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Ask Slashdot: Which Laptop Should I Buy For My First Employee?
vikingpower writes: Until now, yours truly has been running a one-man freelancer show. However, since January 1st the first employee is here, and of course I'm mighty proud of a stellarly clever young person working for me. She works remotely (I'm in one European capital; she is in another) and I need to buy her a laptop. Since she's straight out of college and a non-techie, she basically only knows one OS: Windows, although she could get comfortable with macOS. However, as a long-time (server-side) programmer, I feel Apple hardware is seriously overpriced. Also, my brilliant first employee will mostly do research and hardly needs anything more than a browser, Office or Office-like software (yes, I'm looking at you, Libre Office, and I love you!), and bibliography software. Should I get her a Chromebook or a mid-level laptop running Windows? Any thoughts?
Tell her your budget and requirements (e.g. "Windows") and let her go buy what she likes.
I would automatically say Microsoft Surface, with pen + dock + monitor + keyboard + mouse, but empower her.
It's time to start delegating decisions my friend. Kidding aside, ask them.
The cost of whatever laptop your employee wants (within reason) will be well worth their happiness.
"It's not how great it is or what it actually does, it's how much complete bullshit you're willing to pay way, way too much for. Heh, morons."
If your employee is a Windows user, why did you bring up your Apple hate? Did they hurt you?
If you need help with this decision then good luck to you in your endeavors.
I've been doing this for 30+ years professionally. If she's comfortable with Windows then stick with it. I tell people that ask me to go up to the store and find one that's comfortable for them. By that I mean, does the keyboard fit your hands, do you want a full numeric keypad, make sure the screen is the size that work for their eyes, pick it up and figure out if the weight is good, etc. Have her do that then, as her employer, find the one that best fits HER needs. You're not buying 800 laptops, just one.Then go configure the best make and model that fits those requirements. It sounds cheesy but an employee happy with the tool that they're going to spend most of their time on is a productive employee.
Don't buy a new one. There's no reason to. It's a terrible waste of money, like buying a new car. Spend a few hundred bucks and get one of the tens of thousands of like new refurbs out there.
I don't respond to AC's.
No one ever got fired for buying a Thinkpad.
If you need a browser computer, Chromebook is a pretty reasonable choice. Fewer security problems, no spindle drive to break, and low overhead. They support plenty of printers via cloudprint as well. And if the OS does somehow get borked, it's downloadable.
HP has the stream line if you do need Windows. They're fine for what they are. Certainly better than the crapo celeron spindle drive computers some companies poop out and call "budget"
You're a techie. She is not. You can do your own support. She cannot. Who's gonna do the support?
If you're up for the support you can try and give her a linux laptop. That'll run libreoffice and a browser just fine. Otherwise:
Go talk to IBM about windows and TCO, eh. Then stump up and buy the mac. Possibly a second hand one, but a mac.
Lenovo seems to have a good balance between price & quality.
Since she's straight out of college and a non-techie...
For a safer environment, I'd give her something with Linux on it. It's not totally immune, but one hell of a lot more so than Windows and OSX, with the plus side of not reporting back home everything she does (Win10, not OSX as far as I know). If all she needs is email, web access and office (you've already said LibereOffice will suffice), she should have no problems with it, and can open just about any email without infecting the thing.
--- Keep the choice with the user..
You said it yourself, the hardware costs too much and she doesn't know the OS. So you should totally be considering Apple. Buy yourself a pair of clown shoes while you're at it.
... is lightweight shit.
Pick a mid-priced Windows machine and load it with a best-practice safeguard subscription (Malwarebytes) and she'll be good to go.
Have her read an article or two about clicking on links in email, and navigating to bad sites. That stuff is everywhere.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
For the last few years, I've been buying refurbished Thinkpads for most of my friends and family. There are refurbishers (even on ebay) that will give you Thinkpad that was £2k - £3k say 3 years ago (top of the line then, with i7, SSD etc) for 1/5th - 1/10th that original price, even at like-new condition. They are the most solidly built laptops (the X220 I have for outdoor telescope usage is fine in frost, under rain etc) and their only disadvantage is the lack for discreet graphic cards, so I recommend them for everyone but gamers.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
get a good deal on a certified refurb Latitude with adequate specs and call it a day. You can opt for on-site support if available for very reasonable prices and save yourself a headache.
Set the bar so low that they'll never expect much from you by just giving them a box of part to build their own Raspberry Pi laptop.
You can't be productive with a Chromebook. They aren't designed for multitasking. Try switching between a browser and any other app, multiple times, just to perform one task. Combine this with flawed copy+paste and other basic user interface features, and usability just becomes a pain in the neck when you really need to do a lot of work. Chromebooks aren't even very powerful, and their support isn't great.
In addition, business software generally isn't created for Android first, it's created for Windows, Mac, or the web. Windows machines are flexible enough to do what's demanded of them, even if they're a little slow compared to an equivalently powered Chromebook.
Windows machines are both relatively inexpensive, and provide for all your business needs. Even an entry-level Windows laptop is more flexible than a Chromebook. There are hundreds of laptops and netbooks that run Windows and cost less than a powerful Chromebook.
Don't prioritize cost savings over productivity, unless you have to.
ask about screen size as some people may want an 15" over an 13" or smaller.
A Lenovo Thinkpad is still one of the best business laptops on the market. While Lenovo has made a few slip-ups they are a solid manufacturer who has done well after taking over IBM's laptop division. They take a beating and just keep running. Not the fastest, not the cheapest, but just a solid laptop. Definitely, you also want her input. I agree with you that a MacBook is probably a poor choice and definitely will cost you more for what you get.
I also like ASUS
I would avoid Lenovo and HP
I despise Apple
I have a Chromebox. It works great for youtube videos, but there may come a time when she will need to run Windows only programs
Whichever one you buy, you will probably need to spend hours removing crapware
Of course it is Raspberry Pi with Slackware. This encourages and tests your employee's problem solving skill!
"The cloud!" isn't quite ready for heavy office work unless you get a *cough* subscription, as opposed to you know, Libre Office. Google Docs is good for casual stuff but can slow down too much with longer docs. Similarly the new iPad pro is amazing, as a piece of hardware. The software that comes on it is underwhelming and Apple overpriced it versus the previous model, which is too bad on both counts as it's basically the best (not for gaming) laptop available right now.
