There are plenty of options available in the market for the best laptop for investment banking. Choosing the right one can be a difficult task. This blog will be helpful for those who are looking to buy laptops for the field of investment banking.
Investment banking is a high-pressure job, which both demands flawless time management and requires you to be always connected. You need a laptop that not only has the power and speed to excel at your job, but also allows you to remain online at all times.
Investment banking means analyzing a lot of data and that requires a lot of horsepower. Banks require their analysts to make decisions based on financial data. The analyst needs to have a large amount of data and a big spreadsheet with data to manipulate it.
Laptops for investment banking should have a good hard drive to store all your data and the processor should be fast enough to help you crunch data for better decisions.
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How to choose the best investment banking laptop?
That depends. First of all, investment banking is not just one job. There are different career paths within it. You might be doing corporate finance, private equity, capital markets, real-estate etc.
All these jobs require different skillsets and laptops. If you are on the corporate finance side, then you need to do a lot of modeling in excel. Thus a laptop with very good processing speed will be required.
I suggest you should not go below the i5 processor line. For a laptop with i5 processor, you can consider HP, Dell and Lenovo. I suggest you should look at the 15 inch laptop if you plan to lug your laptop around a lot because it has better ergonomics and is also more powerful.
The 15 inch one will cost you around $1200-1500. If you are on the real-estate side, then you will need to use a laptop primarily for modeling and data-crunching. Thus a laptop with the latest processor will be good enough.
In this case, you can look at the 13 inch laptops. I use my 13 inch lenovo laptop for my modeling. I think the ones with the i7 processor will be sufficient to handle your modeling needs. The 13 inch one will cost you around $1000.
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Top 5 investment banking laptops
Investment banking laptops are a bit different from your standard laptop. Investment banks have very specific needs for their laptops, including security and durability. This makes the laptop market a bit of a minefield for the uninformed. This blog will discuss some of the best investment banking laptops on the market.
Dell XPS 15
- CPU: Core i7-8750H
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Display: 15.6″ display 4K UHD Touchscreen
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB dedicated graphics
- Battery: Up to 9 Hours
The best laptop for investment banking is the Dell XPS 15. This laptop is available at a very affordable price when compared to the features it offers. Its performance is stellar, it has a powerful processor and high memory capacity.
The graphics of this laptop is also good. It also has a very good screen resolution. The battery life is good. This laptop also comes with a one year warranty.
This laptop has a combination of input devices like touchpad, track pad, touch screen and a keyboard. An investment banker requires a laptop which has the capability to handle a large amount of data and also displays it.
The Dell XPS 15 has all these features and is thin and light in weight which makes it easy to carry around. The Dell XPS 15 is available at an affordable price which perfectly suits an investment banker.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
- CPU: Intel Core i7-8565U Processor 1. 8GHz, Up to 4. 6GHz Turbo, Quad Core
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR3 2133MHz RAM
- Storage: 512GB Solid State Drive
- Display: 14″ Anti-glare LED Backlit IPS FHD (1920 x 1080) Display
- GPU: Intel Integrated 620 Graphics
- Battery: Up to 7 Hours
I love the keyboard and touchpad of the X1 Carbon. This unibody laptop has a carbon fiber finish and a firm but responsive keyboard, and it’s lighter than typical ThinkPads.
The screen is also very bright and offers a wide viewing angle. I do wish the X1 had a better pointing stick and a touchscreen, though.
Investment banking person would love the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, mostly because of the keyboard and there is no comparison. The laptop looks and feels classy. It is by far the most lightweight machine I have used. It is a bit expensive, but it is worth every penny.
HP ENVY 13
- CPU: 8th Generation intel(r) core(tm) i7-8565u, quad-core, 1.8 GHz Base frequency, up to 4.6 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology (8 MB Cache)
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (not upgradable)
- Storage: 512 GB pcie(r) nvmetm M.2 solid state drive
- Display: 13.3-inch diagonal 4K IPS micro-edge WLED-backlit touchscreen with durable protective corning(r) Gorilla) Glass nbt(tm) (3840 x 2160) to stand up to everyday bumps and scrapes. 8.2 million pixels bring your content to life in mesmerizing quality with 178-degree wide-viewing angles
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce MX250
- Battery: Up to 12 hours and 45 minutes
HP ENVY 13 laptop features a touch screen, security features like fingerprint reader and webcam kill switch. The laptop comes with a sleek design and is equipped with 8th generation intel core i5 processor along with 16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM and 512 GB nvmetm M.2 solid state drive.
