In this article, we feature 7 of the best laptops for stock trading, focusing on different categories of users. We’ll highlight the best trading laptop overall, but also present options for traders on a budget, as well as those that like to play the latest games when taking a break from their intense trading sessions.
Before we begin with our list of the best trading laptops, let’s talk about what you should focus on when selecting a laptop for stock trading.
What to look for in a laptop for stock trading?
What’s important in a stock trading laptop?
You’ll want a reasonably powerful CPU to ensure that your laptop runs smoothly — you want to be focused on your trading and not be distracted by long loading times and sluggish performance. However, you don’t need a top of the line CPU in a stock trading laptop.
Stock traders often have multiple charts open, and monitor news across various websites. This translates into a large number of browser tabs, which are notoriously heavy on RAM. So, we recommend you opt for 16 GB of RAM or more to ensure that you can have dozens of tabs open simultaneously without too much of a hit to performance.
If you’re not sure if the laptop has enough RAM, make sure that you’re buying a laptop with a free RAM slot (or multiple RAM slots) so you can add more RAM later if necessary.
If you plan to use your laptop in scenarios where you don’t have external monitors available, it’s crucial that you pick a laptop with a high display resolution and good viewing angles. Stock trading interfaces cram a lot of information in relatively small spaces and you don’t want to be straining your eyes too much when looking at charts for an extended period of time.
Battery life can be an important consideration or almost irrelevant, depending on your lifestyle. If you mostly use your laptop at home or at places where you can charge it, you don’t need to prioritize getting a laptop with a long battery life. If you’re often trading on the go, however, battery life becomes a much bigger priority.
What’s less important in a laptop for stock trading?
When it comes to graphics capabilities, all you need is a GPU that can comfortably power the amount of external displays you intend to use. You don’t need to splurge on a laptop just because it has a strong GPU, as it’s one of the least relevant aspects of your computer when it comes to stock trading.
Of course, if you want your laptop to be able to handle games in addition to stock trading, you’ll need to ensure that it has powerful graphics (ideally a dedicated graphics card), as gaming performance largely depends on the GPU.
Another aspect of a stock trading laptop that’s not highly relevant is storage, since most stock trading is done through online platforms. The only thing that’s important here is that your laptop has an SSD drive and not an HDD drive, since an SSD will give you a much faster boot up time and an overall snappier user experience.
Most modern laptops are equipped with SSDs anyway, which is why storage will rarely be a deciding factor when choosing between the best laptops for trading stocks.
So, let’s sum up the key takeaways of the features that you should focus on when buying a laptop for stock trading.
- Prioritize RAM (16 GB or more).
- If you often trade on the go, prioritize a good battery life and a high-quality screen.
- Most stock traders will not need a high-performance CPU, unless you are frequently using complex spreadsheets with large amounts of data. A mid-range CPU will suffice for most traders.
- Your GPU or integrated graphics solution only needs to be powerful enough to drive the number of external displays you intend to use. Don’t pay a premium to get a powerful GPU, as it’s not very relevant for most stock trading applications.
- The amount of storage is not very important, just make sure that the laptop is equipped with an SSD.
The best laptops for stock trading in 2023
Now, let’s take a look at our selection of the best laptops for trading in 2023.
1. Dell XPS 15 — An excellent laptop for stock trading
The Dell XPS 15 is a laptop with an excellent design and a very solid battery life. However, it is a relatively premium device, and might not be the best choice if your priority is to get the most bang for your buck.
Here’s the configuration we selected using the Dell website:
- Intel i7-13700H CPU
- Intel Arc A370M graphics
- 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- 1 TB NVMe SSD
- 15.6” FHD+ 1920×1200 display
This configuration costs $1,549 and saves money by opting for a slightly weaker CPU, integrated graphics and a basic display. This laptop would do a great job if you primarily used it at home or at an office where you can connect it to external displays.
If you’re going to be doing a lot of trading on the go, we recommend the superior 15.6” 3.5K 3456×2160 OLED display. However, that display also requires at least the GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card. The upgraded display and GPU bring the laptop’s total price up $500, to $2,049.
The Dell XPS 15 laptop can get very expensive if you opt for top of the line components, as the fully specced out configuration will cost you a whopping $3,799. However, as we’ve mentioned before, you won’t get much value out of a powerful GPU and massive amounts of storage if you’re primarily using the laptop for stock trading.
Buy the Dell XPS 15
2. ThinkPad X1 Carbon — A highly portable laptop with excellent build quality
The ThinkPad series of laptops is legendary for its reliability and build quality, which are two qualities that will certainly be appreciated in scenarios such as stock trading, where you need to be certain that your laptop will not fail you when you want to seize an opportunity in the markets. This makes the ThinkPad X1 Carbon one of the best laptops for day trading.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon series offers excellent build quality and portability, while packing a considerable punch in terms of hardware. In addition, it provides solid battery life as well as an excellent keyboard that is a joy to use — if you do a lot of typing, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is certainly worth a close look.