So stick with a windows laptop, unfortunately. A Core M3 Surface Pro 4 could be great. The 3:2 screen aspect ratio is beyond brilliant, I don't know why every non gaming laptop in existence doesn't copy it other than not wanting to "copy" Microsoft. There's newer Surface Pro models, but the "upgrades" to them are basically non existent. The thing is slim, light, very well built, useable just about anywhere, has a very solid battery life, and really is just about almost everything you'd want for $680: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=9SIA5E65CN6509
Since she is remote and support over phone is hard: Research a shop capable of decent support at her city, give her a budget and a hint towards that shop. Leave the rest to the locals.
I had 2 MacBook Airs and now a Macbook and at the entry level, the hardware is pretty cheap. It's just the extra stuff that is a ripoff. The build quality of the laptops is worth the extra money to me personally.
Set a budget of $500 and let her buy the laptop she wants.
Regardless of how she uses it, 4 cores, plenty of memory, and an SSD along with a full OS will ensure that she can install and run whatever software helps her do her job. Whatever you define her job as today is not necessarily what she'll be doing a year from now. Chrome just restricts her and your options.
And if she stick around for at least a year, let her keep it.
My first laptop was a used one my client just gave me and it worked well enough to start making some good money. My second laptop cost around $200 and worked well enough for a year to earn 10's of thousands with it.
The last one I bought was around $400 and lasted for well over $100,000 in income.
$500 is a perfectly reasonable number that will get her a perfectly functional machine that will make you both plenty of money.
And that's why you shouldn't bother about who owns it after a year. If she's still around in a year, she earned it.
Work Safe Porn
Con: Apple hardware is expensive. Pro: Tech support is comparatively cheap, thanks to the Apple store. Remember that hardware is just a small part of the cost of a computer.
I'd recommend looking at the Lenovo business class laptops. We've been pretty happy with them for our small shop. They are very good quality, and decently priced. Most of the Lenovo haters out there are talking about their consumer grade laptops, which aren't even manufactured by the same division of location.
Before I even fully read this, I was already thinking Chromebook (or equivalent), and primarily because you said she was a non-techie.
My father in law is a non-techie in spades ... uses his computer for email (old man jokes mostly), browsing, and mahjong. His old laptop which got upgraded to Windows 10 is on its last legs.
For me, the recommendation came down to:
1) price
2) ease of use
3) skill level to operate
4) what tools you need to do your work
We stood in a Costco, and I showed him a Chromebook, and explained that he could log into Google and get all of the things he does with Google now, and never give it a second thought. Everything he uses now would be right there in front of him.
As a fair comparison, I pointed to a *mumbleslab* (no idea what it was called, not disparaging) -- it had an MS operating system, and got you Office 365. I asked him how many word docs and excel spreadsheets he'd be doing. He didn't seem offended when I suggested he wasn't likely to be doing many of either. ;-) If you don'e need Office, WTF are you buying a machine built around Office for?
It boils down to ... do the tools that something like Google give you on a Chromebook have more value to you, or do the Office tools MS is offering have more value? In the category, I'm not sure there's anything else credible, but I don't know for sure.
Privacy issues aside by hosting all of your stuff in either of those cloud's ... do you want to give your employee something which is best ease of use and least work to maintain, while mostly getting their useful data backed up into that cloud so they can be productive ... or do you want the headaches of a full on Windows laptop that has to be maintained and kept secure and all that stuff? Viruses and updates and firewalls and malware?
What ecosystem do you use that will make what she uses mesh better with what you do? Do you want her in the Google universe, or the Microsoft Universe? Does a particular way of sharing documents work better for you? Your workflow will determine this.
Personally my recommendation to the father in law was a Chromebook ... he already uses Google, has no need for the traditional Office applications, and as long as he has Mahjong and a few other things, he has everything he needs. He's never going to do any of the Word/Excel/Powerpoint things .. they add no value to his life because he's never used them in his entire life.
But unless you want all of the headaches which come from having a laptop out there and all of the security issues she might encounter ... the cloud device seems like it removes the remote admin issue entirely.
From there it's about what get you the best results for what you need her to be helping you with in terms of your own workflow, and only you know that part.
You are a slashdot reader but you have no clue on what hardware to buy for a office laptop?
How much does an employee cost you if their machine is offline?
My IT team had a big number written on the wall of their office which was the revenue per hour that would be lost if the system went down. It was a huge eye opener for a lot of them.
So, what does it cost you if she is offline? Lenovo or Dell business solution with a next business day replacement isn't cheap, but could be a LOT cheaper than losing her for a week.
That's just about a no-brainer. Unless she is an expert and knows what she wants and how to handle it and/or she needs to run special software that requires a certain OS, Chromebook is the way to go. Dirt-cheap, fast, zero-fuss and you won't lose any data.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Set a budget for her, then let her buy what she wants within the budget
Iâd recommend a flat 14âoe Laptop with an SSD and an i5 and no dedicated GPU.
There are plenty of options
There are some nice options from POP with POP OS, which is basically Ubuntu with some twists and I prefer it over Ubuntu.
Otherwise Manjaro is pretty amazong as well and very user friendly imo.
What did you buy for yourself?
As someone who runs a business, I've always hated it when employers skimped on employee equipment costs. The cost of a business laptop isn't just the purchase price. It's the purchase price + training costs + software cost (which you're trying to make zero) + setup costs + maintenance costs ( - sale price if you manage to sell it at the end). In most cases, these other costs far exceed the purchase price.
On top of that, the cost isn't really a one-time expense. It's the cost divided by the number of months you'll use the equipment. So even a $2000 laptop with $3000 in other costs used for 3 years ends up costing your business just $139/mo. If you're paying your employee $3000/mo, this is a mere 4.6% increase. Less if you manage to sell the laptop at the end. You're already paying your employee a (relatively) huge amount of money. It's counterproductive to skimp on weak equipment which lowers their productivity. Unless the Chromebook will do everything and anything your employee needs, don't skimp. Spend a little more to get a nice system that will maximize her productivity. (And no I'm not trying to justify the cost of the Macs, which I think are overpriced unless you're in an art/photo/video/music/print business. There's a reason the just-as-expensive Thinkpads are so popular among businesses. Two-day turnaround for warranty repairs via overnight delivery is a huge plus if you're trying to minimize downtime.)
Don't forget to budget for a file sync and backup system. If you don't have one yet, you'll need some sort of file server at your end, which her laptop connects to daily via a VPN to backup her work to your server. And that file server will need a backup system (preferably at least 2).
Also, technically this should be a company laptop, not the employee's laptop. Unless you plan to make it a gift or part of her compensation package, it should stay with the company after she moves on or moves up. Avoids the awkward situation where the employee quits after 3 months and takes the laptop with them.
