The best laptops for writers are those with the best keyboards. These are the best you’ll find.
Whether you’re a web writer posting on WordPress on the daily or an upstart novel writer, you’ll probably want a laptop to do at least some of your work on. The needs, however, for a writer are different than the usual laptop categories like gaming laptops or even business laptops. A laptop for writers doesn’t need a super high refresh rate, high-powered processor, or any extra frills. It can have those, of course, and become a more multifunctional machine, but the core purpose of this laptop should be the production of copy, script, and story.
What follows is our attempt to boil the thousands of viable laptops out there into a list suitable for those entering the writing profession or hobby with earnest fingers and a sound mind. Writing is also a tremendous part of our profession, so we have trial and error to show what works. For example, your romantic visions of sitting in the coffee shop and writing for several hours will come true. However, the bulk of your most productive writing will almost certainly be done on your home desktop computer. The following list looks for balance between the desires of the laptop writing lifestyle and the reality that follows.The best laptops for writers
Best overall:
Best Apple:
Best 2-in-1:
Best for freelancers:
Best budget: How to choose a laptop for writers
At the time of this writing, our guide to the best laptops presents four primary factors to focus on when determining what laptop to get: Performance, Portability, Build quality, and Price. Without a doubt, those four factors are still important. For you, they may even be the most important. However, when looking at laptops for writers as a subset of all laptops, there are some things that hold more decision weight than they would on another laptops.Keyboard
This category is not a surprise. What might be a surprise is that it isn’t all about cost and getting fancy. While you can write thousands of words a day on a super budget keyboard if it feels comfortable to you, there are some things that might be important to you later on that aren’t obvious now.
Consider what type of writing you’ll be doing to see if you’ll want a numpad. Whether you’re writing out numbers ($149, was $249) or blocks of data for analysis, straight up numbers are important. But even if you are a sci-fi novelist, the numpad makes keyboard shortcuts easier. For example, you can always do a double n-dash (–) to make an m-dash (—) but isn’t Alt+0151 so much more satisfying? Not to mention more accurate on character counts. Depending on your specialty, you may find others that are critical. Have a British editor? Ask for a raise in Alt+0163 British pounds. If this factor is important to you, be warned that numpads are rare on laptops.
Mechanical keyboard adherents may hate to hear it, but the traditional membrane keyboards (aka chiclet keyboards) commonly seen on ASUS or HP laptops are likely the way to go. Mechanical taps might be fun for you and make you sound productive, but won’t make you the most popular patron of the local library, coffee shop, or bookstore. Besides, low-profile keyboards can be nice in their own right.
