Let me set the scene: I’m leaving a meeting at a client’s office and he points at a neatly stacked pile of brand new laptops and says:
“Oh, by the way, we’ve had a brilliant deal on a load of new laptops!”
A quick glance at the label on the side of one of the boxes:
“Windows 11 Home.”
I can sense the communal eye-rolling from my fellow MSP owners upon reading this. It’s the wrong tool for the job for so many reasons. Read on to find out why.
The False Economy of a Bargain Bin Laptop
We all love a deal. After all, why pay the extra cost for Windows 11 Pro laptops when Windows 11 Home laptops do pretty much the same thing, right? (Spoiler Alert: No. They don’t!)
For a start, you’re likely looking in the wrong place. If you decide to pop into an electrical goods superstore on the way home from the office and pick up a laptop, you’re likely to walk away with a Windows 11 Home device. Why do you think they also sell fridges and ovens – their target market is the domestic consumer.
Another issue is build quality. Business laptops are made from tough materials like magnesium alloy and carbon fibre, built to handle daily wear and tear. Cheaper home laptops are mostly plastic, with flimsy hinges and minimal reinforcement, fine for casual use, but not for the daily grind.
Most importantly, Windows Home just doesn’t play well with Microsoft 365’s business tools. You can’t manage devices through Entra or Intune, so you’re stuck with local-only control. If someone forgets their password, the whole device often needs wiping and rebuilding, a time-consuming job your MSP can’t do remotely. Managing admin access is also a headache, often needing local admin credentials just to install software, not ideal when you’re trying to support users remotely.
The Cheaper Laptop That Costs You More
So, as we’ve covered, that lower price tag comes with hidden costs.
Hardware-wise, a plastic-bodied laptop isn’t built for 8+ hours of daily use, over time, components wear out, overheating becomes an issue, and performance starts to degrade.
From a management perspective, these devices rely on local user accounts that can’t be easily reset or controlled remotely, making support a real headache. Your MSP is likely to insist that you either replace it or pay them to reinstall Windows 11 Pro, either way – you’re out of pocket. Speaking as an owner of an MSP – Windows Home devices are a headache to manage and I totally understand why my peers would refuse to provide support for such devices.
On the security front, they can’t be enrolled into Entra or Intune, which means you can’t confidently claim compliance with standards like Cyber Essentials. Intune is a brilliant tool for maintaining Cyber Essentials, for example. Being able to deny access to company resources on non-compliant devices via policy is a game changer. None of this is possible with Windows Home devices. A company owner with an entire fleet of Windows 11 Home devices, wanting to make the switch to Intune for security and compliance will be faced with a massive hurdle and cost of upgrading the entire fleet to Pro before even thinking about implementing Intune.
Most MSPs would charge for upgrading from Home to Pro, so by the time your MSP has done the work to get them up to scratch, or worse, replaced them entirely, that “bargain” device could end up costing more than doing it properly from the start.
Let’s Do This the Right Way
At Remson, we’ve spent years helping organisations choose the right devices, from schools working with tight budgets to engineering firms that need high-spec workstations. With a broad experience across all sectors, we don’t just sell you a box, we make sure what’s inside actually works for your business.
Our white glove service means each laptop is handled with the utmost care, yes, we literally wear white cotton gloves during setup. Devices are fully updated, configured, and returned to the box in pristine condition, ready to be unboxed by your team as if they’d just arrived from the factory.
This is all part of our comprehensive Vendor Support Service, designed to take the guesswork out of hardware purchasing. We help you avoid costly mistakes, ensuring every device is secure, manageable, and fit for purpose, from day one and long into the future.
We’ll support your recruitment process by ensuring that your new starters have their shiny laptop fully configured and delivered ready for their first day in their new job.
Because the best IT support doesn’t start when things go wrong, it starts by making sure they go right.
Need help choosing the right kit? Talk to us before you buy. Future-you will thank you.