Getting a budget laptop for work is not impossible. There are a plethora of great laptops that will help you to quickly finish tasks and boost your productivity at the workplace. We have done a great deal of research and identified three of the best work laptop under $1000.
So, if you are on a budget and looking for a machine that can help you get work done without breaking the bank, this is the right guide for you.
Our Top Work Laptops Under $1000
We recommend the following laptops for workers and business people who don’t have a lot to spend. While they are cheap, these machines pack powerful features to help boost your productivity.
Best Overall Laptop Under $1000: ASUS ZenBook 13
The Asus ZenBook 13 doesn’t come with the kind of premium build quality you would expect from this renowned brand. However, for less than $1000, you get a business powerhouse that has the right tools to help you get more done and faster.
So, if you are willing to compromise on build quality, you will find the 8th generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage a welcome relief. This is a better deal than what you will get with most laptops in the same price category.
The 8th generation processor will breeze through your productivity tools and give the laptop an enviable performance boost. This in combination with the 16GB of RAM and generous SSD storage makes the ASUS ZenBook 13 a perfect pick for the workplace.
What We Like
- Powerful 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM for running workplace tools such as QuickBooks.
- Sufficient 512GB SSD storage for storing work files and multimedia.
- Long battery life for workers who don’t like carrying their chargers.
- ErgoLift design to provide comfort for workers who type on the laptop for long hours.
- Attractive design
- Excellent 1080p screen for doing creative work.
- Offers great value for money
What We Don’t Like
- The keyboard layout is a bit weird.
- The touchpad is too small for comfort.
- Powerful & fast for effortless on-the-go computing: 8th generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor,...
- Durable & reliable: meets the ultra-demanding MIL-STD-810G military standard for reliability and...
- Long battery life: powered by a high-capacity battery that won’t let you down
Best Work Laptop Under $1000 for the Money: Acer Swift 3
The Acer Swift 3 offers the best value for money than any of our other recommendations. This is the best work laptop under $1000 to buy if you are looking for a great balance between price and functionality.
Its perfectly calibrated display and plausible color accuracy make it a good fit for the photo and video editors. While pricier models of the Acer Swift 3 come with a dedicated graphics card, this one uses Integrated Intel graphics.
This makes it less of a creative laptop. However, for simple graphic design and video editing, these graphics may be enough.
The Acer Swift 3 runs on an Intel Core i5-8265U CPU with 8GB of RAM. This is not as powerful as that of the Asus ZenBook 13. However, it is nothing to look down upon. The processor is still great for running work tools and boosting general laptop performance.
That being said, the 256GB SSD storage may be too limiting. Our cheapest recommendation, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000, has double that amount which makes this a sizeable compromise.
You should, therefore, only consider this laptop if storage space is not much of a priority for you.
What We Like
- Generous port selection for seamlessly sharing your work between the laptop and other devices.
- A competitive Intel Core i5-8265U processor fast performance and quickly finishing important tasks.
- Although the 256GB SSD storage is limited, it’s still enough for workers and business people who don’t have huge files to store.
- Sharp display for creative work such as video and photo editing.
- Good battery life makes it a good fit for workers who don’t like recharging frequently.
- Weighs only 2.87 pounds which makes it a good option for people who work on the go.
What We Don’t Like
- Below average build quality.
- The bland aesthetics may be a turn off for workers who like beautiful laptops.
- Acer Swift 3 sf313-51 Pro notebook
- 13.3" 1920x1080 Display, Intel Core i5-8265u CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro, silver
Best Cheap Work Laptop Under $1000: Dell Inspiron 15 7000
It’s hard to differentiate the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 from other premium and pricier laptops. Although it doesn’t pack many bells and whistles, you will find most of the features you need for work.
These include an impressive 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8265U processor with 6MB cache memory and up to 3.9 GHz. There is also the 8GB of RAM which although is less than what you with the Asus ZenBook 13, is still great for this price point.
While the Inspiron 15 7000 is our cheapest recommendation, we think it still provides a great value for money. For instance, you get the same amount of SSD storage provided by the ZenBook 13.
That is, 512GB. What is more, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 comes with a big 15-inch display and a host of peripheral ports for sharing files between the laptop and other devices or presenting your work on a projector.
You will also get a backlit keyboard for comfortable and speedy typing even when in dim environments. The integrated Intel UHD 620 Graphics is nothing to be proud of. However, for light creative work and gaming, they’ll do just fine for this price point.
What We Like
- Decent and fast processor for running crucial work software.
- The full-sized Ethernet port will come in handy when connecting to business networks.
- The HDMI port is useful for plugging into projectors during a presentation
- The 512GB SSD storage is enough for storing important work software, files, and multimedia. It also helps to make the laptop faster.
- Very affordable
What We Don’t Like
- At 12 pounds, it’s too heavy for workers who prefer portability.
- The subpar graphics card makes it unfit for creative professionals and gamers.
- The display’s color accuracy is a bit off.
What to Consider in Work Laptops Under $1000
Below are some of the most important features to consider when shopping around for a good work laptop. These are the features that we prioritized while compiling this guide so you won’t have to look too far from our recommendations.
Portability
If you work on the go or commute daily, you will need a portable laptop. The most portable work laptops generally weigh less than 4 pounds. However, if you also want a bigger display, you might have to go up to 6 pounds.
The Acer Swift 3 weighs only 2.87 pounds making it a good option if you want a laptop you can easily carry around.
On the other hand, our cheapest recommendation, the Dell Inspiron 15 700 weighs 12 pounds making it too heavy for carrying around. You should only get this laptop if you don’t travel a lot or carry your laptop to the workplace every day.
Durability
If you are investing in the best work laptop, you probably want something you can use for a long time. Assuming that you work from the office or in the field, you are constantly on the move.
This makes the laptop more vulnerable to damage than when it’s sitting around in the office or at home.
For this reason, you will need a durable laptop so you don’t have to replace it after only a short time. Lucky for you, most manufacturers are now putting a lot of emphasis on durability for work laptops.
Many laptops now come with metal or aluminum chassis as opposed to plastic.
If you don’t have enough money to invest on an all-metal laptop, you should consider getting a shockproof case or comfy laptop bag especially if you move around a lot.
Storage
We mostly focused on storage while researching our best work laptops under $1000. This is an inevitable necessity for workers who have a boatload of work files, software, images and videos to store.
The least amount of storage you should get for a work laptop is 128GB. Most of the options we recommended come with 512GB SSD storage which is more than what you will ever need.
For mobile workers, we recommend SSD storage as opposed to HDD. Solid-state drives (SSDs) don’t have any moving parts and are faster and more durable than HDDs.
Battery Life
If you spend most of the time working away from a power source or just don’t like the idea of carrying the charger everywhere you go, you will need a laptop with long battery life. The average battery life is about 6 hours which all of our recommendations beat.
For instance, the Acer Swift 3 goes up to 13 hours while the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 will drain after about 10 hours.
Performance
Performance is something you should never compromise for any kind of laptop. Most of the best work laptops under $1000 come with fast processors and integrated graphics.
If you need a laptop for creative work such as graphic design, video or image editing or web development, we recommend you get a laptop with dedicated graphics.
For work, an Intel Core i5 or Core 7 processor will do great. You can boost the performance by getting a laptop with not less than 8GB of RAM. This will enough for working with large files, editing media and playing light games on the side.
Conclusion
We hope this guide will help you find the best budget laptop for work. We made sure to only include laptops that have features that are important in the workplace so you don’t have to spend your money on the wrong laptop.
