7 Best Laptops for Excel of 2023
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In this article, you can find the best laptops for excel in 2023 that we recommend for you (if you want a quick answer, the best laptop for excel that we recommend currently is Microsoft Surface Laptop 4).
If you want to work by using excel, having a laptop that can operate the software well is a necessity. After all, you don’t want your work to be bogged down because of occasional lags or errors.
As a program, excel also has system requirements that can enable it to run optimally on a laptop. Admittedly, almost all standard laptops can launch and run excel. However, if you want to have the best performance, then you need to select laptops that can suit excel requirements best.
With that in mind, we present to you a list of laptops that we think are among the best for excel. Should you spend a considerable amount of time working in excel every day, you should consider the choices on this list!
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Table of Contents:
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 - Best overall laptop for excel
- Dell XPS 13 - Best small laptop for excel
- Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Best power laptop for excel
- HP Pavilion 15 - Best affordable laptop for excel
- Asus Vivobook 15 - Best budget laptop for excel
- Apple Macbook Pro - Best Mac laptop for excel
- Acer Aspire 5 - Best alternative laptop for excel
What are the Best Laptops for Excel?
Here are the laptops which we think can run Microsoft Excel optimally for you.1. Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
The best overall laptop for excel
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 seems to us to be the best laptop you can use to support your excel activity currently. As its producer is the one who also makes excel, you surely cannot go wrong with this choice :)
Equipped with the latest generation processors, this laptop can help you to perform in excel optimally compared to most laptops. Whether you handle complicated data processing or do some data modeling, those heavy loads should be easy to manage with speed!
Furthermore, this laptop also has the option to have 32GB RAM and 1TB storage space. This should ensure the best specs to load all of the excel files you need to maintain. If you have the budget for these, you can consider the upgrade to be a sound investment.
The battery is also powerful with up to 11.5 hours of battery life if you use it for standard excel work. That should be enough for 1-2 normal days of work without any charging to the laptop. If you are typically a mobile worker, this should help you to work anywhere and anytime you need to.
As for the look, Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 also comes with the usual Surface Laptop elegant design. Moreover, it is also sleek and light (laptop weight is just 3.4 pounds). You can bring the laptop anywhere easily to work on excel in your favorite places.
From what we see, we regard Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 to be the best laptop you can use for excel. Buy it and try the laptop for yourself!
Key Features
- 15 inches, 2496 x 1664 pixels
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 11.5 hours of battery life
2. Dell XPS 13
The best small laptop for excel
Dell XPS 13 is a good alternative to Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, especially if you look for a smaller laptop.
As its motto suggests, “Stunningly small, Masterfully designed”, it is a great small laptop that can give us an excellent performance. If you want to work more optimally in excel, this 13.3-inch laptop is more than capable to support you.
Its processor is 11th Generation Intel Core i7 and it has 16GB RAM plus 512GB SSD storage. That should ensure better and smoother performance than most laptops when you do your excel task. Furthermore, it also has an excellent cooling system with dual fans and heat pipes to ensure stable performance.
Dell XPS 13 also doesn’t compromise when it comes to design and sturdiness. Dell constructs this laptop with a masterfully crafted aluminum and Aerospace-inspired carbon fiber. It also equipped itself with the Wi-Fi 6 technology and a 3-sided InfinityEdge display.
Overall, this award-winning small laptop should give you what you need to produce your best work in excel!
Key Features
- 13.3 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 13 hours of battery life
3. Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon
The best power laptop for excel
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon is a rock solid laptop that can provide a great experience when you work in excel. If you look for a laptop that is robust and can work longer, this laptop can be your best choice.
To us, this laptop certainly seems to be much sturdier and more powerful than most others. Lenovo says that it has been tested against 12 military-grade requirements. For those who don’t know, it is a US military specification that guarantees the durability of a technology product.
That means Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon can experience extreme temperature, shock, vibration, etc, and still work well. Now, that is what you call a sturdy and powerful laptop!
In terms of its battery, this laptop provides you with up to 9 hours of battery life. It should last a day of excel work without much problem. You can also charge the battery to up to 80% capacity in just one hour with its Rapid Charge feature.
In terms of excel performance, Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon also doesn’t disappoint as with other Thinkpad business laptops. The laptop equips itself with the 12th Gen Intel Core processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD storage. Those specs should help you navigate most excel tasks smoothly without any real problem.
So, are you looking for a powerful laptop that can help you work in excel well? Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon can be one of your better choices!
Key Features
- 14 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
- 12th Gen Intel Core i7
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 9 hours of battery life
4. HP Pavilion 15
The best affordable laptop for excel
HP Pavilion 15 is an affordable choice of laptop in comparison to other laptops we have mentioned above. If you look for a laptop that runs excel well with a moderate budget, this laptop can be a good choice.
What stands out to us with this HP Pavilion 15 is its 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. Compared to laptops in its tier, there are few which also have an excellent CPU specification like this. The high grade processor should help you to perform your best excel work with speed.
