A bit exasperated about consumer-business dichotomy and limited choices

What is the difference between business and consumer-class laptops? Vendors are not transparent about the components they use in either grade of machine. It's not clear whether the "consumer" machines use lower-quality motherboards, solder, and internals. The only obvious things are that business-rugged laptops pass Mil Spec 810g testing, which I have not seen any consumer laptop subjected to, and that business-class laptops are reputed as more reliable.

I'll use Alienware as an example of a consumer brand. Alienware advertises its laptops as durable. It boasts about using "premium materials" like magnesium and aluminum for its chassis, which I would consider bizarre if Dell did not do the same for its Precisions and Latitudes. AW claims that its new laptops' hinges are built for twenty-thousand openings and closures, which is on par with Dell's enterprise laptops. The disparity in the number of reports about Alienwares and Dell's enterprise-class laptops makes any judgment about the comparative reliability and quality control of both difficult, but I think it's safe to assume that the enterprise-class laptops are more reliable. Despite its claims of durability, AW does not advertise on reliability whatsoever. On the other hand, Alienwares are all high-performance machines--Latitudes are not, and not all Precisions are decked-out with high-end components. How much of the difference in reliability is due to "inferior assembly" or "lower-quality components," and how much of it is the danger of high-performance hardware?

The fact that business-class laptops cannot be fitted with consumer-grade GPUs makes the schism between the two lines still more confusing. Is Dell pigeonholing those who will not run professional applications into lower-quality machines? "Lower-quality" makes sense for an Inspiron, but for an Alienware m18x, which I imagine nets Dell at least as much profit as a Precision m6700, I'm baffled. Are AWs more expensive to build than I think? Milking Alienwares for profit without improving them makes as little sense as milking Dell's business laptops if not less: I assume that Dell wants to sell as many units as possible, and minor improvements would do a great deal for AW's reputation, but I don't expect Dell's business laptops to steal many more sales from Lenovo and HP without substantial improvements. Workstation sales seem like a better means of subsidizing losses in other sectors, because many enterprise buyers will pay high prices for assured quality, while consumers are fickler and likelier to buy cheaper alternatives.

I'm tired and have not thought through this post, but I hope someone finds a point in it.

 

The internals (motherboard, CPU, Ram, etc) are mostly the same, except for the dedicated GPU, where it's typically a Quadro NVS, Quadro, or a FirePro. However, the HP Elitebook p series typically uses Radeons as a dGPU option, and the Dell Latitude E6540 uses a Radeon as well.

One of the things that separate business from consumer is that build quality. Most business machines are built to that MILSPEC standard, while consumer laptops just have to not fall apart before the warranty expires. Advertising your laptop as "durable" is meaningless unless it's actually proven. Dell does actually use those metals in their laptops, though they call it Tri-Metal or something like that. But, while you can do things to increase physical reliability, you're still subject to getting a lemon machine, no matter what you go with. But, just to give you an idea of what to expect, I had a Toshiba Satellite as my first laptop (consumer-class) and after dropping it once for chest height (~5.5ft) and it almost split the case in half, whereas my W520 was dropped in the same situation (though on a corner on the display) and nothing happened at all. Also did other things to it (dropped the laptop + thin bag on concrete, fell off my bed, had the power brick fall on it, etc), both running and turned off, and so far it only has minor cosmetic damage (chipped off one of the locking hooks, and part of the plastic vent grill).

The thing with the GPU is that a gaming GPU (GeForce/Radeon) is not designed to run professional-grade programs like AutoCAD, CS6 (plenty of plug-ins run like garbage on gaming GPUs), and so on. Some programs won't even run on a computer without a professional GPUs; for example, iirc Solidworks doesn't run on a GeForce/Radeon. Not only that, but professional GPUs are ISV certificed to work with these sorts of applications, so software errors are far less likely to happen, which is extremely important to someone who can't afford to screw up a CAD file, for example. Now, something like a Precision/Thinkpad W/Elitebook -w can still game fairly well (along the lines of a mid-grade gaming laptop), though a gaming laptop is next to useless for CAD/CS6/etc. A high-end Radeon, like the 8790M, is a fairly okay-ish Jack-of-all-trades, though even an entry-level Quadro/FirePro will still run circles around it in professional situations.

