3 Best Laptops for CCNA in 2024

From this article, you will know what are, in our opinion, the best laptops for CCNA you can buy and use in 2024.

CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is a certification from Cisco Systems related to a person’s computer network knowledge and skills. By having this certification, you are officially acknowledged by Cisco Systems to have the broad fundamentals needed to pursue an IT career based on the latest technology trends. It is an important certification to have for IT professionals who want to work in one of many companies that require/prefer a candidate who has the certification.

Some tools can help CCNA aspirants prepare for the CCNA exam. Among those tools, a laptop is probably one of the most important tools for many people. This is because a laptop can help CCNA aspirants study various materials related to the exam and practice their skills related to computer networks.

If you want to prepare for a CCNA exam but don’t have a laptop yet, you might be interested in buying a new laptop. It can be confusing, however, to pick the right laptop from many laptop models and specification choices out there. This is why Innovation Infinite has tried to compile a list of the best laptops for CCNA that you can make as your laptop-buying reference.

What laptops do we recommend and why do we recommend them? Let’s start digging into the list right away.

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Image	View on Amazon	Product
	View on Amazon	Lenovo ThinkPad T16
	View on Amazon	HP EliteBook 650
	View on Amazon	Dell Latitude 5540

What are the Best Laptops for CCNA?

Now, let’s see more about the laptops we recommend when it comes to excellent laptops for a CCNA aspirant to use. Using one of these laptops should give you the laptop support you need to study for the CCNA exam more optimally.

1. Lenovo ThinkPad T16

Lenovo ThinkPad T16 is the first laptop you may want to take a look at. Coming from the popular Lenovo ThinkPad series, this laptop is reliable and should support you adequately as you aim to pass the CCNA exam.

The processor of this laptop is an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor. It is a great processor with a fast base clock and turbo speed to run any software you need to use with much stability. As for the RAM capacity, this laptop has 16GB to allow you to do serious multitasking with this laptop well.

This laptop’s display is friendly to the eye so you can use this laptop to study for the CCNA exam for long hours without getting much eye strain. To help you view its display in a more comfortable position, this laptop has a quite flexible hinge that you can stretch up to 180 degrees.

The keyboard that a ThinkPad laptop has always seems to be excellent and what this laptop has is no different. You should be able to type comfortably with it as you input the things you need during your study.

All in all, this Lenovo ThinkPad T16 seems to be an excellent laptop choice to help you work on the CCNA exam you take.

Key Features

• Screen Size, Resolution: 16 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U with 8 cores and speed in the range of 3.3-5.1 GHz
• RAM Capacity: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Battery Life (Estimation): up to 10 hours of usage capacity

Pros

• Excellent specifications to support the CCNA exam preparation process
• Solid build
• USB-A, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, and HDMI ports
• Friendly-to-the-eye display
• Quite a flexible hinge (up to 180 degrees)
• Comfortable keyboard to type on

Cons

• No SD card reader slots
• Average display quality

2. HP EliteBook 650

HP EliteBook 650 is another laptop that can be very good to use to prepare for the CCNA exam. It is a nice work laptop from HP with specifications that should enable you to study things about computer networking well.

This laptop is backed up by a 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and 16GB RAM capacity to perform. With these specifications in charge, you should be able to use the software you need for your CCNA exam preparation smoothly. The RAM capacity, in particular, should provide more than adequate memory space for your usage of this laptop related to the CCNA exam preparation process.

You can also stretch this laptop up to 180 degrees thanks to its hinge so practicing your skills related to computer networks should be easier for you to do with this laptop. When you need to use this laptop’s battery, it has a battery life that can last a whole workday on a single charge to make you not depend on a power outlet to study for your CCNA exam.

This laptop’s design looks professional and its fans run rather quietly so you can be confident using it for your CCNA exam preparation anywhere you want. Overall, this HP EliteBook 650 can be just the laptop you need to prepare for the CCNA exam optimally.

Key Features

• Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
• Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i5 with 10 cores and speed in the range of 1.3-4.6 GHz
• RAM Capacity: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Battery Life (Estimation): up to 13 hours of usage capacity

Pros

• Excellent specifications to support the CCNA exam preparation process
• Premium-looking design
• USB-A, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, HDMI, and Ethernet ports
• Quiet operations
• Friendly-to-the-eye display
• Stretchable hinge (up to 180 degrees)

Cons

• No SD card reader slots
• Average display quality

3. Dell Latitude 5540

Dell Latitude 5540 is the last laptop we recommend on this list. Considering its specification quality, this laptop seems to be suitable to accompany you as you learn the things you need for your CCNA exam.

To run its operations, this laptop has a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM capacity. These are excellent specifications for a laptop to have and should handle tasks related to your CCNA exam preparation activities without much problem. When you need to store files for your study internally on this laptop, there is 512GB SSD storage space ready for you to use.

For your connectivity with the external devices you need to support your CCNA exam preparation, this laptop has a full range of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports available on its sides. When you need to do video calls to discuss your CCNA exam or follow online CCNA preparation classes, this laptop’s full-HD webcam should help you to get a more positive communication experience.

Want a capable laptop to help you prepare for the CCNA exam? You might want to consider buying and using this Dell Latitude 5540 laptop.

Key Features

• Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
• Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i7 with 10 cores and speed in the range of 1.7-5 GHz
• RAM Capacity: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Battery Life (Estimation): up to 8 hours of usage capacity

Pros

• Excellent specifications to support the CCNA exam preparation process
• Solid build
• A full range of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports
• A full-HD webcam
• Comfortable keyboard to type on

Cons

• Average display quality

What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a Laptop to Prepare for the CCNA Test?

Here are the things we think you should consider when you want to buy a laptop to support your CCNA test preparation.

• Processor. The laptop you buy should have a good processor so it can run the software you need for your CCNA exam preparation smoothly. We recommend a laptop with at least a late-generation i5 or Ryzen 5 processor for this


• RAM capacity. The laptop you buy should have adequate RAM capacity so you won’t get a considerable lag of memory space whenever you prepare for the CCNA exam using the laptop. We recommend a laptop with at least 16GB RAM for this


• Storage. You may want to store some files related to your CCNA exam preparation internally on your laptop so you can access them much more easily later. We recommend a laptop with at least 256GB SSD storage space

Wrap Up

When you want to buy a laptop, you may want one that can help you prepare for the CCNA exam smoothly. It can be confusing, however, to pick the right laptop from many laptop choices out there. This is why Innovation Infinite has created a list of the best laptops for CCNA to help you.

To summarize, here are three laptops we recommend for your CCNA exam preparation.

• Lenovo ThinkPad T16
• HP EliteBook 650
• Dell Latitude 5540

We hope our list can help you buy the best laptop to optimize your preparation process for the CCNA exam!



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