Although Historical research and technology are considered the opposite by many but nowadays many people involved in genealogy rely upon or use laptops for advantage.

As you may know, genealogy is the study of families, their history, and the tracing of their ancestries. It requires verbal interviews to identify historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to get information about a family to indicate the kinship of its members.

Now this research can be made reliable by using modern technology such as laptops. Now finding the best laptop for genealogy can be troublesome because not many are aware of how to choose and from which.

To fill the void, I’ve been reviewing the best laptops for genealogy since 2019 to help genealogists like you.

For 2024, I picked 25 laptops that were perfect for genealogy but later the number decreased to 9 best laptops for genealogy because other laptops had reliability issues.

Being genealogists you must select a laptop that is light in weight so you can carry it easily, also having an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor for a wonderful working experience without any sluggish multitasking.

Memory also plays a crucial role in multitasking and web browsing. So, it is better to go for at least 8GB of memory for your genealogy research project.

As a researcher, you need storage from 256GB to 1TB to store your databases, articles, documents, and projects. In terms of hard drives, SSD (Solid-State Drive) is recommended.

Also, It is better to go for the touch screen because it makes the work easy. So, these are certainly important factors that should be kept in mind while choosing a laptop for genealogy.

9 Best Laptops for Genealogy

1. Apple 2023 MacBook Air (M2 Chip) – Best Laptop For Genealogy
2. Dell XPS 13 (9310) – Best Laptop For Genealogists
3. HP Spectre x360 Luxury 14T – Best Convertible Laptop For Daily Research
4. LG gram 17Z90Q – Best Laptop To Study Genealogy
5. Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 – Budget and Lightweight Laptop
6. ASUS ZenBook 13 Ultra-Slim Laptop – Portable Laptop
7. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga – Best 2 in 1 Laptop For Genealogy
8. ASUS VivoBook 15 – Best Windows Laptop for Genealogists
9. Microsoft DAG-00001 Surface – Reliable Laptop

Apple 2023 MacBook Air (M2 Chip) – Best Laptop For Genealogy

The first laptop that is best for genealogy and is lightweight is the 2023 Apple MacBook Air.

As a Genealogist, you have to travel a lot and for that having a laptop with 18 hour battery life and weighs around 3.2 lbs is a blessing.

Yes, you heard right! this Apple MacBook Air lasts for 18 hours in a single charge because of its one of the most efficient CPUs in the world and that is 8-core Apple M2 chip.

This M2 chip is the reason behind MBA’s neck-chilling performance which can enable you to open 20 chrome tabs of the census records, without any lag and other Genealogy software including Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsMagic, and others.

When it comes to GPU performance, Apple 10-core GPU gives much-improved graphics settings as expected from integrated graphics.

Apple is known for doing something different and that’s why they equipped this laptop with a 1080p FaceTime webcam means you can do video conferences with your clients at ease.

The 2023 MacBook Air comes in two sizes but 15-inch variant is recommended as it delivers more beautiful details with its Liquid Retina display with 2560 × 1600 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch, which supports True Tone technology (which changes the color temperature of the display according to the ambient light), and P3 wide color gamut. In short, it is the best future-proof laptop for someone like you whose database is display-based.

With its 8GB/16GB of RAM that can do everything fast and fluidly, you won’t feel any lag. In day-to-day use, it feels fast and pretty responsive.

The storage consists of 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD. But for genealogists, 256GB is preferred. This amount of storage would be sufficient for storing GEDCOM, Pedigree Charts, Records, and many more.

According to my experience, I noticed that while Apple’s iconic wedge-shaped design is no longer part of this new MacBook Air, it retains its distinguished features, including MagSafe charging, Touch ID, and the scissor-switch keyboard with an upgraded 1080p webcam in addition.

With an affordable price and loaded with so many features, the 2023 MacBook Air is the best laptop for Genealogy.

Dell XPS 13 (9310) – Best Laptop For Genealogists

Talking about the 2nd best laptop, the Dell XPS 13 9310 is considered the best Windows professional laptop.

Under XPS’s sleek exterior, there is a powerful CPU known as i7-1185G7 or I should say a beast CPU. This CPU is widely acknowledged as the best Intel CPU for laptops as it can give laptops an ultra-fast processing speed eliminating any bloatware.