With running Microsoft Excel in mind, we also take a look at the laptop RAM and storage specs. In regards to both, HP Pavilion 15 offers 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage. These are comparable to the laptops we have mentioned before and, thus, should support Microsoft Excel well too.
The laptop also offers up to 8 hours of battery life with a 0 to 50% charge in 45 minutes. That should be enough to go through the day working in excel in motion. Additionally, it also offers good graphics with the support of its Intel Iris Xe graphics.
Having a moderate budget for the laptop you want to run excel with? HP Pavilion 15 is the laptop we recommend for you!
Key Features
- 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 8 hours of battery life
5. Asus Vivobook 15
The best budget laptop for excel
Asus Vivobook 15 is our choice if you are on a strict budget when looking for an excel laptop to buy. If you use your laptop mainly to do standard tasks in Microsoft Excel, then this laptop should support you ably.
Asus Vivobook 15 comes with the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. These specs should be more than enough to let you do most of your works in excel smoothly.
The laptop is also relatively light with its 3.97 pounds weight. It also has several external ports to connect USB, HDMI, and microSD cards with. That should help you when you want to do your excel work dynamically and on mobile.
Admittedly, its battery life is below what we expect to continue working in excel without having to charge it frequently. However, it somehow compensates itself with its fast charging feature (approximately 60% in 49 minutes).
So, do you need a laptop to help you work in excel smoothly with the strict budget that you might have? As long as you don’t work complicated tasks in excel (complex data processing, high-level data modeling, etc), this Asus Vivobook 15 should be up to the task.
Key Features
- 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 11th Gen Intel Core i5
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- Up to 5.5 hours of battery life
6. Apple Macbook Pro
The best Mac laptop for excel
Apple Macbook Pro is the best Mac model to run Microsoft Excel or any office software program really. If you can get your hand on the Macbook Pro with the Apple M1 chip installed, then all the better.
The Macbook Pro with the Apple M1 chip is admittedly superior to most laptops, Windows or Mac alike. The Apple M1 10-core CPU should be able to run the most complex excel work smoothly without any problem. Apple claims it offers much faster performance than the previous Mac generations, even with an 8GB RAM (this one we recommend has 16GB RAM).
Moreover, it also offers a very long 21 hours battery life! That is much longer than all the laptops we have mentioned earlier. With this kind of power, you should be able to work on your excel tasks anytime anywhere with no issue.
As for the storage, it provides a choice of 512GB or 1TB SSD. However, if you subscribe to the Apple cloud storage service, you shouldn’t have any problem with whichever you choose.
Key Features
- 16.2 inches, 3456 x 2234 pixels
- Apple M1 Pro
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 21 hours of battery life
7. Acer Aspire 5
The best alternative laptop for excel
Acer Aspire 5 is a good choice if you want to look for an alternative laptop to run your excel. It has great specifications without excelling so much and in its price level is good too.
For its CPU, Acer installs Ryzen for this Acer Aspire 5 version. You can choose the kind of Ryzen processor you want for the laptop. If you want the best one to support Microsoft Excel, then you should go for AMD Ryzen 7 5700 U.
This laptop offers 8GB RAM and 11 hours of battery life, one of the better battery specs among laptops currently. The laptop is quite lightweight and has several external connectivity ports as well for HDMI and USB. These specs should help you to work in excel more optimally.
In general, Acer Aspire 5 can become a reliable laptop to do your excel work with. You may want to consider to buy it too with the other laptops that we list here.
Key Features
- 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPU
- 8GB RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- Up to 11 hours of battery life
What are the Things to Consider When Buying Laptops for Excel?
If you want to buy a laptop which you will primarily use to work in excel, scan for some essential aspects!The first things you should look at are the laptop’s CPU and RAM. It is because these are the things that determine whether you can run your excel program smoothly or not. This is especially if you often work with large data sizes, complex data processing, or complicated data modeling in excel.
The second thing we would look at is the battery life and the amount of storage. If you often work your excel tasks in a place where you can’t charge your laptop, long battery life is important. A large amount of storage is also great if you happen to work with a lot of large excel files.
What are the Minimum System Requirements to Run Excel?
These are the minimum system requirements if you want to run excel 2021 in Windows OS.- 1.6 GHz or faster, two-core processor
- 4GB RAM (64-bit)/2GB RAM (32-bit)
- 4GB available disk space
- 1200 x 768 pixels screen resolution
- DirectX 9 graphics or later/WDDM 2.0 graphics or higher for Windows 10
And these are the minimum system requirements if you run excel 2021 in Mac.
- 4GB RAM
- 10GB available disk space
- 1280 x 800 pixels screen resolution
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Best Laptop Processor for Excel?
Frankly, the best laptop processor for excel is the most advanced one from Intel, Ryzen, and Apple. After all, the better the processor, the faster and smoother excel should run on your laptop.Therefore, here are the best processors currently to run excel on your laptop.