A version with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1260p processor, 16 GB of RAM and integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics will cost you roughly $1,600. If you’re often trading on the go, consider upgrading to the OLED display.
However, if portability is not towards the top of your list of priorities, the premium price of this sleek and lightweight laptop might not be worth it for you. It’s certainly possible get a laptop with more powerful hardware for the same price (or even lower).
Buy the Thinkpad X1 Carbon
3. 14-inch MacBook Pro — The best stock trading laptop for macOS users
If you want a macOS laptop for stock trading, the best choice is the 14-inch MacBook Pro. The basic model with the M2 Pro chip (10-core CPU and 16-core GPU), alongside with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage should suffice for most traders and won’t break the bank at a listed price of $1,999.
While the 14-inch MacBook Pro is an excellent laptop for stock trading, you should keep in mind that the M2 Pro chip only offers support for two external displays. If you need support for more displays, you’d need to opt for a MacBook Pro with an M2 Max chip (support for up to 4 external displays). However, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max costs a whopping $3,099.
Buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro
4. Asus ZenBook Duo 14 — A unique dual-screen laptop
The Asus ZenBook Duo 14 is a very interesting laptop that features a second display (or screenpad) above the keyboard. In a stock trading scenario, you can use the main screen for charting while using the second screen for a newsfeed or other stock market information.
You can purchase a ZenBook Duo 14 with 32 GB of RAM, an Intel i7-1195G7 processor and 1 TB of storage for about $1,650. If you’re often trading on the go but would still like additional screen real estate, the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 is certainly worth considering.
However, the dual-screen set up does have its drawbacks. It takes a toll on the laptop’s battery life, and also results in a rather small keyboard and trackpad, which could be uncomfortable to use for some users. We definitely recommend trying an Asus ZenBook Duo 14 in a store before pulling the trigger to purchase one.
Buy the ASUS ZenBook Duo 14
5. LG Gram 17Z95P — The best stock trading laptop for under $1,000
The LG Gram 17Z95P is a highly portable laptop that manages to pack in 16 GB of RAM, an Intel i7-1195G7 CPU and 1 TB of storage for just under $1,000 (if you find a good deal). Its 17-inch screen provides considerable real estate and an IPS panel.
While the LG Gram 17Z95P’s hardware isn’t exactly earth-shattering, it should still suffice for the majority of stock traders. In addition, the LG Gram 17Z95P has a rather rare combination of a 17-inch screen and lightweight design, which can be a big plus for stock traders on the go. Simply put, you can fit much more information onto a 17-inch screen than you can on a 14-inch screen.
If you don’t want to spend too much but would still like a laptop that delivers solid performance overall, this is definitely an option worth considering.
Buy the LG Gram 17Z95P
6. Microsoft Surface Pro 9 — The best 2-in-1 laptop for stock trading
If you want a laptop that can double as a tablet while still being powerful enough for stock trading, we recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro 9. The version with 16 GB of RAM, an i7-2640M CPU and 256 GB of storage is selling for just under $1,300, which is a solid deal for a high quality 2-in-1 device. If you want to fully spec it out, you can opt for the version with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.
However, you need to keep in mind that Microsoft Surface devices only support up to 2 external monitors, which might be a dealbreaker depending on the monitor setup you would like to use.
Buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 9
7. Lenovo Legion Pro 5 — Best laptop for stock trading that doubles as a gaming laptop
Let’s face it — many of us want our laptop to be powerful enough for gaming even if we’re primarily buying it for more serious endeavours such as trading stocks. If you want a laptop for stock trading that’s powerful enough to deliver impressive performance in games, we recommend a laptop from the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 series.
These laptops pack a serious punch in terms of hardware, with the downside of a shorter battery life and worse portability — with a 16-inch screen and a weight of 8 pounds, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is not quite effortless to haul around as some of its more elegant counterparts.
You can get a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen 7-6800H processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 3070 TI 8GB graphics card for just under $1,650. This laptop has plenty of power for most stock trading applications, although it’s important to know that the dedicated graphics card, which isn’t very relevant for stock trading, is responsible for a big part of the $1,650 price tag.
A great thing about Lenovo Legion Pro 5 laptops is their 16-inch high refresh rate screen (165Hz), which offers a silky smooth user experience.
Buy the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
The bottom line
Hopefully, our list of the best laptops for trading stocks has helped you find your next device to trade on. We tried to cover a wide spectrum of laptops to help everyone find an ideal device, regardless of whether they’re looking for the absolute best performance, or trying to get the most bang for their buck.
If you’re interested in more topics related to stock trading, make sure to check out our list of the best stocks to buy right now.
Source: https://coincodex.com/article/32185/best-laptop-for-stock-trading/