Not sure what your talking about with the economics though. Profit margins in the computer OEM business is pretty slim all around (though I imagine "high-end" brands like AW and workstation laptops) have *slightly* better profit margin, but a lot of that cost comes from the higher-end GPUs (like the Quadro/FirePro, or high-end GPUs like the 780M) and probably from AW's custom design (though all laptops are built by a small handful of ODMs like Clevo, Compal, etc). For business-class laptops, you also have to factor in the better/longer warranties (typically American-based, Next Business Day, plus options like accidental and such), which costs money as well.

 

I think I was getting at this. The fact that consumer-grade machines are not subjected to similar tests yet might command similar premiums is more than a bit troubling. Since AW's design is not so "custom" anymore, I would like to see Dell do something similar with that brand as what it does with Precisions: military-grade testing, etc. I imagine that features like docking ports, legacy ports, trackpoints, longer battery life, and better reputation would be enough to ensure that consumer laptops don't steal sales from business laptops. This is just me wanting the durability and quality of a business laptop in a laptop with a consumer GPU, and I would gladly pay more for it, though I'm not sure if I should need to.

 

How often does a notebook model gets into trouble during normal usage is a complex topic. You need to spend a lot of effort to make a difference.

How easily does a notebook model gets into trouble due to physical damage is relatively simple. Just build a strong case around the internal components. As long as the customers are willing to pay it can be done.

"Good/high-quality " means many things and it's hard to give a one-fit-all answer. Just 2 examples in my work as a geophysics/mining engineer:

1. We don't have sofas in the middle of a desert. Some times we want to seat down for a rest but there are only rock outcrops with sharp corners around. What will my workmates do? They put their Elitebooks and Precisions on the rock, and seat on them. In the case, the somewhat rugged casing of workstations makes a big difference. The first time I saw one seating (on a ThinkPad), I was like "OMG DAFAQ Are you out of your mind", but then I learned that those machines are good enough for this kind of abuse.

2. Our field work requires non-floating-point computation performance, which means we must go AMD. There is no FirePro equivalent of Radeon 7970M/8970M at the moment, so if we buy a Elitebook/Precision, not matter which GPU is chosen, it's always slower than the Radeon. It's possible to buy a workstation and swap to a gaming GPU, but it can get tricky due to the white-listing on those machines. Therefore many engineers in my company choose to leave the workstations at the office and pick up gaming notebooks (Clevo/AlienWare/MSI etc.) when doing field work. We have also found some of the gaming notebooks to be more reliable under extremely hot temperatures. The down side of those machines? No more convenient seats.

 

I'd just to add one more thing that helps towards the sturdiness of business grade notebooks. If you've ever disassembled one, you'll have noticed that those things have more screws than Ikea furniture. Having held in place by screws rather than weak plastic latches goes a long way.

I'm no Alienware expert, but I'd bet that they're probably held by a similar amount of screws than the Precisions. Manufacturers won't go through the trouble of testing consumer notebooks for milspec since it's not a "requirement" of consumer machines.

Also, to set the record straight, you can DIY a GTX680m in a Precision M6700 and it will work , the BIOS won't recognize it as a GTX680m, but the laptop will boot. You may need to make one or two tweaks to the driver inf, but it'll work.

 

I know about this, but the procedure is risky: the card might malfunction or not work and you have to remove it for warranty claims (if Dell decides to service the laptop at all). Better than the situations with upgrading GPUs in Thinkpads and Elitebooks though.

I have looked at teardowns of business laptops. Precisions do have a lot of screws.

 

Right now, none of the Thinkpads have MXM-spec GPUs,; they're all soldered on the motherboard unfortunately.

 

With the W70X line discontinued, the chance of seeing a MXM ThinkPad in the near future is slim if not zero.

 

Welcome to the future, boys. Thanks to the "thin and light" phenomenon, everything will be soldered, underpowered, and all around garbage. They're trying to make laptops more like tablets when we already have tablets. Grr.

 

Last I checked, a lot of big Clevo and Alienware laptops don't conform to this.

Also it's not just the durability and build quality you are paying more for with a business laptop, it's also the service/warranties available. I can tell you Dell Pro Support is pretty amazing, they'll overnight you CRU parts or come NBD to come repair your laptop. Good luck getting that kind of service from a consumer laptop.

Also a lot of business professionals travel a lot, so build quality and quality materials have to be used, in case of that oops I dropped my laptop once and general usage vs consumers.