In order for the ARM processor to gain traction in the market for laptops, we must start buying computers with an ARM processor.
Consider the Yoga C630 by Lenovo.
The retail price is $939.99. The discount price is $699 at Best Buy.
First determine the tasks that you will have the employee perform ands whether she will do it at a fixed location or is mobility, portability, and lightweight important? Second decide whether a notebook computer, a tablet plus keyboard and mouse, or something in between like a Microsoft Surface Go or Laptop 2 based in part on her preference and your budget.
You have literally two people to worry about in your company and the question you ask is about hardware? The hardware should not dictate your business you tight git! Just buy a decent machine that fits your future direction with regard to software... eg Skype, docx format, SQL... even OneDrive or the Google equivalent as it sounds like cashflow is limited. If all they need is a dumb terminal feel free to spend $200 on a Chromebook.
The one-time investment of a tool is a lot less than European salaries. Just get her a Macbook Air, maybe even the refurbished 2015 model (just as fast as the new models but more rugged and has normal USB ports and more outputs for screen and audio).
No hassle with support, it pays itself because of added productivity and because it is a nice machine it will be treated with care for sure. LibreOffice works fine but I prefer Pages which is free too.
If she is just a temp worker get a Samsung/Asus Chromebook.
At lot of Businesses use Lenovo Thinkpads. They tend to be good reliable laptops. The main difference between the T series and the Yoga is that the Yoga series is lighter, has one less USB port, and comes with a built-in capacitive stylus (no batteries). The Yoga also turns into a tablet.
For a dock I would either go with a Lenovo USB dock or a Targus Dual Video 4K p60 Docking Station. Both support dual monitor setups using a USB 3.0 connection and can be used with practically any laptop, doesn't have to be a Lenovo, and can be re-used down the line. Both use the DisplayLink technology which works well.
If she is doing a lot of research and keeping notes, having two monitors is nice as well. As a network engineer, I usually have a console session running while working on something else. It's nice to be able to copy/paste or drag/drop between applications without having to switch.between them.
She has no idea how to buy technology and will inevitably waste the money.
Buy a laptop that can be serviced remotely. A decent lenovo T series or Dell is a reasonable machine. She will be thrilled that she is receiving a new machine and won't be subject to decision fatigue from shopping for technology. Your time is a one time investment in setting up your infrastructure so your second employee will be practically zero setup time and they won't be wasting your time and money shopping for a different laptop.
Take control of your infrastructure to save resources for business activities.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
My company issues me a Mac and I have first hand knowledge of the problems of this platform. Not only it's overpriced, but also it is very fragile. You don't want to pay twice as much for hardware that is more susceptible to damage. Slim and stylish means more fragile. Then Macs require a ton of expensive adapters for everything.
You want to plug USB stick? You need an adapter. You need to plug an HDMI cable? You need an adapter.
Now I will not tell you one PC brand over another. I advise you however to get as a minimum a laptop with an i5 CPU, 8GB of ram and an SSD disk.
Also include the purchase of security software. You don't want your employee to get infected with malware, do you?
Seriously. Other specs don't matter much, except e.g. the screen.
Holy Christ man! If you are going to be stymied over a decision as minor as this, you are going to have trouble being a successful entrepreneur. What is the difference in cost between the options you're weighing? A couple of hundred dollars? Make a decision and move on.
If she's used to Windows it's stupid to retrain to a Chromebook when she could be making MONEY for both of you.
Buy a business class notebook with onsite warranty. Only ask people who personally maintain fleets of such machines because individual anecdotes are shit. Visit established notebook forums. Slashdot hasn't been News for Nerds since it became Dicedot.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
If you're going to cut costs, do so wisely. Get the employee something that won't break when she looks at it wrong, which will be performant enough to not get in her way, and which can be repaired quickly and easily. Any of the major business-notebook brands will offer that, but I tend to like buying from Dell's outlet. You can get good-as-new machines at Chromebook prices with - and this makes all the difference - same-as-new warranties with next-day on-site service. Get a decent Latitude with a 1080p display, recent-gen i5, 8gb of RAM, a 1-3 year next-day service contract, pop an SSD in it and you're out the door for under $800 for something that will last years.
Touch screen, can run WSL and also zoom and pptx stuffs.
I rather like my Lenovo Yoga, but I've had multiple Toshiba laptops fail, one within about a month of purchasing it (and BestBuy wasn't very cooperative in getting it replaced). My only complaint about my Yoga 710 is it's Lenovo-proprietary power connector, which most Lenovo's don't use.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
well that...
Assuming one would be paying a market rate of $50+/hr I would seriously weigh in probable wasted on Windows updates/install/cleanups/etc as she would do that in business hours. I personally would consider a macOS-based laptop just to evade maintenance burden of Windows. The options could run from leasing one directly from Apple and expensify monthly as a cost of sales or getting a new/refurbished one and depreciate it. After her employment is over you can sell the laptop as an asset (if it's after three years in Australia - it will be written off already). Hope that helps. Disclaimer: based on personal experience.
I have an Asus Zenbook with an Intel core-M that works great. Plenty of power for all the tasks you mentioned, all day battery and no moving (and eventually failing) parts at all. If portability isn't necessary, do her eyes a favor and get her something with a 15"-17" screen instead. A larger screen will usually mean more productivity, at least it does for me.
I do not belong to the church of the lowercase 'i'
I swear by (i.e. always buy for myself) used desktops, but laptops get a bit more
beat up over time. I would think twice about a used one -- figure the chance of it
dying and the cost (in money and time and anguish) to replace it.
Get her the Gemini PDA with keyboard thingie, and tell her she has this as a backup; the laptop, or her primary, is up to her.
* Must be "off the shelf" HW, nothing special (since you seem not to have an IT department available, and support is easier for standard HW)
* should be possible to use windows
* Ideally in a managed environment (-> Amazon Workspaces)
How about an access to Amazon Workspaces (-> backup etc should be easy, especially if you wantto set up your own small network) + a low-end business laptop with windows pro preinspalled on it + a decent keyboard + monitor, since she probably uses the laptop (research) mainly from a single location.
Or a thin client.
Lenovo has so screwed with the brand that you need to be careful when selecting. Some are hits, most are misses---including some of the old-school named models such as the T and X series. So sad.
She is a Non-Techie. And she is in another country. That says it all.
