3 Best Laptops for Astronomy in 2024
From this article, you will know what are, in our opinion, the best laptops for astronomy you can buy and use in 2024.
Astronomy is an area of study that tries to learn everything in our universe outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is fascinating work as numerous mysteries are still waiting to be uncovered when we talk about the universe and its vast surroundings.
Some work tools can help astronomers to do their work much more optimally. One of those work tools is probably a laptop. By using a laptop, astronomers can work anytime and anywhere with the help of all the software programs that they need to do their researches.
If you do your work in the astronomy field and want a laptop to help you do your work but don’t have a laptop yet for that purpose, you might be interested in buying a new laptop. However, it can be confusing to pick the right laptop from many laptop models and specification choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has come up with its list of the best laptops for astronomy that you can make as your laptop-buying reference.
What are the laptops that make it to our list and why do we recommend them? Let’s get on the list right away.
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| Image | View on Amazon | Product |
|---|---|---|
 
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 | |
 
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Dell XPS 15 9520 | |
 
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Apple MacBook M2 14 |
Table of Contents:
What are the Best Laptops for Astronomy?
Now, let’s take a deeper look at the laptops we think are excellent for astronomy work. Using one of these laptops should give you the laptop support you need to run the software you use in work more optimally.1. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is the first laptop we recommend for an astronomer to use. It is a reliable laptop from the popular Lenovo ThinkPad series that shouldn’t disappoint you in terms of performance level and model.
To support its performance, this laptop has a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 32GB RAM capacity. With these specifications in place, handling tasks related to your astronomy work shouldn’t be a problem for this laptop. When you need to type, this laptop’s keyboard is a high-quality one and should give you a comfortable typing feeling as you try to finish your work.
This laptop has a friendly-to-the-eye display so working for long hours continuously with it shouldn’t give your eyes much strain. It also has a quite flexible hinge (stretchable up to 180 degrees) to make you able to view its display in a more comfortable position.
The build of this laptop is sturdy with toughness that is often associated with a ThinkPad laptop so it should be more durable as you use it to help you work anywhere you want. All in all, this Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 can be just what you need to work in the astronomy field optimally.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 14 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 5.2 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 13 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support astronomy work
- Solid build
- Sleek and lightweight
- USB-A, Thunderbolt USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Friendly-to-the-eye display
- Stretchable hinge (up to 180 degrees)
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
2. Dell XPS 15 9520
Dell XPS 15 9520 is another laptop we think can be great for an astronomer to use. Considering the specifications that it has, this laptop should have more than enough to make you work without much problem in astronomy.
Performance-wise, you shouldn’t worry about this laptop. This is because it has a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 32GB RAM capacity to run your software smoothly. When you need to store files related to your work internally on this laptop, it has 1TB SSD storage space to accommodate those files well.
This laptop’s design is professional-looking and its build is premium so you shouldn’t look out of place using this laptop in any professional setting. As for your connectivity, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports ready for you to use on the sides of this laptop.
Looking for an excellent laptop to help an astronomer work? You may want to consider buying and using this Dell XPS 15 9520 too.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.7 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 9 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support astronomy work
- Premium build
- Professional-looking design
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
- Great speakers
Cons
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
- Average webcam quality
3. Apple MacBook Pro M2 14
Apple MacBook Pro M2 14 is the last laptop we have on this list. If the software you usually use at work can run well in macOS with the Apple silicon chip, then this MacBook can be one of the best laptop choices for you as an astronomer.
Supported by the Apple silicon chip (Apple M2 Pro in this model), this MacBook is very fast and should be up to the task of managing your work in astronomy. Your typical software shouldn’t give you any noticable lag when this MacBook runs it. The 16GB RAM capacity in this MacBook can help you multitask and do complex work without any lack of memory space.
The excellent power management of the Apple silicon chip makes this MacBook has an incredible battery life with up to 18 hours of normal usage capacity. Because of that, you should be able to stay productive for a full day and more even without a power outlet near you. This MacBook also has a highly portable design so you can bring it in your bag or hand anywhere you want easily.
There is an excellent webcam, microphones, and speakers in this MacBook to make you able to do video calls and get a positive communication experience. Overall, this Apple MacBook Pro M2 14 can also be a splendid laptop choice to support your work as an astronomer.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 14.2 inches, 3024 x 1964 pixels
- Processor: Apple M2 Pro with speed up to 3.5 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 18 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support astronomy work
- Sleek and quite lightweight
- Three Thunderbolt 4 ports and one HDMI port
- Long-lasting battery
- Excellent display and sound quality
- Excellent webcam and microphones
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No USB-A ports
- Notched display
What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a Laptop for Astronomy Work?
Here are the things we think you should consider when you want to buy a laptop to support your work as an astronomer.- Processor. You should have a good processor in the laptop you buy so it can run the software you need for your work smoothly. We recommend at least a late-generation i5 or Ryzen 5 processor for this
- RAM capacity. The laptop you buy should also have an adequate RAM capacity so it can multitask without much problem during your work process. We recommend a laptop with at least 16GB RAM for this
- Storage. You may need to store a lot of files related to your astronomy work internally on your laptop so the laptop you buy should have adequate storage space too. We recommend a laptop with at least 512GB SSD storage space for this
Wrap Up
When you want to buy a laptop, you may want one that can help you work as an astronomer optimally. However, it can be confusing to pick the right laptop from many laptop choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has created a list of the best laptops for astronomy to help you.To summarize, here are three laptops we recommend for astronomy work.
We hope our list can help you buy the best laptop to support your work in the astronomy field!
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