ARTICLE

Best Laptops For Work And Play

December 17, 2024 - 4 min read 

Buy the right laptop and you’ll discover it can accommodate a lot more than just spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations. Your laptop can be a virtual one-stop shop for work, play and entertainment. For a laptop that can do it all, you’ll want a top-notch screen for essential tasks and great graphics for games, all while being light and portable enough to take to and from work. Here’s our guide to finding the best laptop for work and play.

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Female uni student with headphones and remote control enjoys a gaming break on a laptop.

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What Are The Best Laptops For Work?

Hybrid working requires a laptop that’s primed for everything you need it to do. Now that we have more control over our tech set-up, we have the freedom to make more personalised choices.
“The best way to pick your best laptop is to figure out what your most performance-intensive activity is,” says Jason Tavoletti, The Good Guys Buyer – Tech. “You can then choose your RAM and processing speed based on that, rather than just thinking about the spreadsheets you need to use for work.”

Product image of the Apple MacBook Air 13" M3 16GB 512GB - Space Grey

What Are The Best Laptops For Gaming?

The key things to look for when it comes to choosing the best gaming laptop are a dedicated graphics card – at least 16GB RAM – and a screen with a high refresh rate. And, newsflash, there’s never been a better time to be a gamer!

Shop Gaming Laptops

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16" i9 32GB 2TB RTX4080 12GB Gaming Laptop

Asus TUF A15 15.6" Ryzen 5 16GB 512GB RTX2050 4GB Gaming Laptop

Lenovo LOQ 15.6" i5 24GB 1TB RTX2050 4GB Gaming Laptop

product image of the Lenovo LOQ 15.6" i5 24GB 1TB RTX2050 4GB Gaming Laptop

What Are The Best Laptops For Watching Movies?

When it comes to a laptop for watching movies, the good news is you don’t need too many fancy features in the body of the device. The screen, however, is where you might want to go as big as you can (while still making sure it’s the right size to take to and from work!). To make it the best laptop to watch movies on, opt for as high a resolution as possible. Ideally, you want 4K but if Full HD is all that fits in your budget, you’re still going to get a great deal of entertainment joy.

“Another key feature to consider if you enjoy a movie marathon is an extra-long battery life,” says Jason Tavoletti. “You could also go for a hybrid 2-in-1 tablet/computer so it’s easier to watch movies in bed.”

Shop Laptops For Watching Movies

Acer Aspire 15 15.6" Core 5 8GB 512GB Laptop

Asus Vivobook 15 15.6" i7 16GB 1TB Laptop

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 15.6" i5 16GB 512GB Laptop

product image of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 15.6" i5 16GB 512GB Laptop

What Are The Best All-Rounder Laptops?

If you want a laptop that can do it all, it’s important to consider your most processor- and graphics-heavy activities, and choose something accordingly. For example, if you’re working, watching movies and gaming, then gaming is going to dictate your top laptop requirements. You’ll need to think about the three sides of the ‘fancy laptop triangle’: light, powerful and affordable. Usually, you can only have two sides of that triangle, and it’s up to you to decide which sides best suit your needs.

Female executive busy working on a laptop  with colleagues in the background.

For gaming, it also all depends on what kinds of games you’re playing. If you’re just using Xbox Cloud Gaming, then you could get away with not even having a dedicated graphics card, but if you’re hardcore into Destiny or AAA games like Elden Ring, then that 3080 graphics card is going to be a must. Or, if you only play occasionally, but it’s more important to have a light, portable laptop for travel, then work out the minimum specs you can comfortably get away with and go from there.

Shop All-Rounder Laptops

Apple MacBook Pro 14" with M4 chip 16GB 512GB - Silver

Lenovo Yoga 7 14" EVO Core Ultra 5 16GB 512GB Touch 2in1 Laptop

Microsoft Surface Pro (11th Ed) Copilot+ PC 13" X Plus 10 Core 16GB 512GB - Sphire

product image of the Microsoft Surface Pro (11th Ed) Copilot+ PC 13" X Plus 10 Core 16GB 512GB - Sphire

Ready to get the all-rounder 2-in-1 laptop of your dreams that’s perfect for work and play? The Good Guys is here to give you expert advice, and the best deals on the biggest brands. See us in-store or online and we’ll have you set up in no time.

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