She is a non-techie, she will not be able to choose the best laptop. And she is a non-techie, she will not be able to administer and mantain the laptop (whanna bet on the "toolbars upon toolbars in the browser" Scenario?). And she is another country, so going to you (the boss) for help with the machine is out of the question.
Buy her a nice looking laptop, good build quality, decent specs. Which supports *virtualization*.
Put on the bare metal whatever Windows or Linux you feel confortable administering and lock it down as hell. Set up remote access. Choose a VM solution with good 3D acceleration. Then set up two windows VMs.
One is her "WorkVM" with the web browser, WhatevurOffice, and any other program/app/whatevur she needs for work purposes. Lock it down as hell. Set this machine up to save all work related stuff to a folder shared with the host OS. Set up a decent backup solution for this guest.
The other VM will be her "do whatever you like with it" "personal" VM. Do not lock it down that much.
Keep two golden masters (one for each machine) if push comes to shove.
Enjoy.
Unlike dual-booting, this solution eases your administrative burden, trust me.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
Seriously. She probably has one anyways. If she doesn't she obviously needs one for work.
She's not your responsibility.
The first time there is an insignificant hardware problem the Apple "Geniuses" will want you to get a new Macbook after claiming that everything is broken beyond repair (even some things that are not even installed in the Macbook).
Don't believe me, just check out Louis Rossmann: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
and Jessa Jones: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
It's shameful what they see from Apple.
Sure, delegate to the locals. You know, those pimply-faced idiots that sell iPad cases, Blu-Ray discs, and the occasional laptop.
You have an employee that you're spending tens of thousands of dollars on, and you're concerned about the cost of a single laptop, and you're considering using LibreOffice?
You might save a hundred or two through this, but if they spend just a few hours out of the year having to deal with bullshit, it's not worth it. Get a Chromebook or a Macbook for the employee (and don't fucking worry if it costs an extra $200) because Windows is shit and will give the employee paid downtime. Get MS Office instead of LibreOffice because LibreOffice is shit and will give the employee paid downtime.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
MS surface appears to be going thru a potent technical puberty, and I'd definitely recommend it as a business workstation.
I also did like the Lenovo workstation series laptops - the Dell I have now that replaced it just isn't anywhere near the build quality.
Unless you like additional spyware on top of your OS
Personally I don't care what you give the employer, OSX, Windows , Linux , Chromebook, what ever.
A computer is a tool, that's it.
Just remember you are paying them by the hour.
Anything you supply them where they are slower, less productive, you are paying for by the hour
Anything you buy that's "cheap" and less reliable, you are paying for by the hour.
Unless there is platform specific software being used (sounds not) then the ONLY choice is "What is the user going to earn me the most money with".
Over a 4 year period, loss of productivity by 1/2 hour per week @$20/hr comes to $2000, and you could easily loose 100 hours of productivity in the first 6 months just with the learning they need for an unfamiliar platform.
That employee is there to make you money, if you choose a computer based on ideological grounds rather than productivity grounds you will be short changing yourself.
Anyone who tells you different is an idiot.
poo on you
Is a desktop an option? This could solve a few issues : reliability, bad productivity of a laptop due to keyboard and screen, ability to use linux with about nothing misbehaving.
You can research a 27" IPS 2560x1440 display for example. Use with a low end desktop (but w/ 8GB RAM). Real keyboard and mouse. A personal laptop can use the peripherals too.
Research my motherfucking ass
Classify her as an independent contractor and tell her to buy her own goddam computer.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
A decently fast laptop with aftermarket Ram and SSD will set you like $499. Just do it.
You might be better served with a Chromebook. It does boil down to the applications you expect your employee to need for her job.
Apple hardware with the warranty can be a good deal for a small business.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
If she'll be submitting papers she'll almost certainly need full blown office to get the formatting right. Otherwise, screen real estate, weight, battery life will all be important for working remotely. If she doesn't have a dedicated work colocation spot, make sure to get a good laptop travel bag and maybe one of those nice small wireless mice. Don't scrimp on quality , even if it's just cosmetic, it will make a difference on whether she feels valued.
Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
Anyone who can learn to use a mac can learn to use a Linux computer, specially since you already consider using LibreOffice.
Go system76 and make a big deal about it.
If she thinks a mac would be better, fire her, you don't want that kind of trash in your company.
How much do you want to waste on system maintenance, viruses, trojans, malware and script kiddies?
Since you will now have to provide tech support and patching to prevent attacks you are about to discover why apple's are cheaper to own than other computers in companies that lack dedictated tech support.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
It should be either a Windows or a Mac machine, with a good keyboard. If she's done any amount of research, she probably feels comfortable using Scrivener (a writing program used by researchers) and Zotero (a bibliography program that's much better than Microsoft Word's built in garbage). To my knowledge, these two programs are Windows or Mac only.
I would give her a certain amount of money, and tell her to buy her own. If she'll spend most of her time writing, she'll want one with a good keyboard.
Boxing week sales are still on so get on it and save some money. That saved money can and should be used to buy an external hard drive and install Acronis TrueImage or Macrium Reflect imaging software. Go to youtube and watch a few videos on how to use this and save two images. One is a baseline virgin image that you can (and will) revert to in case of screw-ups. Next, install all the software and updates you want and then re-image things again. This is the actual copy you'd revert to if the new hire borks the computer (and she most likely will one day). Both Acronis and Macrium allow cloud backups so you can always save a baseline copy to the cloud since she is in another location. She could in theory remotely restore her machine if necessary. It's not hard to do but she'll need to be taught.
The kind of computer isn't that big of a deal but since she knows Windows, stay on Windowss. I would not buy a Mac, too expensive. Buy from a Best Buy or similar store where their Geek Squad or similar tech support can be the ones to help her in future when she screws things up because they are your rental tech support now. I'd buy a mid-priced machine NOT a low end one. No need for a high end machine except to make her happy and you poorer. It's not that big of a deal to carry around a computer these days. 15.4" machine at minimum with HDMI output. A good high resolution screen is required too. A good quality wireless mouse is required too, would not skimp on this. You'll have warranties for both for a while and peace of mind. You can buy extended warranties through them if you're interested (they'll gladly take your money too). You can always sell the machine in future and upgrade if she's still employed by you in a year...she'll be happy and so will you.
If the employee is a manager, be sure to throw in a set of knee pads & chin strap.
