After thorough review and analysis, we selected the Dell 7000 Inspiron Touchscreen Laptop as the best laptop for trading. Whether on the road or trading from your couch or desk, the specs on this laptop are perfect for a trader’s needs. Its large 17-inch screen leaves plenty of room for your charting needs. In addition, it has the power to run the resource-demanding charting software needed for trading – more on that later.
We have traded on smaller screen-size laptops. It feels too cramped. You’ll notice that platforms like TD Ameritrade ThinkorSwim will look and operate much better on the larger 17″ screen. Another key point to remember is the touch screen; its response is incredibly smooth and accurate.
Which Is the Best Laptop for Trading?
Only one thing is important when searching for the best laptop for trading. That is another trader’s experience with using a laptop for trading. Here at the Bullish Bears, we are very serious (while having a lot of fun) about trading—the Bullish Bears trade from our home offices. We trade from the road as well as from remote locations. We require well-specified, well-built technology to keep up with our busy lives and demands.
Here at the Bullish Bears, we recommend devices we have used or are currently using. We keep several things in mind: quality, performance, and price. We don’t think you should spend thousands on equipment you don’t need, but we think you should get slightly more than you may need today. You may find that your technological needs evolve as you progress as a trader.
Features of the Best Laptop for Trading
Price
We wanted as much power as possible without breaking the bank when searching for a trading laptop. This laptop fits the bill, coming in at $1394.00!
Battery Life
Its battery life is decent. We’ve gone an entire 6 hours (trading, social media, recording), all without needing a charge, thanks to its very light 4-cell lithium-ion battery.
We use the high-quality Omnicharge portable power bank for more portable juice. For example, it has enough juice to charge our laptop from 0-100%, and we can also charge our cell phones! Hence, we think this is the best laptop for trading!
Ram
Regarding RAM, this laptop has enough for trading and multitasking! 24 GB allows us to push the limits of our trading software. We have run ThinkOrSwim, DAS Trader, AND Interactive Brokers simultaneously without lag. Again, it is pushing the limits of this laptop, but it handled it with gusto!
The best laptop for trading has the popular NVIDIA GeForce chip series (150) with dedicated 2GB GDDR5 video memory to render high-quality images quickly.
Our charting software looks perfect when connected to our 34″ LG monitor and an ASUS USB monitor. We highly recommend this if you’re looking for some extra screens to connect to, if you wish to work at your trading desk.
Mouse
One of the very important things for traders to have is a GOOD touchpad for mouse movements. It HAS to be smooth, responsive, and feel effortless. I have been building computers my whole life, using many laptops, and have never used a better mouse or touchpad. However, if you want an excellent mouse that works on any service and has ridiculous battery life, I highly recommend this Logitech MX Anywhere mouse.
Keyboard
It is utter perfection. The keyboard keys are fairly quiet, back-lit nicely, and are a full keyboard with a number pad. The back-lit keys are to be used in low-light situations and are dimmable.
You can also turn them off to save power.
Light and Durable
We have found that the build quality of this machine is fantastic. It’s incredibly light at 6 pounds but very strong.
There are no plastic parts in the case. And you can flip it around into tablet mode.
To sum it up, this is the kind of “best laptop for trading” that will withstand the test of time. Take the screen, for example; it won’t crack or loosen up with daily use and stays put where you adjust it.
It doesn’t wiggle annoyingly like my other expensive laptop when I use it on the couch or desk. Instead, opening or closing the laptop lid requires a bit of effort.
We move this laptop around from place to place. Sometimes, we like to trade on the road or on vacation (in essence, we take vacations without trading, but it’s hard!). So we use this backpack to move it.
It holds the laptop and the charging cable. There is plenty of room for other tech goodies you may need to carry and be TSA-friendly.
DELL Stock Rover Report
Final Thoughts: Best Laptop for Trading
The bottom line is you need a good laptop to trade, and you don’t want to break the bank. If we push this laptop to the limit while trading AND doing some streaming with social media, chances are you will be more than good at using your trading software on this laptop.
You can check out our Day Trading Computer Setup post to see the big picture regarding the technological demands of day trading and our Adjustable Stand Up Desk post to pair with your best laptop for trading.