Because this laptop is equipped with integrated graphics, the laptop doesn’t get overheated with intense multitasking. The display is also very optimal as this laptop comes with 13.4-inch touchscreen and is Anti-Reflective 500-Nit Display means you can use this laptop under shinning sunlight and I know as a Genealogist you do use your device outside most of the time so yeah it’s a great addition to it and the reason that this laptop is 2nd best laptop for genealogy.

Talking about its memory, then it comes with 16GB RAM which is more than enough for an 11th Gen CPU and so it’s 512 Gigabytes of SSD.

Talking about the Design philosophy, then I must say that XPS series laptops come with the best designs with cutting-edge corners because I love it during testing. With a sleek and ergonomic body, it is also quite light in weight which makes it more easy to carry. The aluminum and Corning Gorilla glass design gives it a premium look, and the build quality is exceptional.

HP Spectre x360 Luxury 14T – Best Convertible Laptop For Daily Research

This 3rd laptop can make your folks ask you like “Where did you buy it from and how”.

This Spectre x360 Luxury 14T is a 2-in-1 laptop that is designed with a perfect blend of portability and great performance. This laptop is designed to smoothly fit with you during any hasty travel.

Talking about the design, the laptop’s sleek aluminum body, with its black and copper-gold color scheme, exudes style and professionalism.

The HP Zenvo Tilt pen that comes in a box can be used with a 13.5″ WUXGA Touchscreen at 1920 × 1280 pixel resolution that can easily enhance your output and efficiency.

Because this laptop is a 2-in-1, you can use it as a tablet too, to me using it with tablet mode feels great and luxurious. I mean there are so many things about this laptop and that’s the reason it’s our third-best laptop.

The 11th Generation i7-1165G7 processor is the backbone of this laptop, excelling in handling any high software, PPTs, and multitasking.

And! Coupled with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and the Iris Xe Graphics, you can connect it to an external monitor for ergonomic use.

Storage-wise, the behemoth 1TB NVME SSD can keep your projects secure without compromising speed or power consumption.

Other features including fingerprint unlock, Bang & Olufsen quad speakers, Thunderbolt 4 ports, and at least 13 hour battery life are a plus point of this laptop.

LG gram 17Z90Q – Best Laptop To Study Genealogy

LG Gram 17Z90Q comes with all the hardware you need for an excellent genealogy experience.

By taking its processing power or storage into account, this laptop comes with all guns firing because of its 32GB RAM

In short, the LG Gram 17 is a super-lightweight and ultra-thin Notebook that offers long-enduring battery life and powerful performance in a featherweight package.

Intel Evo 12th Generation i7 1260P processor is placed at the heart of the LG Gram 17 and is capable of catching anything you can throw at it. Although it’s not as powerful as the above laptop CPUs but still can give a groundbreaking benchmark.

Indeed, the 1080p screen of the Gram 17 is a big deal with the 17.3-inch WQXGA IPS display equipped with DCI-P3 99%. In easy words, this display is very gorgeous and full of details, that make charts and photos look fantastic.

Because of its IPS panel, your clients can look at their database from any sitting angle whether left or right, and will see consistent content on the display.

To build a lightweight and thin device, LG moved to a magnesium and aluminum combination to design this laptop. The chassis of this laptop is quite rigid and strong. Besides a very lightweight, the lid can easily be lifted with one hand.

The port selection of gram 17 is respectable for all genealogists as this laptop comes with 2x Thunderbolt 4 support, 2x USB-A 3.2 ports, 1x HDMI port, 1x microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

So overall, if you want a bang for your buck, this laptop can be your perfect choice.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 – Light Weight Laptop

The 5th best laptop that we reviewed is a newly launched laptop that comes with such an affordable price. With a 4.1 rating online, this laptop wouldn’t leave a hole in your pocket.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 comes with Intel Core i7-12700H that can give you more efficient performance compared to LG Gram’s CPU.

Most laptops come with Windows 11 Home but this laptop comes with Windows 11 Pro just like Hp Spectre 14T which gives a glimpse of how professionally designed this laptop is.

Storage and memory are somewhat the same compared to the above laptops, what is more, interesting is that this laptop is 1/3 of the price.

Most laptops are designed with exhaust ports beneath the chassis but that leads to uncomfortable lap use due to overheating issues but this Inspiron comes with a sided vent for better cooling and comfortable long usage sessions whether on a lap or bed.