Buy the laptop yourself. You know what you expect from your employee and what tools they need to get the job done. So, the specification should be entirely up to you. The base minimum IMHO is a Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD with a TPM chip. Make sure to buy business class machines not consumer level Fisher Price plastic encased junk. Ensure you provision the laptop in-house and make sure to enable full disk encryption, set up both administrator and user accounts making sure your employee only uses the user account, install an antivirus, install remote management, and remote support tools in addition to the productivity apps you require.
Listen, you're hiring a person who works in another area, and you're unlikely to see each other very often. This means that whatever goes wrong with her computer, she will need to be able to reach out to a local company to have it fixed. I would see what support there is in her city for computers, and buy whatever they support. For example, if she was familiar with Apple, and there was an Apple store she could take it for issues, I would suggest you do that. If she's familiar with Windows, and most likely the Microsoft Office suite, and there is a Microsoft store in her city, I would get her one of their computers directly from the store, so she can take it there when she needs help. Since she is only one employee, that is probably the most effective option. Otherwise, you probably want to make sure she has access to a local tech support company who can help her. It would probably work best to pay them to procure a computer for her and have them set it up for her. You might be able to help when she's connected to the Internet (via Splashtop SOS or TeamViewer or something like that) but the local tech can help her get connected.
Choice of computer - I would purchase something that has accidental damage protection, because the manufacturers like to blame it on the user's negligence, whether it was their fault or not. I would also get one of the business edition computers, which is repairable, like some of the Dell Latitude, HP ProBook/Elitebook, and Lenovo Thinkpad series. The business edition computers seem to be better engineered than the consumer editions. You need not know what is an easily repairable computer -- you just ask the tech person what computer can have it's RAM and storage drive replaced, and go with that one. It will be heavier than the ultralight computers, but it should be a reasonable 4-5 lbs.
The other thing you should do is to ensure she has good Antivirus software installed, and that you pay for her subscription so it never expires. I know that Antivirus software is somewhat of a joke these days, but it's getting a little better. If it is hooked up to a web "console" that allows you to manage her antivirus, then it is easy to continue to pay for it. I use Bitdefender for home use, but there are a lot of other good software programs.
Finally, you'll need a way to collaborate, and if she is already used to Microsoft Word / Excel, you might as well get her an Office 365 subscription. This way, she stays on the latest version of the software, and she can save files to a shared OneDrive folder. Ideally, she will never really need to have her computer backed up because everything she is storing goes into OneDrive. You could use another service - or even set up your own shared folder using NextCloud on your own server, but the focus should be for her to use something she is familiar and comfortable with. Make sure whatever file sharing service you use handles VERSIONING, meaning that it keeps old versions of files, as a primary defense against ransomware.
There are a number of excellent solutions, but you are not present to train her on Linux or Mac or ChomeOS. Therefore, buy her what she is already familiar with, and encourage her to NOT use it for non-work purposes.
What software and such is she going to need to work with? Are you using Google's GSuite? Microsoft Office? Office 365? What's your email setup? Cloud storage for standard files? Also, where will she be working? Office? Home office? Coffeeshops? Coworking space?
If you're all-in on Google's ecosystem, then a Chromebook might not be a terrible option - in a lot of ways it's kind of a disposable terminal with everything online, but connectivity with it may be more important than with Windows or Mac options. Is LTE connectivity going to be required and is it an option where she is?
If you're in the Microsoft camp (or thinking about it), there are worse options than a Lenovo Thinkpad with Windows 10 Pro (Pro because you *need* Bitlocker on it because laptops walk). An SSD is a requirement, probably in the 250GB range; 8+GB of RAM and an i5 are also a good idea (i7 is overkill, i3 may be sluggish).
If she's going to be carrying it around all the time working in coffeeshops then get something light (e.g. Thinkpad X family), if it's going to be a desktop replacement you can get something larger and sturdier. If you're getting an older model, avoid the "Tx40" generation - the 40s included a failed try at a completely new touchpad - T450s or anything newer should be fine. If you do go with older models watch out for the W series - great machines, but W=Workstation. My W530 with a quad-core i7 and nVidia Quadro came with a 170w power brick that I think weighs more than some newer ultralights.
On the Microsoft side of things you'd probably be best with something like O365 Business or Business Premium setup with hosted email and online storage, possibly through someplace like AppRiver or Sherweb (a couple $ more expensive per month, but improved support options, automated backups, etc.). That basically lets you treat a Windows laptop as a replaceable component as well, with everything stored online or synced online. If it walks out of a coffeeshop or someplace else, encryption protects your data and online sync gets you up on a new system quickly. (You can likely do a lot of the same with an Office Home subscription including setting up a separate account and sharing relevant OneDrive folders to that account, but I you'll be missing some of the access control and related functionality and won't have own-domain email. It's also not actually licensed for business use.)
fencepost
just a little off
Specs, I7 or I9, 16 or 32 GB of RAM (You can do 64, but that's probably overkill,) maybe bump up the video card and spring for the 4K screen. With a young'un's eyesight, you could fit a dozen terminal sessions side by side. You can put up to a 2TB SSD in that if you're so inclined. The machine kind off puts the Fischer Price "My First Computer" Dell laptops I've received from employers to shame. It's also made me reconsider a grudge I've been carrying against Dell since the '90's, and my family usually carries grudges like that for multiple generations.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Because anyone who has to ask slashdot a boring question like this is going to fail as a business owner. Do your "first employee" a favor and tell them they're making a huge mistake working for an imbecile that feels the need to have a question like this posted to slashdot. I dont know who is dumber you or the editor that allowed this to be posted.
If your employee is non-technical they are going to need support. There are some interesting proposals here, but a lot of them require hands-on access to the laptop or some solutions that sound great but might be difficult to manage in practice. And when they have a problem that you have to solve, it's your time AND their time wasted - a double hit. As with anything, keep it simple and supportable. Really, if you need a machine that will allow your employee to do basic office productivity, normal browsing and Internet use, a Chromebook is an ideal solution. There's almost no support needed for users, they are light, portable, cheap, and everything is stored in the cloud so there's no hassle for backups or shared storage. There is very little risk for viruses and malware on Chromebooks. Newer ChromeOS versions allow for offline use, so you can edit documents anywhere, even without Internet access. Just don't get TOO cheap - Get a Chromebook with a good screen (1080P) that is reasonably sturdy. I have an Acer Chromebook 15 for personal use and love it. Throw in a 32 GB low profile and I've got all the local storage I'd ever need. For $250, it's a STEAL if it does what you need. That being said, however, Chromebooks aren't for every purpose. If you need a specific software package or a tool you can't use in a browser you probably won't be able to install it on a Chromebook. But you'd be surprised how many apps there are for ChromeOS nowadays. Your employee might also not like something new - They might like all the features of Windows and hate feeling limited on a Chromebook. On the flip side, they might use today Windows because they always have and might really enjoy the simplicity and speed of ChromeOS.
