Can We Buy a Low-Cost Computer to Do Our Work from Home?

You don’t need to work from home with a costly laptop. Models that cost as little as $500 are providing the functionality you need to function efficiently and remain connected to colleagues. That said, some higher-end laptops might offer better experiences and be smarter long-term investments if you have the budget. The work of Dell Refurbished Computers is different from a brand new Apple laptop. So, for great work-at-home laptops, we will make some detailed product suggestions, and give tips on shopping to find the best deal for yourself.

Basic Computer Requirements to Work From Home

You don’t have to take loans to purchase a laptop to function effectively from home, just like any other electronic device. But to keep you connected and efficient, you need to make sure your computer has specific features. Here are some critical specs to consider in buying a laptop to work from home.

• CPU: An Intel 8th-Gen or Younger Core I5 ‘U.’

Intel and AMD are both coming out this year with new smartphone CPUs, but the current Ryzen 4000 or Comet Lake H chips won’t be needed by mainstream users. An Intel 8th- or 10th-generation Core i5 ‘U’-class CPU provides the best performance balance and power efficiency for daily work. Lower-end Core i3 ‘U’ siblings might be too sluggish, and higher-end Core i7 ‘U’ chips would be good to have, but they’re not needed.

• Webcam: A Must Have

You’ll end up doing a lot of videoconferencing while you’re working from home. Most of these laptops come with a built-in webcam of 720pixel resolution. This is very much okay for you to attend a meeting on Zoom or Skype.

Some 720p webcams perform better than others, though the solution from Apple is shockingly subpar and still appears in the new MacBook Air, which begins at $999. If you use a 1080p camera, note that higher-resolution video produces larger files, and applications such as Zoom and Skype will need to compress the image to meet bandwidth requirements. A small number of mostly higher-end laptops, like the HP Spectre x360 13 t, offer standard 1080p webcams.

• Storage: At Least a 500 GB Or 256 GB SSD Hard Drive

Ideally, you should select a 256 GB or higher-capacity SSD, as this modern form of storage is faster than conventional hard drives spinning. We wouldn’t suggest any SSD smaller than 256 GB, however, so that you store everything in the cloud.

• Memory: Minimum 8 GB RAM

8 GB of RAM should suffice for running standard productivity programs, and a bunch of browser tabs. Do not be tempted by 4GB; if you can afford a 16 GB model, it will be worth considering the upgrade.

Bottom Line

To answer the question can you buy a low-cost computer to do your work home; nothing is stopping you from doing that. You only need to meet up with the requirement of the kind of work you want to do on the computer. Don’t spend unnecessarily on a costly laptop when that low-cost computer can give you the exact output you need.