I haven’t touched its other features such as fast charging, HD webcam, light in weight, thin in design, 300nit display for conventional outdoor use, and enough ports.

In simple words, this device is one of the affordable laptops that you can carry easily and it’s from Dell so reliability isn’t the issue.

ASUS ZenBook 13 Ultra-Slim Laptop – Portable Laptop

Still, I would say that genealogy doesn’t have particular needs when it comes to laptops but if you want a laptop for the study of family hierarchy then the Asus ZenBook 13 can be more helpful, it features a powerful 11th Gen Core i7 processor and long battery life all packed into a beautiful chassis.

The Laptop is equipped with an 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor that can go up to 5.0 GHz using turbo-boost technology. Alongside integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, the laptop won’t disappoint you in your research work on genealogy.

Asus offers 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM in ZenBook 13 so that all of your tasks can be executed speedily. With this amount of RAM, the laptop delivers high performance.

Asus ZenBook 13 features a 13.3-inch OLED FHD Nano Edge Bezel Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, the glossy panel has a 95% screen-to-body ratio with nice contrast and colors equipped with 225 nits of maximum brightness.

Talking about the chassis of ZenBook 13 then it is constructed from durable and strong metal that feels luxurious in hand. The lid extends the hinge, so when you lift the lid, the keyboard is raised ever so slightly, which provides a comfortable typing experience, they call it ErgoLift Hinges. At around 2.4 pounds and 11.9 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches, the laptop is slightly thinner than its closest competitors.

When it comes to connectivity, the ZenBook 13 has room for so many ports to allow you to connect different external devices such as genealogy scanners, external hard drives, document scanners, and so on.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga – Best 2 in 1 Laptop For Genealogy

Now the time is short, let’s cut to the chase. Our 7th laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga model which is also a 2-in-1 laptop just like the HP Spectre, so the usage is going to be the same you can use it as a laptop, and tablet at your will.

Equipped with Windows 11 Pro again, Core i7-1160G7, and Iris Xe graphic is the reason that this laptop is rated with 4.0-star ratings.

This laptop is the one that my colleague is using not for Genealogy but for a similar task and that is research.

This laptop is also equipped with 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports means that you can connect two external monitors with it if in the future you want to set up multiple monitors setup.

The only thing I don’t like about this laptop is its keyboard which is kind of fragile and feels clumsy something, also it got overheated during my testing which I did by putting this laptop under heavy loads such as using heavy software like Illustrator and DaVinci Resolve.

ASUS VivoBook 15 – Best Windows Laptop for Genealogists

ASUS VivoBook 15 2022 comes with the genetics of old VivoBooks but only from the design side not performance.

The performance of this laptop is powered by the same processor and that is Intel Core i7-1165G7 which is also in ZenBook 13 and Spectre x360 Luxury 14T.

So this laptop is for someone who wants to go with Asus devices because apart from good features and a good price point this laptop doesn’t offer anything unique.

Microsoft DAG-00001 Surface – Reliable Laptop

One of the best ergonomically safe laptops and our 9th laptop is Microsoft DAG, although this laptop is not with heavy spec but this laptop is very suitable for those who just need a laptop to do simple things related to Genealogy.

Microsoft DAG is equipped with the Intel Core i5-7200U processor and Intel HD graphics 620 which is integrated, which means these graphics work through the laptop’s processor and RAM and don’t have their own VRAM. 

If we look at memory and storage, the RAM in the Microsoft DAG is 8GB DDR3. This is enough memory to calculate data and make it available to the processor. 8GB DDR3 allows the data to the processor and with the combination of the Intel Core i5 7200U, this is enough. 

The storage capacity of 256 GB in this Microsoft DAG is 256 GB faster than normal hard disk drives and more than enough considering the price.

Now because this laptop is suitable for light work only, it comes with Windows 10 S. Windows 10 S is known for extreme performance and security.

The battery life in this Microsoft DAG is around 7 hours and the overall laptop is protected from any external damage such as scratches because of aluminum. It not only protects the laptop from damage but also will give a light-weight to the device.

So, it’s perfect for anyone who JUST needs a laptop to do day-to-day tasks but make sure not to expect that this laptop would help you with a heavy load of work.