The company I work for is all in on Google apps. The standard for email is GMail, we use Google Calendar, we use Google Drive to share files, we use Google apps for collaborating on spreadsheets or word processor documents, and most people use Google Slides for presenting. For remote meetings we use Google Hangouts. We also use web-based software such as Slack and an issue tracker.
Because of all this, a Chromebook is an excellent solution for many people in our company.
The best thing about a Chromebook is that it Just Works. It's locked-down nature means you really don't need to worry about malware, and it automatically downloads security updates. (Unlike Windows 10, ChromeOS never forces you to take an update while you are in the middle of a meeting or presentation.)
Also, if you are using "cloud" storage apps like the Google apps, then if anything happens to the Chromebook, the data will all be backed up. Your employee would be able to just get a new Chromebook and could get sorted out and back to work very quickly.
Because your business is too small to have a dedicated IT department, using all Google apps would have significant advantages. And those apps are IMHO about as easy to use as Microsoft apps or MacOS apps.
As a bonus, if you standardize on Google apps, then your employee has the option of installing some of the apps on her phone (maybe just GMail). I have everything installed on my phone, including Google Hangouts, and I can deal with a lot of possible emergencies with just my phone. I like that.
The one question mark I have is whether bibliography software is available for a Chromebook. A Chromebook does have Linux app support now, plus Android app support, and there are web-based bibliography systems, so... maybe?
Also, some people strongly disapprove of Google, feeling that Google track too much about what you do with their software. If you have a philosophical objection to Google you may not want a Chromebook solution.
I agree with all the people saying not to skimp but to get something nice. If you do this, I'd recommend one of Google's own branded products... the top of the line would be a Google Pixelbook which gets very favorable reviews.
P.S. I personally own a Samsung Chromebook Plus with a non-Intel CPU (a hexa-core OP1 running ARM instructions). I've been happy with it... IMHO it looks a lot like an Apple product but it has a much better keyboard. It's half the cost of a Pixelbook but not as fancy. Like the Pixelbook it's just a touch over 1 kg and has long battery life. It does come with a stylus and it has a storage silo for the stylus.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Write down a list of the outcomes you expect your employee to produce. Drawings? Photo-Editing? Spreadsheets? Documents? Database creation/management?
That tells you what they are doing for you. Then you can work out what software is required to do said tasks.
Given the software being determined, then you can look up the best spec's for the computer system they need - Processor, RAM, Drive space, GPU, Printer etc.
That tells you the type - Windows, Mac, Linux, whatever.
Then you can determine the budget, and ask them to choose.
the answers here are proof why the nerdish/geekish ones are quite out of touch with real world.
Linux! raspbery pi! silicon chips!
non-techie employee. give her something that will help her do the job and she is familiar with. it is not like you are making an investment in a million dollar mansion. jeez. it's a tool, not a prize. teach her to get regular backups. arrange for basic tech support, anti virus, firewalls. get a refurbished thinkpad and be done with it. let her fall in love with the job not with this piece of hardware.
raspberry pi, indeed. jeeeez.
Subject says it all.
Use only a browser. Let her use whatever she wants.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Homes fairly cheap an Intel hasn't changed the CPUs the past few years.
I7 16gb ram 11-15" monitor depending on needs, a docking station and two good hp/Dell 24â 1900x1200 office monitors +Windows 10, will only cost what low/mid range new stuff cost. 7-800dollars
Calculate that you will buy her a new laptop every 3-4 years. Then consider that you probably are paying her at least €50,000 (we hope) but even so, her time is costing you money. A slow computer is costing you.
Then consider that a €100 a month investment in hardware and €100 a month investment in software will probably yield near-optimal result.
This means you should calculate €1200/year for hardware and €1200/year for software to hopefully optimize your ROI on employee performance.
This means that laptop+dock+extra screen should be budgeted for €3600 or €4800. Software is MS Office 365 and maybe Adobe.
I believe that pretty much every PC meets that target. So just tell her to buy what she wants, the amortize it over the ROI period and make sure she buys the support plan to cover that period including accidental damage.
make sure she backs up everything everyday or uses cloud based disk. don't accept any lip about it.
https://puri.sm/
You will pay tens of thousands of dollars in your employee's salary and benefits, a couple of thousand for a laptop that will make her a little more productive is pocket change. Have her visit Apple or Microsoft store and try different hardware for herself.
Should I get her a Chromebook or a mid-level laptop running Windows? Any thoughts?
Nothing says "I really appreciate how brilliant you are as an employee" like buying them a craptacular mid-level laptop.
Put the money in and buy your brilliant employee a high-end laptop. Something that shows that you value your employees, and something that shows off how well you treat your employees.
There is nothing more demoralizing in a tech company being given a crappy mid-range computer. It's actually one of the things I look for when I walk into a tech company -- what sorts of machines do they provision their employees with? The innovative ones don't spare any expense on giving their people the best possible tools (even if sometimes they're overkill). The ones with the most loyal tech employees likewise have machines their employees are happiest with.
What system is up to you -- a ThinkPad, a Google Pixelbook, a MacBook Pro, or a kitted out Surface Pro -- depending on your needs. But get something that shows that your company doesn't put up with mediocre, and trusts its employees with good stuff that makes them happy. Customers will notice, and so too will perspective future employees. The extra few hundred Euros you invest today will easily pay for itself.
Yaz
Whatever you do, buy online as the keyboard layout will be different from what you have.
Unless she absolutely needs it, think also desktop. Or at least make it clear that that is an option.
I hate getting a laptpp from work, because it means I neet to work outside office hours.
Also give her a real keyboard and mouse. Working on a portable day in day out is terrible. Again: keyboard layout.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
More importantly than model of laptop, teach her the importance of backups!!
Do you want to setup some sort of standardisation at this point?
If so, just pick a major laptop manufacturer and go with their products (Dell, HP, etc).
Their products are quite good, and their support is quite good.
If not, give her a budget and tell he to go buy one. Give her some minimum specs to help her on her way (You need an i7 CPU and 16GB RAM and 250GB SSD HD, stuff like that).
Dell 5510
with Ubuntu
and you'll never come back
A thinkpad.
Is she a mobile worker? That is the only reason to buy a laptop.