 

It comes down to what the end user values. Most consumers (protip: if you're on NBR, you're not most consumers) value performance for the dollar over anything else, and the build quality and price point of most consumer laptops reflects that. Business users demand a machine that will survive frequent travel and the stresses of workplace use, and most business laptops reflect that.

I think the whole thing is fairly straightforward.

Also, the phrase MILSPEC 810g tested doesn't mean as much as you might think.

 

This is part of what bugs me. I'm not sure if any consumer laptop would pass the spill test, but some of the others...

I can tell from looking at teardowns that workstations are quite solid. They can withstand more than consumer laptops, but I'm not sure if the difference is as large as people make it out to be. What I have read gives me the impression that they offer enough over consumer laptops at the same price points that buying the consumer laptops is ridiculous: superior warranty and support, superior build quality, legacy ports, better security, higher-quality components.

Maybe I should buy a workstation and be done with worrying.

I'm not sure why some vendors of consumer and business laptops advertise their consumer-grade laptops as "durable" if this dichotomy is so firmly in place. Many consumers are not stupid, and I can't see a huge difference between what consumers and businesses do with their laptops.

 

The warranty coverage is especially nice. Dell ProSupport is great, though I also find that IBM support of my W520 is excellent as well. Overnighted NBD service when I need (or, realistically, want) it, or even overnighted parts if I decide to repair something myself. Accidental is also a nice thing to have, and warranty upgrades on business-class laptops tend to be pretty cheap compared to consumer-class laptops for similar coverage. Customer support after the sale is just as important as the build quality of the machine itself and consumer-class laptop/desktop support has always, always disappointed me in this regard.

Just my two cents.

 

The thing is that they're usually offered at a higher price point given similar hardware specs. There are some pretty sturdy consumer notebooks in the higher price point too. As with any product, reviews are your friend, if there's something shoddy or stellar in the build quality, reviewers can usually tell.

As for the difference in usage between business and consumers, it's not in what they use the notebook for, but more how long they expect those notebooks to last as well as the employees they give them to. To some, if it doesn't belong to them, they won't be careful with it. I have seen Elitebooks from the XP era survive stuff that would have destroyed a lot of consumer notebooks.

 

No, but they're just a small % of laptops out of the whole plethora of laptops out there. Even Clevo offers embedded GPU's and CPU's in many of their other laptops.

 

For me business laptops are useless; I care about being able to change/upgrade/repair parts as necessary, so I need laptops without whitelists (and other restrictions) and don't care for warranty as I usually void it as soon as I buy the laptop due to modifications; most of the repairs I have to make are usually fairly cheap and not worth paying lots of money for warranty.

If you need good support for your machine, want slightly better build quality (budget laptops aren't usually that great, but some gaming laptops have better build quality than business machines) and don't mind paying a premium for support you may or may not need, then business laptop is for you.

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It's good for MANY people out there who don't know much about computers. Not all people buying notebooks are geeks, actually most of them are not.

I'm in same boat as you though. Business support is totally useless for me due to the nature of my work.

 

I'm tempted to say that a "locked-down" system is a high price to pay for decent support, but that might not be fair. If vendors don't whitelist, people will install GPUs and other components that are not tested, and failure rates will rise... That might be why no business laptops have BIOS overvolting or CPU overclocking. At least Dell's Precision m6x00 laptops run high-end consumer GPUs.

Oddly, Elitebooks and Thinkpads don't come close to Precisions in terms of cooling and customization options.

 

Whitelisting mostly locks you into using higher cost components that you have to buy from the manufacturer.

I can understand that some parts don't work together properly for whatever reason, but the chances are low and when you couple it with the fact that very few people (as a percentage) actually modify their laptops, the failure rate increase would be negligible at best, and if you take into account the ease of repair from not whitelisting, you may actually see lower failure rates as they are determined by returns for warranty.

I see whitelisting as a pure money grab; it forces you to use the company for support, pay higher costs for compatible components and limits upgrades making it more likely you'll buy a new laptop sooner.

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Dell doesn't whitelist WLAN cards, you can stick in any WLAN as long as it is the appropriate height.

I always get overkill for everything, business grade laptops for normal use. While it is usually overkill, they survive the normal once oops I had an accident. That and business laptops offer better support (if I ever need it), better screens (IPS, matte screens), and better ergonomics (not everyone wants a pos chicklet keyboard).

 

I haven't tried Dell business laptops as they're not very common around my area, but past experiences with consumer and gaming laptops from Dell have been poor due to problematic equipment and overheating.

