Our deal sheet highlights some of the best tech deals for business – use this in conjunction with our buyers guides and quote review service to make sure you are getting best value for your business.
Why don’t we sell hardware ourselves? The traditional distribution channel is broken and consumers now get better deals than businesses on all but the most specialist of equipment. Resellers and VARs just can’t compete with the price and distribution service of the best of the online etailers.
Working with technology and understanding the market, we know a good deal when we see one and so we curate this deal sheet to highlight some ways for you to get best value for your tech spend. If you have specific requirements for volume purchases or if you need help planning your IT spend, do get in touch and we’ll see if we can work together.
Disclaimer: Some links in these recommendations may be affiliate links and we may receive compensation (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links.
Monitors – time for an upgrade?
Large flat screen monitors are terrific value these days. Advanced manufacturing techniques and thin and light materials mean that you not only get a great deal, but the quality is fantastic and you will rarely get a hardware problem during its useful lifetime.
There are proven productivity and health benefits for using larger screens, so it makes good business sense to replace smaller screens like 19″ and 21″ models with larger ones. We are advocates of 27″ and larger screens – or multiple monitors for some applications, but the price point for 24″ screens probably offers best value for most businesses.
For general business use, you don’t have to worry much about the spec – just get as large a screen as your budget allows. The only people who might need special consideration will be graphic designers, animators, game developers or anyone working with video or pre-press content.
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All the major brands have quality products. Acer, AOC, Asus, Benq, Dell, Hanns-G, HP, Iiyama and LG are well established brands with good ranges. However, when it comes to flat screen monitors, brand doesn’t matter that much. Many leading brands outsource their manufacturing and as the only way to compete in today’s market is to have a highly automated, high volume manufacturing facility, if you can make flat screen panels at all they will be of a good standard. Key features to check for typical business use:
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Apple – iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and iMacs
Check the range of refurb models with warranty on eBay
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If you use Apple kit in your business, you’ll know that there aren’t many deals to be had. You pay a premium for Apple products and distribution is tightly controlled, so you rarely see special offers, overstock disposals and the like as you often do in the more competitive PC and Android space. For businesses that means a bigger ticket price when kitting out employees with new phones, laptops and tablets or when replacing lost or damaged equipment. If you want the latest models, you might as well shop at the Apple store, but there are a few sources of quality refurbed Apple kit with warranty that might make the IT budget stretch a little further in times of austerity! You’ll find lots of iPads, some good deals on iPhone 7s and 8s and a few iMacs and Macbooks. Look for products with warranty from reputable brands outlets like Argos, MusicMagpie etc. See the full range here. This is also a great place to pick up an iPhone 4 to give to that rep that has lost his second iPhone X in the last six months!
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SmartPhones – Motorola G7 Power
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Why the Moto G7 Power?What makes the Moto G7 Power a great smartphone for business? Four things:
You can spend hours trawling through comparison sites, looking at specs and listening to salespeople pitching the latest, greatest smartphone to your business.
Forget all that and just get the Motorola G7 Power.
A smartphone that gets you through more than two working days (i.e. actually using the thing with GPS and bluetooth active, making calls and using it as a WiFi hotspot on the commute and at client sites) without having to worry about charging is transformational for business users. Add to that a great feature set, good build quality, security features and fantastic value and the Moto G7 Power is clear best buy for business. At the time of writing the Moto G7 Power is the best selling SIM free smartphone on Amazon UK. For small and medium businesses we have been recommending SIM free handsets for some time. Business contracts with handsets included rarely offer good value and lack flexibility. There is also a dual SIM model that is great for those who want to separate personal and business use – or for business travellers who want to take advantage of a local SIM card when overseas to save on roaming data and call costs. Read more about why the Motorola G7 Power is our Smartphone Best Buy for Business. |
Business Inkjet Printer (A4) – HP PageWide Pro series
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HP PageWide Pro 477dw Wireless Printer | Ebuyer.com
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Best Business Book – Business Adventures – John Brooks
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Is Business Adventures the best business book ever written? Bill Gates says this is the best business book he has ever read – and he got the recommendation from Warren Buffett! With testimonials like that, Business Adventures isn’t likely to go out of print anytime soon. The tales of corporate America and Wall Street fluctuations from the 50s and 60s may seem a world away from the technology and business climate of today. However, while times, technology and fashions may change, people remain pretty much the same. There are lessons here that some of the digital giants of today might learn from, and you can see how human psychology drives markets rather than economic reality. As Huxley said, “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” Add Brooks’ Business Adventures to your Kindle collection – its an entertaining read and you’ll have something to chat to Bill and Warren about next time you bump into them! Wonder what the best selling business titles are on Amazon? Check out the current business best seller list for Amazon UK’s Business, Finance and Law category here.
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About Trade IT
Trade IT is all about using technology to improve your business processes. This might mean new kit, the latest app or software package – but more often than not it is about organising your business processes to improve efficiency and empowering your staff with the right skills and tools be more productive.
If you have Office 365 or G-Suite or Zoho One, you probably aren’t taking full advantage of the capabilities you are already paying for.
The technology available to even the smallest organisations today is incredible – but few companies are taking advantage.
If you want to find out more about how you could improve your business processes and make everyone more productive without working any harder, email us and we’ll set up a quick conversation to see if we can work together.