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Best affordable laptop to handle large Excel files?
Posted on 3/15/19 at 1:35 pm
Posted on 3/15/19 at 1:35 pm
I am looking for a laptop that can handle large Excel files (macros, lots of lookup functions, etc.). I do not need the laptop to be great for gaming or much else, just want lots of processing speed, RAM, or whatever else is needed for Excel files. What's my best best for a ~$1,000 budget? Thanks.
8
Posted on 3/15/19 at 1:45 pm to GeneralLee
Microsoft Surface works good for me
Posted on 3/15/19 at 9:14 pm to GeneralLee
How large an Excel file? Pretty much any laptop with 8gb of RAM should be able to handle that.
Posted on 3/15/19 at 11:00 pm to SG_Geaux
quote:
How large an Excel file? Pretty much any laptop with 8gb of RAM should be able to handle that.
This... Shouldn't take $1k to get the job done... I'd look for something with a better keyboard (assuming this is largely data entry use case, you don't want the keyboard to suck) and higher RAM (or room to expand it)... processor not terribly important, just don't go pure bottom of the barrel.
Would think something in the $400-600 range would be more than sufficient.
Posted on 3/16/19 at 7:04 am to fibonaccisquared
quote:
processor not terribly important
Not true at all. Depending on the complexity of his macros and calculations, a good CPU could be the most important
Posted on 3/16/19 at 10:02 am to GeneralLee
ThinkPad X1 Carbon (5th Gen) - Black
Part Number: 20K4S0E600
$850
Processor
6th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-6200U
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64
Display Type
14" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS
RAM
8 GB (Onboard)
Hard Drive
256 GB SSD PCIe
Fingerprint Scanner
Backlit Keyboard
Best keyboard on a laptop
Part Number: 20K4S0E600
$850
Processor
6th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-6200U
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64
Display Type
14" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS
RAM
8 GB (Onboard)
Hard Drive
256 GB SSD PCIe
Fingerprint Scanner
Backlit Keyboard
Best keyboard on a laptop
Posted on 3/17/19 at 6:59 pm to GeneralLee
For what it's worth - my company is full of engineers, chemists, IT, accountants and business analysts and we currently provide laptops and desktops with i5, 8GB RAM and 256 SSD for most users. A handful that do CAD or technical modelling get i7 or Xeon CPU workstations with 16 or 32 GB RAM.
Posted on 3/17/19 at 7:10 pm to GeneralLee
I got a 15.6inch HP envy x360 w 8g 256gig for $579 at Costco. Only complaint is the trackpad isn't precision type. No clue why they do that.
Posted on 3/17/19 at 10:53 pm to bluebarracuda
quote:
Not true at all. Depending on the complexity of his macros and calculations, a good CPU could be the most important
"Just don't go bottom of the barrel"...
Almost any decent modern AMD or i5 would be more than sufficient for 90% of use cases for "large Excel" work.
I would have imagined the OP would call out if the macros themselves were super complex/resource intensive...
Posted on 3/18/19 at 11:25 pm to GeneralLee
My 7 yr old MacBook Air has no problem opening multi GB Excel files so any newer computer should be fine
Posted on 3/19/19 at 11:37 am to GeneralLee
quote:
I am looking for a laptop that can handle large Excel files (macros, lots of lookup functions, etc.). I do not need the laptop to be great for gaming or much else, just want lots of processing speed, RAM, or whatever else is needed for Excel files. What's my best best for a ~$1,000 budget? Thanks.
For my work I am constantly working with 100mb spreadsheets with lots of advanced calculations and macros.
I have a ThinkPad P51 with an i7 and 32 gb of ram. The ram is a little overboard, prob half would suffice just fine.
Posted on 3/19/19 at 11:38 am to lsu480
quote:
My 7 yr old MacBook Air has no problem opening multi GB Excel files so any newer computer should be fine
MacBooks cannot run many advanced functions in excel. Using a MacBook for big excel sheets with lots of macros/calculations is a horrible idea and will not work
Posted on 3/19/19 at 12:13 pm to GeneralLee
I do very heavy excel work and 8GB ended up being not enough with multitasking. My new rig is a i5-8400H (quad core/8 thread), 16 GB RAM and 256gb nvme SSD.
Came from an old hoss, i7-3603QM, 8 GB, 240gb SATA SSD, quadro (useless to me) GPU.
Make sure to get at least a 4 core/8 thread processor (most 8th gen core i5, 8th gen core i7 are mostly 6 core/12 thread), difference between those and older dual core/4 thread machines is actually pretty crazy.
I work in 20-30-40 mb excel files pretty regularly with up to about 50-60 tabs in some of them and some pretty heavy formulas.
Came from an old hoss, i7-3603QM, 8 GB, 240gb SATA SSD, quadro (useless to me) GPU.
Make sure to get at least a 4 core/8 thread processor (most 8th gen core i5, 8th gen core i7 are mostly 6 core/12 thread), difference between those and older dual core/4 thread machines is actually pretty crazy.
I work in 20-30-40 mb excel files pretty regularly with up to about 50-60 tabs in some of them and some pretty heavy formulas.
This post was edited on 3/19/19 at 12:16 pm
Posted on 3/19/19 at 1:11 pm to hubertcumberdale
quote:
MacBooks cannot run many advanced functions in excel. Using a MacBook for big excel sheets with lots of macros/calculations is a horrible idea and will not work
Can attest to this. Highly complex excel files tend to make macs spaz out.
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