I get asked this all the time. “We need laptops for the sales team — what should we buy?” And almost every time, the business has either bought the cheapest thing in Currys or let a sales rep upsell them into MacBook Pros. Neither is the right call.
Here’s what I actually recommend after 20 years of setting up businesses across Galway and the west of Ireland.
What your sales team actually does on a laptop
Let’s be honest about this. Your sales team uses email, Teams or Zoom, a browser with 15 tabs open, your CRM, and maybe a spreadsheet. That’s it. They’re not editing video. They’re not running machine learning models. They’re sending emails and jumping on calls.
This means you don’t need a gaming GPU, you don’t need 32GB of RAM, and you definitely don’t need the €1,500 premium model. You need something reliable, light, with good battery life and a decent screen.
The spec that actually matters
Processor: Intel Core i5 (12th gen or newer) or AMD Ryzen 5. An i7 is wasted money for a sales role — you’ll never notice the difference in email and browser work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
RAM: 16GB minimum. I know 8GB machines are cheaper, but they’ll frustrate your team within 6 months. Teams alone can eat 4GB. Chrome with a few tabs takes another 3-4GB. 8GB means constant swapping and slowdowns. 16GB and you’ll never think about it.
Storage: 256GB SSD is fine if your team uses OneDrive or Google Drive for file storage. Go 512GB if they tend to save everything locally. Either way, it must be an SSD — never buy a laptop with a spinning hard drive in 2025.
Screen: 14 inches is the sweet spot. Big enough to work on comfortably, small enough to carry around. 13″ if they travel constantly. 15″ if they’re mostly desk-based and want the extra screen space.
Battery: 8+ hours real-world. Not “manufacturer claims 12 hours” — real-world with Teams running and Wi-Fi on. Sales people live on the road. A laptop that dies at 3pm is useless.
Weight: Under 1.6kg if they’re carrying it daily. Under 2kg if it mostly lives on a desk with occasional travel.
Windows vs Mac
For most Irish businesses using Microsoft 365, go Windows. Macs are lovely machines, but you’ll pay 40% more for the same spec, and there’s a good chance your accountant’s software, your label printer, or your industry-specific app doesn’t run on macOS. If your whole workflow is browser-based and everyone uses iPhones, Mac can work. But for 90% of the businesses I work with in Galway, Windows is the practical choice.
Brands I recommend
Stick to business-grade lines. These are built tougher, get longer support, and have better keyboards than consumer models.
Lenovo ThinkPad T or L series — the classic business laptop. Brilliant keyboards, reliable, good value. The L14 is a great budget option. The T14 is the sweet spot.
HP EliteBook — solid build quality, good screens, business-grade support. The 840 series is excellent.
Dell Latitude — reliable, widely available, good docking station ecosystem. The 5000 series hits the price/performance sweet spot.
Avoid consumer lines: Lenovo IdeaPad, HP Pavilion, Dell Inspiron. They look similar but they’re built to a lower standard and won’t last as long in daily business use.
What a good setup costs
For the spec above in a business-grade machine, you’re looking at €700–€900 per laptop. That’s the sweet spot where you get reliability and performance without overpaying.
Don’t buy the €400 special. You’ll replace it in 18 months and your sales team will curse you every day until then. Don’t buy the €1,400 premium either — unless someone specifically needs it, that money is better spent elsewhere.
The stuff people forget to budget for
The laptop is only part of the cost. For each person, budget an extra €150–200 for:
A docking station — USB-C dock so they can plug in one cable at their desk and connect to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Game changer for productivity.
A decent headset — they’re on calls all day. A €40 Jabra or Poly headset makes them sound professional and cuts background noise. Don’t let them use laptop speakers for client calls.
A laptop bag or sleeve — protects the investment. A €30 bag saves you a €700 screen replacement.
A second charger — one for the office, one for the bag. Sounds like a luxury until someone forgets their charger before a client meeting.
Should you buy refurbished?
Absolutely, from a reputable dealer. A 1-year-old ThinkPad T14 at 60% of the new price with a 12-month warranty is one of the best business purchases you can make. Sites like Tier1Online in Ireland or RefurbMe are good starting points. Just make sure it comes with a warranty and that the battery health is decent.
I’ve set up plenty of businesses in Tuam, Claremorris, and Athenry with refurbished machines and they’ve been brilliant. Smart money.
The bottom line
For a sales team: 14″ business laptop, i5, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, €700–900 new or €400–600 refurbished. Add a dock, headset, and bag. Don’t overthink it, don’t overspend, and don’t buy consumer machines for business use.
Need help spec’ing laptops for your team? I’ll give you a straight recommendation — no commission, no affiliate links. WhatsApp me and I’ll tell you exactly what to buy.