The trouble with laptops is that you are generally legally responsible for giving her a safe and non-harmful working environment. That mitigates against laptops. They cause such things as eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome and RSI.
My employer has me do on call so I have a laptop. At work, it lives in a docking station with proper mouse and keyboard as well as 2 standard monitors. This may cost twice of a comparable desktop. It will be slower as well but as I mostly tend to do things like RDP and web based apps I don't need a gaming-ready system.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
If she is primarily reading and writing texts, no computations, no statistics, etc. then a small computer would suffice. If she has an office, it would be nice to be able to attach a real monitor or two. If she is working mostly on the go (e.g., in different libraries)), then such office equipment is not necessary. Screen above 13" suck in trains and planes. If she will travel for you make it a small machine (planes prefer 11") also Eurostar has not much space. However, the smaller the screen the bigger the need to have a separate monitor in the office. Ah yes and for mobile computing battery life is super important.
Dell ("for Work") or Thinkpad, unless MacOS/iOS are absolutely necessary for her line of work or she really has a preference.
Let her decide the line, model, etc, as long as it's in a reasonable budget. Make sure support is extended for 3 years, includes accidental damage and dedicated professional lines, because I doubt you have outside insurance yet. Hardware downtime costs are exponential - you still pay for your employee's time, but they do nothing. You want to have the best support possible during the 3 years that hardware cannot be ejected from the company (in Europe, that's the usual time of materials depreciation, for taxation purposes). You can further extend the warranty later if you or the employee decide the hardware doesn't need a refresh 3 years after purchase.
I suggest the "economy" 14' lines from either Thinkpad or Dell specifically. Not because they are great bang for buck, but because they are very serviceable by both you, your employee or the official support. These will usually have spare parts available locally, and even if they don't, units available for replacement in a jiffy.
"How to equip a newb" is now "stuff that matters"?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Look into the cost of leasing a computer rather than buying. This may allow you to change makes/models sooner than if you bought outright, If also less money upfront for your business to spend.
LOL look just stop it.
Office 365 is $15 USD a month per person. Go get a registered domain. Get hosted email + all the office shit. Go get a good Lenovo and there you are.
I did this for my employee's and guess what? I'm not the one wasting hours fucking around on file formats. I'm not the one dealing with shit hardware.
You may as well hand her a paper notepad.
If all your employee needs is a Browser, more or less, then get a Chromebook. Simple. Cheap. Easy to manage.
When the windows XP laptop of my parents died, I bought them a mini desktop with ubuntu. I live far from them and I perform the maintenance remotely (ssh and x11vnc). I think you could do the same for you employee: a dell XPS13 with ubuntu. You configure your remote access (for example using a ssh tunel from one of your sites) so that you can fix all her issues. Even dist upgrade can be performed remotely using ssh. The main advantage of ubuntu is that she will not install tons of crapware. IMHO, the single drawback is that battery does not last very long.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
the tco myth is just that. especially if the user isn't familiar with the latest osx quirks already.
just give 1300$ budget and let them buy whatever the employee wants.
Apple has somehow managed to do some changes in latest osx revisions that have actually caused non techie mac users to seek technical support. Even for things like just having the email work correctly. It's also likely to update into something in 4 years that makes todays laptop totally unusable in practical terms, if you buy the model thats cheap today.
I would automatically just say to not buy a microsoft surface too. It doesn't make you any more productive in any way whatsoever unless you're an artist who really, really digs it for some weird reason. People who buy it also inexplicably bought windowsRt tablets and convertibles.Inexplicably in the way that they couldn't even tell a good reason why they bought one.
1300$ buys a just fine laptop already. if you want a higher bracket, you'll have to up it to 2600. if it's just office apps, writing, etc, you could get away with a 350$ but that's just insulting.
In the overall scale of things the laptop is a rather small expense though compared to wages, but it's still money that you could use to buy a desk she likes, a chair she likes or a nice company trip. Of course you can probably trim it off taxes in 2-3 years depending on where your company is registered.
Apparently you still cannot spell Clinton correctly.
[ Thoughts from a professional software developer, 30+ years ]
I'd vote for a Macbook air / Macbook or an iPad pro. I personally don't think Apple devices are overpriced for what you get. I still have an iPad I use daily that I bought new for $700 in 2013 - used daily for 5 years straight. We also have one from 2011 that is still going, but appears slow now. Either way, the hardware lasts, much more so than typical consumer-grade machines.
After owning Macs in various forms (at least 10+ machines/devices) for going on 25+ years now, I have only ever had one fail on me. Since it was not under Apple Care at the time of the failure, it cost me a flat fee of $600 to fix - new, it was a $3000 machine - I have no regrets. It just doesn't happen that often. Consumer grade laptops would be throw aways.
My other reason for voting for an Apple device is that they typically don't have a lot of issues and are easily supported. Windows machines can cost more in the time spent fixing / supporting the issues. Especially being remote, your relegated to getting help from whoever is local to her. If there is an Apple store nearby, they have unlimited help the first year, and if you purchase Apple care, it extends to 3 years - you have to decide if its worth it. I never bought Apple Care.
If you don't want "Apple" anything, first rule is buy good hardware - plan on $1000 for a solid machine. Linux mint is a good OS option for ease of use if you don't want to go Windows.
As a business owner, you don't want to spend time supporting the machine, it needs to work for you / her and not get in the way. This will require a higher up front investment, but will pay dividends in the long run.
https://www.amazon.com/VTech-T...
The nice thing about Apples is that, when something goes wrong, and it will, you can walk down to the local Apple store and get help, get it fixed, etc. With Applecare you have a 3 year warranty. With OSX's Time Machine you have automatic backups. And everything runs on Apples, including LibreOffice. I'm not overspending on cheap-ass hardware. I'm buying support! So much so that I've directed all my family toward Apple computers just so they'd have local tech support & help. And then there's the little stuff, like the dictionary app, or zooming in the screen. It's useful!
Now Dell, HP, etc: Read Slashdot. Look at all the Windows-10 automatic upgrade headaches & problems. Look at what Microsoft calls "telemetry" and the rest of the world calls ultra-creepy spying. Perhaps Win10 is not the best choice, especially for a non-techie.
Hey, my last HP laptop arrived with a broken harddrive. Windows swore up & down the drive was fine. Linux couldn't read many sectors and showed the SMART log at over 10,000 errors. HP fixed it for me, sent me a new drive. But this is not good for a non-techie. (Don't even get me started on backups -- I found Linux + ntfsclone worked best. And with the windows virus situation, I've had to roll back several times!)