If you compare gaming laptops to business laptops, you'll find that a lot of the things you want in a laptop such as matte, ips screens, better keyboards and good support from the resellers that customize the laptops.

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No popular oem whitelist wifi device except for lenovo now. Elitebook take 680m aswell.

Not sure what you mean by lock down.


Business machine is all about efficiency and work out of the box. They are more a tool then a toy that you tinker around. Though I treat my m6600 as toy.

 

I have tried upgrading wlan cards in HP/Compaq laptops and I know at least a good portion (all the ones I've worked on anyway) have whitelists that prevent booting if a non approved wlan card is inside.

Since I've got most of my customers to switch to Asus and msi laptops, I haven't had issues with whitelists.

Also if we're talking about efficiency and work, you have a lot more performance to work with in a gaming or workstation laptop than in a business laptop.

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I don't think gaming laptops and business laptops are exactly the same, maybe parallel universe in terms of customization, but you still don't get stability/reliability of business with gaming (gaming = faster the better). Most average workhorse business laptop (for example a Dell Latitude E6520, Lenovo ThinkPad T520, HP Elitebook 8560) are just normal laptops built better, have business software installed, have long duration warranties. It's true Alienware are built with a metal frame (at least my Flextronics model is) but it isn't exactly feasible to drag a 13 pound laptop into a business meeting, and with a keyboard that lights up (not exactly professional looking). Also fan noise, heat, you just can't compare business and gaming laptops. Also Clevo and many cheaper Alienware laptops feature plastic chassis, which I despise. That and a business laptop tends to have ALOT of battery options as well as docking solutions.

The average business professional doesn't do more than Word, email, maybe checking database stuff, doesn't need a top dog laptop. Remember there are multiple tier of business laptop, the workhorse laptop which make up I'd say 85-90% of business laptop sales and the 10% of performance mobile workstations. Most companies that purchase business laptops are in the workhorse laptop, who don't need more than just basic i3/i5 and integrated graphics, but need a durable laptop to last them. Then a high performance consumer laptop makes absolutely no sense. Higher end mobile workstations have their niche needs as well. I wouldn't exactly want to run Maya, or the latest PS with a GeForce card, Quadro exist because they need stable drivers to run their applications, whereas gaming laptops just want pure performance. Certain applications have proprietary drivers from ATI/Nvidia to best suit their software. The GPU core is the same, but the BIOS and drivers are completely different (if we are talking about a GeForce card vs a comparable Quadro card).

 

Indeed, hp does it before ivy bridge, but that is no longer the case afaik.

I thought workstation is part of business line up. Also, efficiency is more than just compute power. If compute performance matters, laptops are out of the picture. wwan, expandability , dock, multiple display support, track point etc on a single unit level. Then there are security and distributed feature on cooperate level.

 

Clevo which is one of the major ODMs for gaming laptops also has options for workstation cards such as the quadro series from Nvidia as well as having options to use desktop processors for more power.

Business class laptops don't have the same type of cooling as gaming laptops; I've been able to run linpack on my Asus g53sw 24/7 for three days without any hiccups; I don't think you'll get that kind of stability on business laptops.

Properly configured gaming laptops don't usually crash unless there's a bug or glitch in the game or program it's running.

For the business professional who mostly needs to run office programs and use the internet, I believe a Ultrabook would be preferred as they are more portable, offer enough performance and generally have good build quality.

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Business-class laptops are built for stability, though... And, at least in my experience, I've yet to see either of my Thinkpads, or any of my peers' Latitudes or Precisions, or my sister's Elitebook crash at all in either normal usage or stress testing. And I wouldn't say that a consumer-class Ultrabook has anywhere near as good build quality as a proper business-class laptop or Ultrabook.

 

Actually, the Precision m6700 might have the best cooling I have seen on any laptop. The intake vents are pitiful, true, but the fans are heatsinks are solid, the laptop does not have huge vents jutting from the back, and Dell does not decrease heat and noise with soldered CPUs and GPUs. Designing the cooling system such that one fan can cool the CPU and GPU for minimal low-load noise or in case a fan fails is a good idea. I don't know why no other vendor has done that.

Stability versus expandability. Huh. This reminds me of a typical Windows/OS X argument.