- Intel: Intel Core i9-13900K
- Ryzen: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
- Apple: Apple M1
Do the Laptops We Buy Come With Excel Installed?
Not all laptops we buy come with excel installed. Some simply have it pre-installed and some don’t. You can contact the seller first to make sure about it.How Do I Install Excel on My Laptop if It Doesn’t Come Pre-Installed?
You can buy the software directly from the Microsoft official store here. After you buy it, you should be able to install it directly on your laptop.You can also purchase the software in most computer stores near you. If you choose this option, you can bring your laptop to ask the staff there to install it for you directly.
How Much Does Excel Cost?
You can check how much does excel cost currently in the Microsoft official store link or from where you purchase it. One thing to note is it is a one-time purchase unless you decide to subscribe to Microsoft 365 too.Can I Use Excel in Mac?
Sure! We won’t recommend a Mac in our list if it can’t run excel after all…Microsoft always makes an excel version available for Mac that you can install and run smoothly. Just ask for it in the Microsoft official store or another store where you plan to buy your excel.
What are the Differences Between Running Excel in Windows and Mac Laptop?
Although most parts are similar, there are some differences when it comes to run Excel in Windows and Mac. Some of those differences are:- Different display for some of the feature dialog boxes
- Different codes when we want to summon some specific characters
- Some shortcuts to run functions in excel are different
- Several types of VBA code can only run in Windows or Mac
However, these differences above shouldn’t be a decisive factor when you choose between a Windows or Mac laptop. After all, the most important aspects that make excel great for us are the same in these two OS!
What are the Excel Alternatives?
Want to try other spreadsheet software? Here are some of the most viable alternatives you can take a look at.- Google Spreadsheet: Google’s answer to Microsoft Excel that helps you to work in and save spreadsheet works online for free. Probably the most popular alternative to excel so far
- Apple Numbers: Apple’s answer to Microsoft Excel that you can use if you are a Mac user. You can access your Numbers work anywhere from any iOS device
- Apache Calc: A part of the Apache OpenOffice software package. It is a free open source program that lets you analyze data thoroughly
- Libre Calc: A part of the Libre Office software package. It is a free open source program that suits personal use mostly
- Zoho Sheet: A cloud-based alternative to excel. Zoho Sheet can make you store, process, and analyze your data anytime anywhere. Its functionalities mostly target small and medium business owners
However, compared to its alternatives, excel seems to still have a dominant position in the spreadsheet software industry.
Thus, you may need to think again if you want to choose another software as your spreadsheet software choice! When you work with your colleagues, it can be complicated if you use another software when your colleagues still use excel.
How to Maintain the Laptop We Use Primarily for Excel?
Want to take care of the laptop you use for your excel works well? Here are some tips to do that.- Do excel tasks on your laptop on a flat, clean surface whenever possible. Doing them in another kind of surface can potentially damage your laptop and make dirt comes inside it. Thus, if you spot a flat and clean surface in the location where you want to work, claim it immediately!
- Put your laptop in a soft case when you bring it around. Bringing your laptop while placing it in a rugged place can potentially bump its LCD and internals, causing them to break. Purchase a laptop bag that complements your laptop nicely so you can put it there and bring it wherever you go
- Always bring your charger when you bring your laptop. Working in excel until your laptop drops to zero battery power isn’t good as it can shorten its battery life. Always try to bring a charger wherever you work your excel tasks so you can charge it if needed. The optimal state of battery power when you use your laptop, by the way, is approximately 40-80%
- Don’t leave it in a dusty environment and around extreme temperatures. Dust can come inside your laptop and block heat from escaping your laptop. Meanwhile, extreme temperature places like under direct sunlight or leave it in a car can damage its machine. Try to avoid both of them when you put your laptop down when or after you work
- Don’t put heavy objects on your laptop. Heavy objects can damage your laptop LCD and keyboard as they kept them pressed against each other. Don’t put anything against the top of your laptop if possible
Wrap Up
Excel is a software many of us use in our daily work. If we want to work optimally in excel, then we should have a laptop that can support our purpose well.There are many choices of laptops you can choose to run your Microsoft Excel. To help you choose and buy the best one, we have discussed 7 laptops which should be up to the task.
To summarize it for you, here are those 7 laptops we recommend and what they are best for:
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 - Best overall laptop for excel
- Dell XPS 3 - Best small laptop for excel
- Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Best power laptop for excel
- HP Pavilion 15 - Best affordable laptop for excel
- Asus Vivobook 15 - Best budget laptop for excel
- Apple Macbook Pro - Best Mac laptop for excel
- Acer Aspire 5 - Best alternative laptop for excel
We hope our list can help you determine your laptop choice!
Additional Note
You should determine the price of buying excel if the laptop you want to buy isn’t pre-installed with it. Knowing whether the laptop you buy has excel or not, therefore, can sometimes be very important. You may need to spend more than you want to if you actually have a budget for your excel laptop.Excel tutorials/articles you may want to read:
