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Why You Should Not “Cheap Out” On Business Laptops

Why You Should Not “Cheap Out” On Business Laptops. Security Considerations, Utility In Your Day-To-Day Operations, Resources To Help Choice

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2021

TwinzTech

Many Factors Define Business Laptops Efficiency

Many Factors Define Laptop Efficiency

You can find a Lenovo or a Dell laptop in the $150 to 250 range brand new on sale. That laptop will do word-processing, it will have internet access, and come preprogrammed with a few games. It’ll likely have adware as well, which is a pain. The cheaper the device, the higher the likelihood annoying pop-ups will define startup and be hard to get rid of.

That said, for many, this kind of thing is all that’s necessary. However, for laptops that are repositories for important information, this is not enough. Two primary things are deciding factors. For one, consider security. The cheaper the computer, the more vulnerable it is to cybercrime.

Why You Should Not “Cheap Out” On Business Laptops

You’re generally not going to find exceptionally cheap Apple devices unless they’re used and old. Good luck finding anything that’ll run modern software under $500 in the MacBook refurbishment camp. It’s there, but it’s quite essential. Meanwhile, Windows devices are international and common.

Table of Contents

1. Security Considerations

For cybercriminals, the majority of hack attacks have to do with a sort of spray-and-pray technique. They’ll send out varying hack attacks en masse. Instead of sending one email to a specific target, they’ll send a thousand emails aimed at average users who aren’t savvy to the new scam and hope they catch a few.

That’s not to say there isn’t directed hacking, either. This is sometimes called “spear-phishing”, and there’s also “whaling”, where management personnel at the top of corporate infrastructure are targeted for cybercriminal data theft.

Ransomware is targeted at such individuals. Also, hackers seek to get network access information to steal vital data like bank accounts and passwords.

2. Utility In Your Day-To-Day Operations

Beyond security, you need to think about utility. Cheap laptops have unresponsive trackpads, meaning you’ll likely need to get a wireless mouse. Their keyboards are also suspect. On the Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL, the “Shift” key is smaller than on virtually all other American devices, and it’s located right above the “Right Arrow” key.

If you type like most people—right-handed—you’re going to have quite a difficult time capitalizing certain things. It ends up being quite an impediment to your daily grind, and, as with the wireless mouse, you end up having to buy a wireless keyboard as well. That’s in addition to all the adware and pop-up.

Plus, as you use cheap laptops, they become increasingly slower with notifications, adware, user error, and other issues. Lastly, the cheaper the computer, the faster its battery gets used up.

On that Lenovo mentioned earlier, expect battery life to last about two hours before a recharge is needed once you’ve had it a few months. Now the Ideapad 110-15ACL is explicitly a few years old, but the same features tend to define other cheap options as well.

3. Resources To Help Inform Your Choice

To more efficiently inform your business laptop acquisition, here’s a list of some of the best laptops out there. To condense it all, you’ll want something that’s mid-range and up for essential battery, speed, storage, processing capability, security, and overall user-friendliness. Look for models that specifically feature vital customer service.

The stronger the customer service, the less difficulty you’ll have troubleshooting when issues develop. Even if you can farm such troubleshooting off to on-site IT personnel, they’ll thank you if customer service for the device in question is qualitative, as they’ll likely have to deal with those departments at some point.

The thing is, there’s a cost-benefit analysis to run here. If the device you choose is cheap, but it’s hard to operate, its battery always runs down, it doesn’t effectively safeguard proprietary data, and it’s a pain to use, then what you save in money directly you’ll lose on the back-end.

However, a device that’s four times more expensive than peers, but which runs fast, is reliable, secure, easy to use, has friendly customer service, incorporates long battery life, and is exceptionally portable will collaterally be more valuable to your business overall.

Workers can get things done faster and with less mental fatigue, and the device can be trusted. You’ll make back the extra money you spend.

4. Diverse Factors Determine Balance: The $750 Rule Of Thumb.

The balance for many businesses where employees aren’t doing processing-intensive work on their laptops tends to be between about $500 and $1,000.