HP ENVY 13’s sleek, premium design is crafted from high-quality materials, with a brushed metal finish and geometric pattern speaker grill.
It boasts a vibrant Full HD display, high-performance Intel 6th Gen Core processors and the latest graphics for incredible performance – all in a thin, light laptop that easily fits into your life.
Acer Aspire 5
- CPU: 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8265U Processor (Upto 3.9 gram Hz)
- RAM: 8 GB DDR4 Memory
- Storage: 256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Display: 15.6 Inches Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit IPS Display
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620
- Battery: Up to 9.5 Hours
Much more than a laptop, the Acer Aspire 5 is your personal productivity powerhouse. With its 8th Generation Intel Core i5 processor, 256 GB SSD and huge 8GB DDR4 memory, this laptop provides you with the power to work, play and store whatever you need on the go.
This stylish laptop includes a 15.6-inch Full HD display that has a wide 178 degree viewing angle so everyone in the room can share and see your screen content clearly.
Acer Aspire 5 is the right choice for your mobile work and play. Get all the power you need from a laptop that’s thinner than ever before.
With up to 9.5 hours of battery life on a single charge, you can go about your day without worrying about running out of juice. And, with an ultra-slim design featuring premium materials, it looks as great as it performs.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-46
- Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R14K Slim Laptop | 15.6″ Full HD IPS | AMD Ryzen 3 3350U Quad-Core Mobile Processor | 4GB DDR4 | 128GB NVMe SSD | WiFi 6 | Backlit KB | Amazon Alexa | Windows 10 Home (S mode)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3350U Quad-Core Mobile Processor
- RAM: 4GB DDR4
- Storage: 128GB NVMe SSD
- Display: 15.6″ Full HD IPS
- GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 6 Mobile Graphics
- Battery: Up to 10 Hours
Fitting comfortably in your lap, your hands can finally relax. Acer Aspire 5 combines high-end performance with beautiful, premium design. The powerful AMD Ryzen™ processor lets you play, work, or create at your peak performance, all day long. The thin yet stylish Full HD display delivers great viewing angles and vivid colors.
Full HD Display: The stunning 15.6″ Full HD IPS display brings your entertainment to life. The display features an ultrafast 1ms response time and wide-viewing angles to ensure that you get the best visuals possible.
This laptop with built-in fingerprint sensor is designed with your convenience in mind. Just scan your fingerprint to log-in to Windows with the touch of a button. This Acer laptop has an internal storage capacity of 128 GB ensuring you have ample space for all your important documents, presentations and media files.
It also has an SB 3.2 Type-C, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 (1 Power-off Charging), USB 2.0, HDMI 2.0 with HDCP support, headphone speaker line-out jack, Ethernet (RJ-45), DC-in for AC adapter.
ASUS VivoBook F512
- CPU: AMD Quad Core Ryzen 5 3500U Processor (2M Cache, up to 3.6 GHz)
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 RAM
- Storage: 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
- Display: 15.6 inch FHD 4 way NanoEdge bezel display with a stunning 88% screen-to-body ratio
- GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8 discrete graphics
- Battery: Up to 8 hours 24 minutes
The ASUS VivoBook F512 is a powerful notebook that gives you the performance and versatility to conquer any challenge on the go. Powered by the AMD Quad Core Ryzen 5 3500U processor, this laptop lets you breeze through your daily tasks while delivering lag-free visuals and high definition audio for a truly immersive experience.
VivoBook is a new series of laptops that brings together a stunning design with powerful performance. It’s an immersive entertainment experience thanks to the high-quality screen and audio, and the superfast connectivity.
Everything you need for work, play, or entertainment is right at your fingertips.
ASUS VivoBook F512 is designed to accommodate the modern day laptop lifestyle, letting you fully experience all the on-the-go entertainment without sacrificing work productivity.
Its compact and lightweight body weighs only 3.7 lbs while its ergonomic backlit keyboard with fingerprint sensor activated via Windows Hello adds more security for your files and information.
It also has comprehensive connections including USB 3.2 Type-C, USB 3.2, USB 2.0, HDMI, and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac).
Final words
Before you buy a laptop for investment banking, I suggest that you do your research. You should look up the specifications of the laptop that you are interested in and compare it to my list of investment banking laptops.
If you can afford a laptop with better specifications, then I suggest you buy that laptop instead. The best investment banking laptops are Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Both have Core i7 CPUs, Full HD displays, sufficient RAM and 1 TB or 500 GB of SSD.
They are also very durable, lightweight and portable. For people with higher budgets, Dell XPS 15 is also a good choice.
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