How frequently do you travel? How long do you stay outside? How much work do you need to handle while traveling?
A perfect travel laptop is your ideal companion while traveling. However, how do you pick the perfect travel laptop?
I am sharing my personal experience through this travel laptop buying guide to help people like you.
I am a wanderlust. I frequently travel.
Sometimes I spend a couple of hours in the railway station, waiting room, bus terminus, airport, and even a cafe.
I handle many works from there. So I must have a perfect travel laptop.
However, picking a perfect travel gear is never easy. You need to focus on lots of factors from battery life to processor and more.
Don’t worry, here in this guide, I’ll disclose the major factors to pick the perfect travel laptop.
You may think, who am I to guide you to pick a perfect laptop mainly for travel?
Let me introduce myself a little bit.
By profession, I am a digital marketing trainer and a digital marketing professional with over a couple of years of experience.
Additionally, I am a travel vlogger as well. So I need a perfect laptop for my productivity.
Hope you can understand how I overcame real-life challenges! Therefore this article may guide you to pick your best travel companion, a travel laptop.
Small Story Behind a Perfect Travel Laptop
Let’s share my story. It was 2018. I left my job and set up my startup, Biva Technologies. Since then, I have had to travel to various places with my laptop.
Majorly for client meetings, I used to carry my laptop.
Being a middle-class jobless boy with lots of dreams in my eyes, I had to focus on a perfect budget laptop that I could carry while roaming.
Therefore all the elements of a perfect travel laptop buying guide are 100% genuine. I know what I’ve experienced, it may be similar to lots of others.
I have seen people often look for the best laptop instead of a perfect laptop.
Wait a bit!
Both the words ‘best’ and ‘perfect’ I use carefully. The truth is today’s best is tomorrow’s obsolete as technology is developing rapidly.
So I always prefer to pick the perfect laptop instead of the best one.
Focus on Purpose First
While you are picking a travel laptop, you must prioritize your purpose over others. The purpose of a digital marketer and a vlogger is completely different.
Vloggers need a perfect video editing laptop and a digital marketer needs an office laptop where he can check the performance of Google Ads, and Meta Ads, or even create presentations, etc.
This is the first point you need to focus on while you are planning to purchase your first travel laptop.
How to Prioritize?
If you are confused about how to prioritize your purpose, this section may help you a lot.
First, create a checklist of your priorities.
For example, you are a travel vlogger. You must prioritize the perfect video editing laptop with decent RAM, storage, battery backup, and above all processor.
If you are a digital marketer by profession, your priorities would be a mid-level laptop with decent RAM, storage, and battery backup.
Let’s create a checklist.
- Major task – i.g. Video editing.
- Software compatibility.
- Maximum duration of work.
- Decent configuration.
- Standard price.
- Service availability (very important).
Configuration over Brand
I personally prefer configuration over brand. Brand definitely matters. However, if you have a tight budget or get customised features, configuration is the key.
When you know your priorities well and decide to purchase a perfect travel laptop, you’ll be ahead with a perfect configuration.
Here is the ideal configuration checklist that help you to pick the ideal one.
- Processor (both CPU and GPU)
- RAM (on board and extendable)
- SSD (with data transparency speed)
- Screen Size (display size)
- Backlit Keyboard (for travel it is a must)
- Weight (Light weight is better)
- Body quality (metal is preferable)
- Battery Backup (long battery life is best)
- Price (if fit with budget)
Confused? Don’t worry, I am here to guide you on choosing the perfect travel laptop configuration.
Suppose you are a travel blogger and a social media (both still and video) content creator. What would be your ideal configuration?
- Processor – minimum i3 (preferable i5, i7, i9, M2, M1, M3 (MacBook Pro))
- RAM – minimum 16 GB (preferable 24 GB for Windows and 16 GB for Mac)
- SSD – minimum 512 GB (preferable 1TB SSD for windows and 512GB for Mac)
- Screen Size – preferable 13” for portability
- Backlit Keyboard – must (best for low light activity)
- Weight – light preferable
- Body – metal is preferable otherwise premium quality plastic
- Battery – minimum 3-4 hours backup
- Price – depending on your budget.
If you are picking a MacBook over a Windows laptop, the price is comparatively higher. Though it is completely a misconception that Mac is always better than Windows.
Windows offers many premium laptops at a cheap price compared to Mac.
The MacBook is always trendy and a style statement as well. If you have no issue with budget and use other Apple devices, undoubtedly you must pick MacBook over Windows for video editing.
Let’s come to another segment.
Suppose you are a digital marketer (who needs computers frequently) and you need to buy a travel laptop, what configuration must you keep in mind?
- Processor – i3, i5, M1 (MacBook Air) is sufficient.
- RAM – 8 GB (standard)
- SSD – 256 GB (because maximum work in done online using web browser like Google Chrome)
- Screen Size – 13-15.6” (small screens are better for portability)
- Backlit Keyboard – must (best for low light activities)
- Weight – lightweight is preferable
- Battery Backup – at least 4 hours. (MacBook is better option here)
- Body – metal is preferable, but premium plastic is also a good option
- price – depending on you. If you pick a MacBook (very productive), the budget is higher.
For any general official purpose, the above one is sufficient. However if you think about investing in a high-end laptop, you can pick the video editing segment discussed before.
Hope you have got an idea about ideal travel laptop configuration.
After Sale(s) Support
Don’t forget to check if your laptop has decent ‘after sale support’? Electronic gadgets may disturb anytime. So you must check if your laptop has decent support.
Whatever the brand is, you must check if their service centre is global. As you are looking for a travel laptop, so you may face any problems anywhere. You must check if service centres are available in major cities in your destinations.
It does not mean that new brands don’t have service centres globally. However you must check if it is available.
If you want to know what factors you must consider while checking your after sales support, you can check these.
- How many service centres do you have in your country and globally?
- Does your laptop cover international warranty?
- Does your laptop support international service?
- What would be the extended warranty price (better as you frequently travel)?
- Does your warranty cover full protection (insurance) including theft and accidental damage?
- Offer and price comparison among brands.
My Final Thought
If you are looking for a decent travel laptop to roam around, this article may be an ideal one for you. Buying a laptop is easy when you combine your purpose, budget and configuration. Don’t forget to check the after sales support and warranty. Remember, a decent travel laptop is your perfect buddy to enhance productivity and refreshment.