If you are actually on a budget, you can find models in the $1,200 to $2,000 range in the $300 to $700 range if you buy them refurbished after a few years. As a rule of thumb, expect about $750 per unit for best results overall regardless of brand.

Business

Upgrades That Will Help Your Business Thrive

Once you’ve identified your goals and how to attain them, you can then grow your business in specific areas according to what you want to achieve. The following 13 upgrades cover common areas of business that typically need developing:

Published

1 week ago

September 22, 2022

TwinzTech

Upgrades That Will Help Your Business Thrive

Continuous improvement should be the primary goal of any business. While it takes time and effort and some financial outlay, it’s crucial to continue growing and striving toward becoming the leader in your field.

This guide offers 13 ideas to help your business grow, increase your customer base, improve your productivity and boost your bottom line.

Start With A Solid Foundation

Before you commit to growth you should ensure your business is built on solid ground. Here are some tips to help you begin:

Know your business – the use of tools such as benchmarking, market research and trend analysis will help you get a better picture of the factors affecting your business.

Take charge of your finances – Make a commitment to understanding your daily, weekly, and monthly figures. Unless you have a dedicated accountant, you need to have a thorough understanding of your financial situation.

Prioritize your goals – identify those business goals which can be achieved relatively quickly and those which will require more time and financial investment. Make sure the goals you set are relevant and can be achieved in a realistic timeframe.

Develop a plan – once you’ve identified your goals, you will need to develop strategies to realize them and the best means of implementing those strategies.

Make your results measurable – work out how you are going to measure your results. You may want to introduce devices such as a point system or desired percentage increase.

13 Ways To Upgrade Your Business

Include reviews – today’s consumers place great value on the opinions of their peers when it comes to buying products. Upgrading your website to include customer reviews will help to increase sales and boost customer confidence. Be sure to include both good and bad reviews if you want to be taken seriously.

Upgrade your internet – an upgrade to FTTP (fiber to the premises) now will pay big dividends for your business down the line and it doesn’t have to cost you anything. Qualifying businesses connecting to high-speed NBN plans can enjoy a $0 upfront cost.

Computer Monitor and Other Remote Work Must-Haves

Introduce automation – there is a multitude of software and applications designed to reduce labor costs and increase productivity. Many are inexpensive and can free up small business owners, allowing them to focus more on growing their core business.

Increase your social media presence – rather than just a Facebook page and a presence on Instagram and Twitter, you should look at other forms of customer interaction such as articles, sponsorship, blogs, and webinars.

Start networking – as well as an online presence, you need to get out there more and attend industry-related events such as expos and seminars. This is, not only to network with others in your field but also to forge new contacts with like-minded businesses, with cross-promotion in mind.

Create a rewards program – think of ways to reward your existing customers to maintain their loyalty and incentivize them to buy from you again. These could include early access to specials and exclusive offers not available to the general public.

Create an email list – email addresses of existing customers are a valuable resource you should be taking full advantage of. Send those on your mailing list regular reminders of what you have to offer, but make sure it’s valuable content rather than what could be perceived as spam.

Ask for feedback – another valuable resource is your customers’ opinions. Ask them what they think of your products and then use this feedback to improve your product line and customer service.

Streamline your business – identify which products aren’t selling, which employees aren’t performing and any other areas that may be holding you back. Make changes and be ruthless on behalf of your business.

Reduce overheads – look at ways to cut costs within your business such as transitioning to a remote workforce or outsourcing business processes such as payroll, HR, and bookkeeping.

Invest in your people – good staff morale translates into good customer service. Provide your employees additional training, advancement opportunities, and a fair wage to ensure a healthy company culture.

Improve your credentials – reduce your carbon footprint, introduce sustainable processes and practice corporate responsibility in order to retain and grow your customer base.

Increase cybersecurity – upgrade your cybersecurity systems to make sure you are protected from the latest threats from hackers, malware, etc. This is particularly important if you have a remote workforce.

Roughly half of all small businesses don’t make it past their fifth year of operation, so continuous improvement needs to be a priority from day one. Adopting just a few of the measures suggested here should help keep your business on trend, competitive, and above all, profitable.