Last Updated on January 10, 2023
Do you need a laptop for your farm or ranch? Or maybe a rugged laptop for your tractor, pickup, or saddle bag? Here are the best laptops for farmers and ranchers that will help you keep your farm running smoothly.
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You might not believe it but having a good computer is something that I would consider an essential tool for running your farm.
If you are like me, you may use your laptop for buying tools parts, seeds and livestock, managing a website, communicating with customers, and even learning new farming techniques.
Large scale farmers and ranchers may use their laptops to connect to their tractors, manage crop data, livestock data, and handle their bookkeeping.
Either way, if you need a laptop that you can use to manage your farm from your office or one that you can bring along with you while out on the farm or ranch then below are our favorites.
Business Laptop vs Rugged Laptop
When looking for a laptop for your farm or ranch, there are two types to choose from. The type you choose will depend on how you plan on using it.
If you are primarily going to use your farm laptop in your house or office then you should get a business grade laptop. These laptops should handle everything you need to do on a computer in order to run your farm. This includes running any type of farm management software as long as it runs on a Windows 10 PC.
They typically come with stable hardware and are designed to last much longer than cheaper standard laptops. Replacement parts are also easier to get and they have great warranties.
However, if you plan on using your laptop while out on your farm or ranch then you probably need to buy a rugged laptop. Rugged laptops are designed to be tough and will handle the abuse they might receive on a farm or ranch.
This includes things like being dropped or banged around, getting wet from rain or spilled drinks, or getting dirty from mud or grease. If this is a possibility on your farm then consider buying a rugged laptop.
With that being said, here are our picks for best farm business laptops and best rugged laptops.
1. Best Business Laptop for Farmers & Ranchers
- Intel Core 8th Generation i7-8665U Processor (Quad Core, 1.90GHz, Upto 4.80GHz, 8MB Cache, 15W)
- 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 Memory, 1TB PCIe M.2 NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
- 14.0 inch FHD (1920x 1080) Touch Anti-Reflective & Anti-Smudge, SLP Narrow Bezel
- Intel UHD Graphics, Intel Wireless-AC 9560 Dual-band 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO + Bluetooth 5.0, IR Camera and Microphone, US English Backlit Keyboard, 4-Cell, 52WHr Battery (Express Charge Capable), Palmrest with Touch Fingerprint Reader (Thunderbolt 3), No Optical Drive
- Windows 10 Pro, 3 Years Dell Hardware Service with In-Home/Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis
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If you will primarily use your laptop for farm management including things like ordering parts, bookkeeping, managing crop and livestock data, emailing, word processing, and browsing the web then this laptop will work great.
The Dell Latitude 7400 is one of the best farm business laptops out there. It has great specs including an i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB PCIe NVMe hard drive, Windows 10, and a 14 inch touch screen.
The screen also flips around to the back of the laptop so you can use it as a tablet. It also comes with a 3 year in-home/onsite warranty.
With all of these features and specs, this is our choice for best farm business laptop.
2. Best Business Laptop That’s Refurbished
- Intel Core 8th Generation i7-8665U Processor (Quad Core, Up to 4.80GHz, 8MB Cache, 15W)
- 14.0 inch FHD (1920x 1080) Touch Anti-Reflective & Anti-Smudge, SLP Narrow Bezel
- 8GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 Memory
- 256GB PCIe M.2 NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
- Dell Factory Refurbished ; Three Year Dell Warranty
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If you want to save some money but still get a business grade laptop then this refurbished Dell Latitude 7400 is a nice choice.
It has an i7 processor, 8GB of FARM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10, and a 14 inch touch screen. The specs aren’t quite as nice as the non-refurbished one listed above but it is still a good machine.
This is our choice for best refurbished farm business laptop.
3. Best Rugged Laptop for Farmers & Ranchers
- New with 3 Year Panasonic Warranty - No Returns
- Intel Core i7-8665U 1.9GHZ, 14 Non Touch Screen 1366 x 768
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Emissive Backlit Keyboard, WebCam
- Additional Upgrades? Please Call us Rugged Laptops Plus.
- Add on Features: DVD Drive, Serial, VGA, Fingerprint, 2nd Battery, Blue Ray, TouchScreen.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
They don’t call these things Toughbooks for nothing. The Panasonic Toughbook is regularly rated as the most rugged laptop on the market. These things are so tough that police, fire, and the military use them as their go-to machines.
The Panasonic Toughbooks have great specs including an i7 processor, SSD hard drive, 14 inch screen, and Windows 10. But the best thing about these laptops is that they are completely modular.
If you need a new part or if you want to upgrade your machine, simply pop out the old part and replace it with a new one. This alone is a rare feature in the world of laptops.
If you need a tough laptop that you can take along with you and use while out on your farm or ranch then this rugged Panasonic Toughbook 55 is a great choice.
4. Second Best Rugged Laptop for Farmers & Ranchers
- 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8650U Processor (Quad Core, 8M Cache, 1.9GHz,15W, vPro) with AMD Radeon RX540 Graphics 128 Bit
- 14 FHD WVA (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Non-Touch; 16GB, 2x8GB; M.2 256GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
- 3 Years of Dell ProSupport Plus Warranty
- USB 3.0 Type A (2) & USB 3.0 Type A (1) with closeable port door when USB receiver inserted, USB 3.0 Type C (1) - supports power and display, RS-232 serial port (1), RJ-45 Ethernet (1), HDMI (1) and Universal Audio Jack
- (2x) 3-cell (51 Whr) lithium-ion battery; Backlit Keyboard, Webcam, P46G Regulatory type: P46G002 Energy Star 7.0, EPEAT MIL-STD-810G testing, IP-52
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Like the Panasonic Toughbooks, the Dell Latitude Rugged laptops are also built to be tough. They also have great specs which includes an i7 processor, NVMe hard drive, 14 inch screen, and Windows 10.
