Laptops

Laptops specified for business rather than for the high street. The difference is not the badge on the lid — it is manageability, the operating system licence, how long the model stays available, and whether you can still buy the same machine in eighteen months when you need six more of them.

Windows 11 Pro, not Home

Business ranges such as Dell Latitude, HP's commercial lines and ASUS's business models ship with Windows 11 Pro. That is what allows a device to join a domain or be enrolled in Intune, to use BitLocker drive encryption and Group Policy, and to be managed remotely. Consumer laptops ship with Home, which does none of those things — upgrading afterwards costs more than specifying correctly in the first place.

ChromeOS for shared and education use

The Chromebook models here — Acer, ASUS, HP Fortis and Samsung — suit shared desks, classrooms, training rooms and kiosk roles. They boot fast, update centrally, and cost a fraction of a Windows machine. The trade-off is that they run web and Android applications rather than installed Windows software, so check your line-of-business application first.

Specifying for a fleet

Three things decide whether a rollout goes smoothly. Standardise the docking connection, so one dock model serves the whole fleet — USB-C and Thunderbolt docks are not always interchangeable. Standardise on one screen size where you can, because it fixes your monitor, case and stand buying too. And check the keyboard layout: UK English is not the default on every SKU, and a shipment of US-layout machines is a problem you only discover on day one.

If you are replacing a fleet in stages, tell us the model you are standardising on and we can hold the specification across the rollout rather than leaving you to chase changing stock.

Trade pricing and business accounts are available for UK organisations, and bulk orders are welcome — request a quote.