Best Laptop for Pentesting

When you look to people who have been coding or programming for a long time, it’s easy to feel intimidated by their skills. After all, it takes deep concentration and time to hone those skills.

One aspect that many people are interested in is pentesting. Also called hacking or penetration testing, the process is all about looking for vulnerabilities in websites and applications so that these can be patched later.

Practically any laptop is capable of pentesting; however, there are ones that are more equipped for pentesting than others. Below, we’ve listed off the best laptops for pentesting and how you can search for your own ultimate pentesting laptop.

Top 7 Best Laptops for Pentesting

Like all of these lists we present, each of them comes with a list of components. We hope that the selections we offer give you ideas of making your own pentesting laptop or buy one from this list.

Apple MacBook Pro

Component List:

• Processor: Intel Dual Core i7 3.3HGz
• Graphics: Intel Iris Graphics 550
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB SSD

Buy on Amazon

While Macs, in general, are seen for creative projects, the Apple MacBook Pro also has the hardware for being an excellent penetration testing laptop. At this point, many app developers use these laptops as their go-to laptops.

It’s offered at a premium; however, it offers a slim design, HD display, and robust processing power; it’s easily capable of performing these tests. If you are under pressure to complete something, or you need a smooth flow of tasks, this laptop can perform.

Acer Predator Helios 300

Component List :

• Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
• Memory: 32GB
• Storage: 256GB SSD

Buy on Amazon

The Predator Helios 300 is ideal for the serious Pentesting users out there. With a strong plastic design and metal finished lid, this best pentesting laptop has ample room to display everything, thanks to the 15.6-inch screen.

Installed with Windows 10 OS, it offers a 7th Gen 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM. All of these things ensure you can do security analysis without the worry of performance lags. The only notable downside of this laptop is that it is heavier than other laptops, making it harder to carry around.

Dell XPS 15

Component List 

• Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB SSD

Buy on Amazon

Dell computers aren’t made simply for general use. There have been many serious developers using this to develop apps and websites alike. It also is ideal for entry-level penetration testers too.

This makes our list of best laptop for pentesting by first offering a 4K IPS touch-sensitive display. This allows people to see content displayed at a higher resolution than the standard laptop.

Dell also has the latest Intel Core processor and 16GB RAM. You’ll be able to work smoothly, and you won’t have to deal with performance lag at all. It’s also complemented by a 1TB hard drive.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y700

Component List:  

• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD

Buy on Amazon

For the developer who loves big screens, this is one of the best laptop for pentesting 2021 that we recommend. The screen comes in at 17-inches and offers 1080p resolution. It is the heaviest on this list; however, it offers plenty of benefits to make up for the weight.

The screen display also comes with an anti-glare feature to reduce eye strain when working long hours.

In terms of other hardware, it performs much like the other laptops on this list. The notable difference is that it uses 6th generation Intel Core for its processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 M 4GB graphic card. The 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD are a nice touch too.

Alienware 17 R4 Pentesting Laptop

Component List:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-7820HK (Quad-Core, 8MB Cache, Overclocking up to 4.4GHz)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1070
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD

Buy on Amazon

Alienware always strives for a classic look. As such, they’ll stop at nothing to make a top-rated laptop for pentesting have features for great creativity and have good looks. Their 17 R4 currently encapsulates this and is one of the best models around.

The body is made of metal and offers a 17.3-inch display. Paired with Intel’s Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM, the performance is on par for those on this list. Furthermore, the metal body also protects it from heating up too much.

What pushes this above the others is storage. It offers a 1TB hard drive and a 256 GB SSD. Similar to Lenovo. Overall, this laptop encompasses the major selling points of the previously mentioned laptops. If you want the best of all the worlds, this is a good option.

HP 17 Premium

Component List:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-10750H
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD

Buy on Amazon

If you’re looking for a cheaper laptop that can perform on par with Apple’s MacBook Pro, a good alternative for the best laptop for pentesting would be the HP brand. Specifically, HP 17 Premium.

The whole focus of this laptop is to make it ideal for pentesting. You can tell from the advanced features this laptop has. Paired with 8GB RAM, it’s able to keep up and provide ample benefits to pentesting services. It also has an Intel Core i5 processor, giving you excellent graphics as well.

Lenovo ThinkPad E580

Component List :

• Processor: Intel 7th gen Core i5-7200U 2.5 GHz
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 620
• Memory: ‎8 GB
• Storage: 256GB SSD

Buy on Amazon

Lenovo’s ThinkPad E580 is an ideal laptop for pentesting if you’re the type who wants a modern design. It’s also ideal for businesses and professional work.

Getting into the specs, this laptop has an Intel core i5 processor. While not the strongest, it can still offer speedy performances, and you’ll still be able to work effectively. The only snag will come if you’re planning to work for long hours.

The strongest selling point is its memory and battery. With 32GB of memory and 13-hour battery life, you could carry pentesting processes for a while.

We believe it’s a small trade-off, especially since it has great connectivity with WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity options as well as HDMI and SD card slots.

The Ultimate Guide To Buying the Best Laptop for Pentesting

If you’re looking to build the best laptop for penetration testing or you want to keep doing some more research, here is what we consider looking into and keeping in mind.

• Budget – The most important thing is your budget. Oftentimes the best penetration testing laptop is also an expensive one. Even so, this list does provide gems that do have a budget in mind. These are great ones for starting off.

• RAM (Random Access Memory) – RAM is another significant factor as pentesting requires large amounts of data and applications to work. When you have enough RAM, you can finish tasks quickly and without errors occurring. If you do get a laptop with low RAM, consider getting extendable RAM space.

• Processor – This is what determines how fast and effective a program will run. Slower and lower quality processors will guarantee your laptop to lag and function slowly. Generally speaking, a processor that’s at least i5 or higher is a good one.

• Battery Life – While the importance of this varies from person to person, battery life is still important in certain situations. Pentesting and debugging take time to perform. You want a laptop that doesn’t need to be charged constantly or to shut down halfway through.

• Storage – A high-quality laptop for pentesting will have excellent storage for your projects. When considering a laptop for pentesting, keep in mind storage space for that and for personal data space too. Also, note that penetration checking SSD is preferred over HDD. External storage is ideal too.

• Graphics Card – Better images on the screen do help. A graphics card with at least 2GB is required for pentesting. If you’re going to use it for extensive hacking, 4GB is needed.

• Weight – Ideally, a laptop that’s light and easy to carry around is good. Especially if you’re the type to be traveling around. Even though laptops are still under 10 pounds, the weight still adds up if you’re packing other items or hardware.

• Display – The larger the screen, the better it is to see everything. Anything that’s 15 inches or more is recommended, though the size can be adjusted for personal preference.

Conclusion

Picking the ideal laptop for pentesting can be difficult with so many laptops in the market. It’s essential to know what you value and what you are looking for overall in a laptop for this. By keeping your needs in mind, you should be able to reach a conclusion for what would be the best laptop that fits your needs.