Meanwhile Macs have pretty good security, unless I give some random install the root password.
Linux is certainly an excellent choice. But I think for a non-techie, the support (and security) you acquire with Macs makes them the better option.
Look for something that is reliable (I know, it has Windows as a built-in flaw) and durable, so she won't have to worry about a basic spill, or short fall off a table killing the machine.
There are a Lot of brands and system out there that should fit the bill reasonably, so looking for Durable Laptop shouldn't be too hard to do.
Add to that, you'll want "less than bleeding edge" and you'll be able to score a reasonable deal, too, as last years' systems are (almost) always deeply discounted and have had the bugs shaken out of them already.
Try and get her something with a bit more storage that you anticipate, and the means of keeping things locked down, and you shouldn't need to replace her system until Microsoft does their next "Upgrade or Suffer" campaign.
Good luck with your new business!
You should get them an Etch-a-sketch because you have give nothing in he way of job requirements/duties.
If you really were a long time server-side developer you would know what those were; or perhaps you think 2-3 years is a long time .
You get a good deal and great quality without paying original new thinkpad prices
Dude you're getting a Dell
You haven't given any useful information that would suggest criteria. What is the employee going to be doing on the laptop? Are they going to be traveling? Will their activities be confined primarily to that machine, or will they be primarily accessing remote resources? And if they are going to be doing on-device work, do you have existing plans, tools or infrastructure to deal with date security and integrity, like off device syncing and backups?
TL;DR: You're terrible at asking questions, so I won't bother answering. If the individual is familiar with Windows though, I see little good reason to force them to learn a new platform unless something else compels that decision.
You will have to fire her anyway in a couple of months as your business fails. I'd save the money to survive the inevitable descent into poverty that will follow.
Be sure to install a good backup software and teach her to backup, backup, backup. I was lulled into always thinking my HPs would be around forever, only to have them die suddenly. I lost everything.
As for computers, I prefer Dells and Asus (high end only). I hate to think of going beyond Windows 7. Waiting on Windows 10 updates to finish after suddenly popping up will be frustrating to her. After W7, everything is spyware.
This may be tough since she is remote, but in my office I converted 60% of my workstations to Ubuntu as an experiment - and virtually no one noticed and/or cared. They use Chrome for 99% of their work, so I just loaded it into a clean ubuntu 18.10 install and moved the gnome dock to the bottom instead of left. Without knowing more about your business, I liked the increase security, but I find that even a clean windows install is so distracting. Popups, updates, little animated tiles in the start menu - it felt like it was getting in the way of productivity.
Common. Why spend on fancy stuff?
Just get her a decent Dell i3 vpro and you're all set.
This is the machine I use daily while Managing Services for all Latin American countries (big European company) and I don't miss anything more than that.
Internet, Blue Jeans, Skype, Office and voilà!
Get something that is midpriced brand new laptop. Good choices are: HP Probook 4XX Dell Vostro Lenovo V330 Acer Travelmate All of these are not very expensive but are very durable. I personally like HP Probook 450 most, but would go will Dell Vostro as it comes with 3 year warranty as standard in Europe. The others come with 2 year.
I would say that a person need to use whatever they are comfortable with. Impositions on OS or hardware, particularly in small companies, just cause problems and loss of work time.
I'm sure you have budget constrains, so let her know the price range she should be looking at, beside that, let her work the way she feels more productive.
How do I change the new laptop battery? I brought it to a Starbucks like everyone else does, but it's not getting power. Did I give it the wrong coffee?
You want new, with a business class warranty. I've worked tech support and we got so many calls. Broke computer, 6-10 days to repair.
"But I run my business off this!!!"
Well you got a consumer grade hardware and no business level warranty. Nothing I can do.
Go this route and buy 2, plus NAS storage to back up the whole thing so you can swap out to the backup when it breaks. That's expensive.
Apple's vastly overpriced.
On the other hand, DO NOT BUY a consumer-grade laptop. Only buy a business grade, such as Dell's Lattitude. It will last a lot longer, and you'll get significantly better service. But you can get this for the price of a Mac.
Also, you might want to pay extra for an extended warranty. It's worth it.
(Btw, I'm a sr. linux sysadmin, working for a US federal contractor - I've seen the difference between laptops we get, and consumer grade.)
No, not a surface, or any of that crap. She'll want a real keyboard. And I dislike laptop keyboards, because I can actually type, and having my hands placed where they *should* be means I keep accidently hitting the touchpad.
For our users we chose the Dell XPS 13 with i7 processor and SSD. Fantastic combination of processing power and portability. When they are in the office, they dock at a Plugable USB-C Triple Display docking station.
Dell has good support too. We had one go bad, but even with Dell's lowest-tier support we had it fixed and back to us in about a week.
For small companies like yours, Office 365 provides everything most employees need - even cloud-based phone if you add Skype for Business.
First: You will want to secure the computer since it's a company asset. The usual; like password protection, encrypted drive, VPN, etc.
Second: Thinkpad. They are tough and durable and still a quality product that will last years. I'm on my third "business grade" Dell in three years so don't bother with them.
As to OS, those recommending Linux, from a novice remote client user, are only asking for pain grief and agony. If she was a bit OS savvy, I'd agree with them, she's not, so pass.
If one can run Windows, on can run Apple. These days, from an end users point of view, there's not much difference. But since, like you, I find Apple way over priced, Windows it is.
So which version of Windows?. Believe it or not, Windows 10 Enterprise is my recommendation. One will need to configure it so you'll want to buy it, install it and configure it. Especially since one can turn off the "Phone Home" junk in Enterprise.
For Xbox.
but... AVOID CHROMEBOOKS AT ALL COST.
Not worth the pain. for either of you.
buy her just any cheap laptop, maybe even used one.
And later if she is really good, buy her new X1 Carbon and make her happy!
MacBooks are not an option, new ones are disaster, all keyboards get broken in several months.
In big company we have lots of them and lots of trouble with new keyboards.
Give her a reliable machine with Windows. Give her a significant amount of screen space and consider also buying her an external monitor. Lots of screen time researching also means comparing many different things and going back and forth on different information and that takes up lots of screen space.
I've owned windows laptops (Dell inspiron, Lenovo, HP, Asus). NONE of them lasted me more than the 4 years. My 2013 Mac book air, even though expensive, is still going strong (and I work 8-12 hrs a day, everyday). If the new hire has to actually return the laptop to you when she leaves (i.e. it is not a gift/job perk and you can give it to you next employee), MBA would be a good investment.