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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

 

Casey

My name is Casey and I'm the creator of Farmhacker.com. I created this site so I could share with you everything I know about farming and hopefully help you become a better farmer in the process.

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