That's one other thing to think about. Some laptops (like the thinnest Dells) only ship with a couple of USB-C 4 ports and then you need an adapter dongle to get USB-A, HDMI, etc. I personally write best with a mouse not a touchpad. And I prefer a wired mouse so I'm not faced with sudden battery failure at a bad time. So a legacy USB-A port is perfect for my mouse, or for plugging in a thumb drive to back up to. You may not have these constraints, or you may really want an SD card reader so you can peruse photos from your camera. Anyway, good luck, and happy writing!!
Casheyane · F
ElwoodBlues · M
@Casheyane I'm currently typing on an ASUS GL503GE that's several years old. It's got a 15.6" screen and a num pad as part of the keyboard. It's kinda big and heavy for travel; it mostly sits on my desk.
For my college kids I have gotten Dell XPS with 13.3" screens. When they were in high school I got them earlier Dells. For them I always bought the 4 years of full insurance. When they banged it around too much or whatever, the Dell guy would come the next day to repair. In the high school years that happened several times. I think we're on year 3 of the current Dells with no repair issues. They only have the two USB-C ports so I got them dongles with 10 or so ports for their desks in their rooms. They like to connect an additional monitor, mouse, thumbdrives, etc.
For my college kids I have gotten Dell XPS with 13.3" screens. When they were in high school I got them earlier Dells. For them I always bought the 4 years of full insurance. When they banged it around too much or whatever, the Dell guy would come the next day to repair. In the high school years that happened several times. I think we're on year 3 of the current Dells with no repair issues. They only have the two USB-C ports so I got them dongles with 10 or so ports for their desks in their rooms. They like to connect an additional monitor, mouse, thumbdrives, etc.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
If all you are doing is writing then a secondhand Thinkpad like my T460s is plenty good enough. 14" screen, 8 GB ram, 256 GB SSD, very light, good keyboard (much better than HP). Mine only cost me 1100 NOK a couple of months ago, that's about 110 USD.
But it is black. I daresay you could get some pink spray paint and paint it pink!
But it is black. I daresay you could get some pink spray paint and paint it pink!
ElwoodBlues · M
@ninalanyon Or, one could get some nice big pink stickers!
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@ElwoodBlues Or use pink nail varnish to paint a picture. I painted the boring black wallet case for my previous mobile phone with several colours of sparkly nail varnish, looked much better.
Beatbox34 · 31-35, M
@Casheyane Asus has some good models. Depends on how much you want to spend. Some of them have OLED screens but I would stay away from them given that they drain the batteries faster.
If you're in the market for a laptop. Stick to HP, Lenovo, Asus or Acer. Just stay away from Dell. I don't recommend anyone getting a Dell because if your product does fail within the warranty period, they're just going to replace it with refurbished parts. Not new ones lol. It's a company policy and it's a worldwide thing. I tend to stay as far as I can from Dell.
If you're in the market for a laptop. Stick to HP, Lenovo, Asus or Acer. Just stay away from Dell. I don't recommend anyone getting a Dell because if your product does fail within the warranty period, they're just going to replace it with refurbished parts. Not new ones lol. It's a company policy and it's a worldwide thing. I tend to stay as far as I can from Dell.
UnlikeableAndy · 36-40, M
DeWayfarer · 61-69, M
SW-User
For just writing, probably any laptop will do, particularly when an external keyboard and mouse are added (even if just when the laptop is in use at home). You might want to spend a bit more for a really good external keyboard if you type [i]a lot[/i]. This could be both more pleasant than using the laptop's keyboard, and also extend the life of the laptop's keyboard for when you have to be mobile and don't want to wag around external input devices. I've seen a keyboard prematurely wear out even on a legendary ThinkPad, and replacing components like the integrated keyboard in a laptop is more annoying than just buying a new external keyboard.
Consumer-grade laptops would be cheaper than business-grade laptops (e.g., for Lenovo, consumer-grade are the IdeaPads and business-grade / developer-grade / NASA-grade are the ThinkPads, which I love and use, but they may be overkill just for writing). Most brands have separate sub-brands like this, one for consumers, and another for businesses. You can walk into a non-membership big box retailer like Walmart and touch a consumer-grade IdeaPad for yourself and probably leave with it that day.
You definitely don't need any heavy-duty CPU like an Intel Core i7, you could get by with something minimal and cheaper like a Celeron chip, which may expand your options for finding something specifically in [i]pink[/i].
You really don't need anything fancy at all just for writing. Searching a site like Newegg for a refurbished laptop might be a good idea so you don't spend a lot when the requirements are so low.
You don't even need a Windows operating system just for writing, but getting a laptop that comes with a more usable version of Linux than ChromeOS pre-installed (such as one sold by System76) will probably be more expensive because for now, other than Chromebooks and Android devices, Linux is smaller/more niche market. However, even on Windows you might find that a word processing program like LibreOffice Writer, which is free, does everything you need, so you don't have to pay for something like Microsoft Word.
You could possibly even get by with just a Chromebook, if either you don't mind storing your documents in the cloud, you can find a way to access the minimal / ephemeral internal storage, and/or make use of external drives for really important documents.
At home you may even want to plug in a larger external monitor in a vertical orientation, particularly if you opt for a cheaper laptop with a lower screen resolution. The external monitor, mouse, keyboard, and drive(s) will likely outlive the laptop and can be re-used with the next laptop.
If you think there is any chance you may want to sell the laptop to someone in the future, I would not apply any stickers to it. Imagine how annoying it is to try to scrape window / bumper stickers off of a car when you buy it used.
Consumer-grade laptops would be cheaper than business-grade laptops (e.g., for Lenovo, consumer-grade are the IdeaPads and business-grade / developer-grade / NASA-grade are the ThinkPads, which I love and use, but they may be overkill just for writing). Most brands have separate sub-brands like this, one for consumers, and another for businesses. You can walk into a non-membership big box retailer like Walmart and touch a consumer-grade IdeaPad for yourself and probably leave with it that day.
You definitely don't need any heavy-duty CPU like an Intel Core i7, you could get by with something minimal and cheaper like a Celeron chip, which may expand your options for finding something specifically in [i]pink[/i].
You really don't need anything fancy at all just for writing. Searching a site like Newegg for a refurbished laptop might be a good idea so you don't spend a lot when the requirements are so low.
You don't even need a Windows operating system just for writing, but getting a laptop that comes with a more usable version of Linux than ChromeOS pre-installed (such as one sold by System76) will probably be more expensive because for now, other than Chromebooks and Android devices, Linux is smaller/more niche market. However, even on Windows you might find that a word processing program like LibreOffice Writer, which is free, does everything you need, so you don't have to pay for something like Microsoft Word.
You could possibly even get by with just a Chromebook, if either you don't mind storing your documents in the cloud, you can find a way to access the minimal / ephemeral internal storage, and/or make use of external drives for really important documents.
At home you may even want to plug in a larger external monitor in a vertical orientation, particularly if you opt for a cheaper laptop with a lower screen resolution. The external monitor, mouse, keyboard, and drive(s) will likely outlive the laptop and can be re-used with the next laptop.
If you think there is any chance you may want to sell the laptop to someone in the future, I would not apply any stickers to it. Imagine how annoying it is to try to scrape window / bumper stickers off of a car when you buy it used.
MacBook
If not that, a pen and paper
If not that, a pen and paper