An Okay-ish guide on How to find a good laptop for creating digital art on -2025
This is my first time making a post like this, but as someone who went from having very sparse technical knowledge to working helpdesk, I wanted to give my advice on drawing tablets/drawing workflows for comfort.
Something I ran into when trying to figure out a comfortable way for me to draw was the sea of like confusion when it came to drawing tablets. Initially, I was advised by a friend that a tablet like the Surface would be good for drawing and I really stuck to that closely- as it seemed like the alternative was to be stuck at a desk with a drawing tablet. This is not very comfy and also not very practical or easy for me to casually draw digitally. After becoming more technically literate, I realized that a 2in1 laptop serves practically the same function as a surface, is about half the price, and has a lot more power as a drawing "tablet" to also multitask things like music applications/ youtube in the background/ having a ton of tabs / ect...
So- here's a little guide on how to figure out what to look for in a laptop as of 2025!
Why 2in1? 2in1 laptops have a touch screen, can fold all the way back to a 'tablet mode' in case you like that sort of set up & come with a keyboard attached that's easy to use. Otherwise, a laptop with a touch screen should work just fine- but most likely might not be as physically flexible. What should I look for in a drawing laptop? There's some basic things I can advise as well as more nuanced things, I've also included links to some laptops that seem good: OS or Operating System: -ARM processor vs not (Windows 11 VS Windows11 ARM): I would personally avoid any sort of ARM processors, as it acts like a weaker version of+ lacks a lot of the functionality of windows 11. I had a surface laptop that I exchanged back because it did not have touch gestures. A way to see if the laptop you want has an ARM processor vs not is to check the OS or Operating System, if it has a arm processor it will likely say something like "Windows 11 ARM" or you can CTRL + F to find the word ARM in the description in your web browser.
-Linux VS MACOS VS Windows: Unfortunately I have less EXP with MAC devices, but as the price point is very high and they are not built to last AS LONG (No devices last unfortunately) I can't recommend them. -If you have an older device with touch screen capabilities that you would like to use, and would like to try to dive into Linux- I'd say go for it! Be aware that changing your OS will wipe your entire drive, so please back up your files first! If you end up not (Depending on how you go about installing it) I've been enjoying a new-er version of Kubuntu as our home media set-up! Generally, a lot of Linux distributions aren't as 'hard' on your hardware. When choosing what version of Linux to go with- as there are a lot of different types or distributions of Linux, it has been advised to choose a more stable download release version rather then the new-est version- to be able to know this, it may say if the download version is supported long term or not. I'm not a Linux expert and have generally followed guides on how to use this OS, to install a OS you will need some sort of flash media- like a flash drive/usb drive! If you end up not liking Linux, Windows has ISO files you can put on your flash drive to put it back, again this will wipe your data! It's a good idea to try and check to see if your software of choice works on the version of Linux you would like to install, there seems to generally be workarounds however, it's up to your comfort level when seeking these out.
-Windows is familiar! However, Windows 11 has this thing where it wants to back up all your files/data to OneDrive. I, Personally have been enjoying this service, as it makes backing up my files easy-cheesy. However, with the current political climate, this opens you/us up to having our privacy stripped/or our files erased without our consent as Microsoft sees fit. To combat this, I back up my files to a physical hard drive(S) as it is safer to have multiple back-ups rather then just 1.
-AVOID ChromeOS or chromebooks- is my advice GPU or Graphics Card: https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ -Using this link, you can compare how the GPU of your device compares to the standard/other devices/ect... -Honestly, if you are not doing heavy-duty gaming or 3D sculpting, or video editing, you're probably just fine with a mid-tier GPU!
Where the files are stored / the Disk Drive: -As long as you avoid a HDD you're probably good to go! HDD drives use a physical disk that spins to save your data- this is more prone to failing and this is a lot of the reason why older laptops seem "slow"
-One of the ways to to check this- or a weird way I check this, is I click the Windows button/Windows search and type "Defrag" & You should see something that says something "Defragment and Optimize Drives" In this window, under 'Media Type' it should say something like Solid State Drive, and not 'Hard Disk Drive' or HDD -How much storage is important depending on if you store your all data on your device or not- I'd recommend at LEAST 500+GB to be safe, any more does not hurt!
RAM: For doing just art, you're probably good to go at just 8-16GB of RAM! Any more does not hurt.
Processors: I have less knowledge in this domain, however, if you are going for a intel processor, something like i5, 1255u is communicating that: i(NUMBER), the higher number = more processing power. I would recommend anything i5 and above, and the 1255u- a number I am using in this example, the 12 = 12th generation. 12 gen and up Is what I would personally recommend.
Do I need a separate stylus pen? Yes, however, there's a lot of good knock off brand pens that are cheaper if not better then official brand pens. I'd take into account how they charge, I like rechargeable pens that use Type C ports- like new-er phones!
Link Examples of 2in1 laptops that should be good for digital art- again, if the price has changed for the worse, you can use these as a guide: This is the laptop I have, I got it on sale (I exchanged my surface for this) for around 500$: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-2-in-1-16-2k-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-ultra-7-16gb-memory-1tb-ssd-glacier-silver/6571084.p?skuId=6571084 Upon a glance this looks good due to the processor being i7 & the 12th generation- a new-ish one: https://www.newegg.com/lenovo-ideapad-flex-5-16iau7-82r80000us-16-0-intel-core-i7-1255u-1-tb-pcie-ssd-16gb-memory/p/N82E16834840489
Finishing notes: This is not a like solid template, more of a loose advising guide- I hope this is helpful to some folx! Feel free to ask questions!