 

Unless we're looking at different laptops, the notebookcheck review shows that it has 2 fans and cooling problems (the cooling problems I've had before with dell laptops): Review Update Dell Precision M6700 Notebook Nvidia Quadro K5000M - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

Compare the Dell with the Clevo P177SM, you'll notice that the Clevo has bigger beefier heatsinks with more heatpipes, and as such in the review ends up being considerably cooler; also since the laptop is so easy to configure and customize you can easily repaste the CPU and GPU with something better like MX-4 and lower temperatures even further: Review Schenker XMG P703 (Clevo P177SM) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

OP's Percsion vs Alienware example was a bad one.

Both mobile workstations and gaming notebooks are niches. Typical bissiness/consumer notebooks are not anywhere close. Getting barebone computers into this agreement makes even less sense if you ask me.

 

I used Alienware as a counterpoint because:

1. The m17x and m18x are the most expensive "consumer-grade" laptops I can think of. They might even yield a higher mean profit per unit than Dell's Precisions.
2. Alienware advertises durability and takes design cues from Dell's business laptops. e.g. The materials used and keyboards.

 

Both Precision and Alienware are based on Compal's reference design and manufactured through similar progress, maybe in the same Kunshan, China factory. Technically they are very similar machines with different styling and branding. Business and consumer notebooks from other brands might be more differentiated.

If barebones do qualify as consumer-grade, the most expensive consumer-grade notebook is Clevo P570 with 1 Xeon E5 server CPU, 4 ECC SODIMM RAM sticks, 2 Quadro K5000M workstation GPUs and 4 industrial SLC SSDs. Otherwise the 18" Alienware is the most expensive one.

 

@ Mr.Koala: It's not easy to tell whether top-tier consumer laptops are as sturdy as some business-rugged laptops without (ab)using each of them. I've looked at teardowns and manuals of Alienwares, Precisions, Elitebooks, Thinkpads, Latitudes, Probooks... Hard to notice substantial differences in sturdiness, which might show in daily use. I haven't touched a Precision, Elitebook, or Probook. What's certain is that vendors make subtle choices and changes in their business laptops that add durability: for example, the Precision m4700's and m6700's dual fans that each connect to the CPU and GPU and the magnesium "cutouts" Elitebooks have to protect the components above their bottom covers from shock.

Still, compliance to Mil Spec 810g is the only thing that makes this more than a branding war. "Branding" being the aesthetics, security features, connectivity, and warranty options of each.

That review does not comply with the user results I have seen. The GPU runs cool, and while the CPU runs toasty, it does not throttle. With a good paste job, perhaps with the back of the laptop raised, it can run the i7-3940xm without too much struggle. Also, I don't mean only "heat and noise" when I type "cooling": I'm referring to fan profiles, tricks like allowing one fan to cool both CPU and GPU under low loads, heatsink and fan quality.

If I continue to post, someone will tell me to get a workstation and be done with this.

 

If you have a high powered gpu, it seems a poor idea to use only one heatsink/fan as you now have one point of failure and if you have a low load on one of the parts and not the other, the temperature will end up being higher for the idle part as opposed to using a dual fan dual heatsink method.

In the dual fan method, the fan profiles are actually set to turn the fan off when the temperature is low enough (at least in the laptops I've used).

You also have to remember that generally gaming loads tax the hardware far more than general business use (office/browsing) and as such gaming laptops will usually have better cooling and can handle high loads for a longer time.

The flip side is that gaming laptops are usually fairly bulky, have poorer battery life and are meant to be used while stationary and have a hard surface to put them on; business laptops are meant to be more mobile so they'll be less bulky, have better battery life and usually more solid exteriors as they see more wear than stationary gaming laptops.

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As per your Alienware example: I imagine that Dell is "milking Alienwares for profit" because Clevo, ASUS, and MSI are not trying to compete in build quality, upgradeability, overclocking performance, or warranty. Competition is rougher in the workstation market. Maybe Razer will release a decent product and force Dell to do something new.

 

For build quality and warranty, I agree. But upgradeability and overclocking?

 

Recent MSI top-end laptops cannot run AMD GPUs, ROG laptops only run ASUS-manufactured GPUs, and you cannot upgrade Sagers without modding the vBIOS.

ASUS might match the AW 17 in terms of overclocked GPU performance this year, but the G750 has a soldered CPU that overclocks up to 3.6Ghz on one core. The AW 17/18 can run at above 4Ghz. The vRAM modules that AW uses for the GTX 780m are rated for 1.5Ghz memory clocks instead of the standard 1.25Ghz, and I think that only MSI chips have the same rating.