The one area they excel over the others is that they have a PCIe NVMe hard drive where as the Panasonic Toughbooks only have a SSD hard drive. Simply put, the hard drive on the Dell Rugged is going to be faster.
However, these PCs aren’t nearly as modular as the Panasonic Toughbooks. This means that upgrading and repairing them is not as easy.
With all that being said, the Dell Latitude 5420 Rugged is still a great machine.
5. Best Rugged Laptop That’s Refurbished
- 14 FHD WVA (1920 x 1080) 16:9 Anti-Glare display; UHD 620 Graphic
- High-quality speaker, integrated noise-reducing microphones, stereo headphone/microphone combo jack, optional integrated FHD video web or IR camera with privacy shutter
- Qualcomm QCA61x4A 802.11ac Dual Band (2x2) Wireless Adapter+ Bluetooth 4.1
- USB 3.0 Type A (2) & USB 3.0 Type A (1) with closeable port door when USB receiver inserted, USB 3.0 Type C (1) - supports power and display, native RS-232 serial port (1), RJ-45 gigabit Ethernet network connector (1), HDMI (1) and Universal Audio Jack
- P46G Regulatory type: P46G002 Energy Star 7.0, EPEAT MIL-STD-810G testing: Transit drop 36”/.91m; single unit; 26 drops, operating drop (36”/0.91m), blowing dust, vibration, functional shock, humidity, altitude, thermal extremes Operating thermal range: -20°F to 140°F (-29°C to 60°C); Non-operating range: -60°F to 160°F (-51°C to 71°C) IEC 60529 ingress protection¹: IP-52 (dust-protected, protected against dripping water when tilted up to 15°)
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If you want to save some money but still get a great, tough laptop then these Dell Latitude 5424 Rugged Renewed laptops on Amazon are a great option. Their specs are almost the same as the new 5420s except for the processor being mid-range instead of high-end.
If you think that buying a refurbished (renewed) laptop is a bad idea, keep in mind that they (just like their brand-new counterparts) come with a warranty.
So if you want to save some money and still get a good machine, these are our pick for best rugged laptop that’s refurbished.
6. Cheapest Rugged Laptop That’s Refurbished
- Heavy military grade Panasonic Toughbook
- MIL-STD-810G certified (6 drop, shock, vibration, rain, dust, sand, altitude, freeze/thaw, high/low temperature, temperature shock, humidity, explosive atmosphere
- Sunlight-viewable Touchscreen with Panasonic CircuLumin Technology, Full Magnesium Alloy Case with Handle
- Windows 10 Professional pre-installed
- Comes with Ac Adapter and Windows recovery DVD
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Like we discussed previously, the Panasonic Toughbooks are really tough machines. And if you really want to save some money, these Toughbook 31 refurbished machines are a good option for a really cheap price.
Although their specs aren’t as good as the machines above, they are still good for the price. The biggest downside is that the display on these are not widescreen like pretty much every laptop available now.
But if this doesn’t bother you and you are looking to save some cash but still get a very tough machine, these refurbished Panasonic Toughbook 31s are a good option.
7. Best Rugged Laptop That’s Small & Portable
- ULTRA LIGHTWEIGHT & BUILT TOUGH - 10.1 inch display with capacitive multi-touch touchscreen is thin and lightweight at only 2.07 lbs. Easy to carry and hold in the field and at work with briefcase carrying handle & back hand strap. Enclosed in an extremely durable protective case with protective corner bumpers with oleophobic scratch-resistant screen protector
- RUGGED TABLET FOR ENTERPRISE FIELD WORK - MIL-STD-810G, drop tested; 26 repeated drops to plywood over concrete at 4 feet & covered ports ideal for tough jobs in extreme conditions. Perfect for work in demanding industrial, outdoor & manufacturing environments. 7.4V/3000mAh battery for long days in the field.Law Enforcement Grade for Police, EMS, Firefighters, & First Responders
- MILITARY GRADE PERFORMANCE - Windows 10 Professional (64 bit) operating system, Intel Celeron N4100 Quad Core, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC, type A 3.0 USB, USB-C, Mini HDMI, 3.5mm standard headphone jack for superior performance. Front & rear facing camera, WLAN IEEE Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) & Bluetooth 4.2.Realtek Audio Speakers (x2)
- READY TO MOUNT - Snap Mount Plate installed on back of case ready for quick release mobile or fixed mounting solutions. Great for field workers or mobile computing. Compatible with RAM Mounting hardware (all mounting solutions sold separately)
- WHAT YOU GET - Includes Power Adapter, 1 year manufacturer hardware warranty & Full QWERTY keyboard for accurate and efficient data entry. Easy attach or detach keyboard on the go. Keyboard can fold up to tablet when both not in use, great for mobile computing
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If you don’t need a large screen and you want a device that falls more in line with a tablet then these MobileDemand Flex 10B Rugged Touchscreen Tablets with Keyboards are a great option.
The specs on these machines aren’t nearly as good as the others in this article and the display size is only 10 inches but what you get instead is a very portable machine that’s both tough and cheap. Because of that, these make great field machines and are easy to take along with you when you are on the run.
Unlike most tablets, the Flex 10B comes with Windows 10 which means they should be compatible with most programs and applications that you might need.
So if you are willing to sacrifice the speed and power you get with other laptops for a machine that’s tough and more portable then these MobileDemand Flex 10B Rugged PCs are a good choice.