 

Alienware allows upgrades without bios modding? Last I checked you couldn't upgrade the processor on the previous Alienware from Sandy bridge to ivy bridge due to bios limitations.

The new Alienware 17 isn't that great either, has aggressive thermal throttling so the performance is lower than the competition: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7284/alienware-17-gaming-notebook-review/4

For customizability, I don't think you can beat Clevo laptops, there's even versions with desktop processors if that's the route you want to go.

Alienware also generally has poor bang for the buck compared to it's competitor while in my opinion not offering anything special for the increased costs.

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I was referring to GPU upgrades. That said, I have seen a handful of Sandy Bridge AWs upgraded to Ivy Bridge CPUs, something that I have not noticed in any other brand's laptops.

The thermal throttling is silly. but Alienware owners have found ways to avoid it almost entirely.

Clevo beats competitors in terms of customization options at the time of purchase. Not so much after the purchase.

If you have good experiences with Dell's customer service, you might think Alienwares are worth the premium. If you do not, you might swear off Dell for life. Whatever the case, Alienware gives plenty of discounts: it gave out 10, 20, and 30% coupons a month ago.

Some would argue that Alienwares have better build quality than competitors' laptops. They have metal internal frames and seem quite robust, but I have yet to find a test of durability.

Edit: Alienware's retail prices are too high in comparison to business laptops and workstations, which appear to offer more for the money, but not other gaming laptops.

 

No sandy to ivy, if you are referring to Mr. Fox machine, it have a r2 board.

 

The lower end prices on Alienware laptops are quite a bit higher than competitors, for example for the same price as Alienware entry level 17, you can pick up an msi laptop with better gpu, more ram and better storage, or with the same specs but for $300 less.


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Though you loose out on the AW warranty and the AW look. Though if neither are important, MSi/Clevo/Compal are great alternatives.

 

I must admit, all of the comments about the difference between business-class and consumer-class are getting to me. I'm tempted to return my m17x for an m6800. Then I would have to deal with the problems of a new release and pay for features that I do not use...

 

It's definitely important to understand your use case and plan for what you will need and what you will be annoyed without. As an example, one of the things that annoys me about most current systems is how the screen does not tilt back all the way. I had to get a business notebook in order to ensure that the lid of my system opens 180 degrees. And while doing so cost me more than buying a similarly-powered consumer system, it's worth it to me because that is important. Or, as another example, I enjoy gaming at native resolution, but I don't need to do so on maximum settings and I'm generally happy with frame rates at 25 fps or higher. Those preferences determined that I needed a dedicated graphics card that was powerful enough to play games at 1080p, but it did not need to be powerful enough to do so with all the bells and whistles.

In general, business systems have fewer compromises than consumer systems. With consumer systems, it is often necessary to prioritize between processing power, storage performance, graphics performance, screen quality, keyboard and trackpad quality, expandability, connectivity, audio quality, thermal properties, durability, style, size & weight, and battery life. Most business notebooks are short on style, but they typically provide a wider balance of the other factors than most consumer systems.

 

Business laptops lack performance compared to gaming laptops, and I mean that in every sense of the word, you can get better cpus, video cards, storage solutions etc in gaming laptops (arguably consumer laptops).

You also pay a hefty premium for business laptops over consumer laptops of comparable spec; a lot of enterprise features that come with business laptops, most average users will never use.

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Sure, if workstation laptops are not considered as business laptops.

And it is obvious average user buy consumer laptops, I Assume no one walk in a big box store looking for a thinkpad.

 

I don't think there is a black and white categorization of laptops, sure you can generalise, but even what you said above about someone buying a ThinkPad; you can pick them up from most big box stores and if a consumer decides they like it and buys it does that make it a consumer laptop.

Conversely if someone picks a gaming laptop for work or a company decides to supply their employees with cheap basic acers laptops for office use, does that make them business laptops?

My only definition of a business laptop is that it comes with enterprise features/software, but like I said can't draw the line between them easily.

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I've never seen a business-class laptop sold in brick-and-mortar stores. Just consumer-class laptops markers as things like "Thinkpad Edge" and such.

 

Actually, I have, the canadacomputers store near me has a full fledged T530 on display and a few other Thinkpads. I've never seen a Latitude or an Elitebook in store, but Thinkpads, yup.

 

Huh... must be different between the countries then. Never seen such a thing in the US.