What is the best computer for podcasting as of 2023

Using your laptop as your main tool to do podcasting can be tough if you don’t know what to look for and where to look. There are so many options out there, but luckily, I have found the best laptop for podcasting under $500 that will help you make your business grow in this changing market. Please read all of this article to the end before you buy one of these podcasting laptop.

Digital media has reached its popularity for these past years, Podcast included, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. No wonder that lots of people are trying to find out the best laptop for podcasting under $500, as the laptop for podcasting is the main tool to do podcasting.

You might be already familiar with podcasts by seeing how easy we can access this media. It is also proven by how many Podcasters that we can find out on various platforms.

Podcasting is actually predated on the internet but it needs more than 20 years to get back its popularity. As the world becomes much busier than ever, people mostly are having a hard time sitting down and enjoy reading some news.

Let’s be honest that you might be too busy to read this whole article as well. But it will be a different case if this article is read for you so that you can listen anytime during your busy work.

That might be the main reason why people like to listen to podcasts nowadays rather than reading some news on the articles. It has been proven by statistical data for podcast popularity that more than 50% population in the US are usually listening to a podcast.

Only in 2020, more than 150 million people like to listen to a podcast and there are more than 700 thousand active podcasts in a week.

That number is amazing for a single digital media and so far, the most popular platform for podcasting is Spotify, followed by the Apple podcast application.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-55-35SE, 15.6" Full HD Display

10th Generation Intel Core i3-1005G1 Processor (Up to 3.4GHz) 4GB DDR4 On-Board Memory 128GB NVMe SSD

15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED backlit IPS Display Intel UHD Graphics

Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX201 802.11ax Backlit Keyboard Fingerprint Reader Up to 8 Hours Battery Life

1 - USB 3.1 (Type-C) Gen 1 port (up to 5 Gbps), 2 - USB 3.1 Gen 1 Port (one with Power-off Charging), 1 - USB 2.0 Port & 1 - HDMI Port with HDCP Support

With Windows 10 Home (S mode), you'll experience fast start-ups, a familiar yet expanded start menu, and great new ways to get stuff done.

Best Laptop for Podcasting in 2022 (My Experience)

If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full Disclosure Here…

People constantly reach out to me to ask me what kind of computer should they buy for various activities. Usually, your choice is dictated by the software you need to be able to run. Once you know the software, you can quickly identify the computer model, size of the storage ad RAM, and minimum CPU requirements.

Podcasting also requires some specific software, and in this post, I will cover what you need and what kind of laptop is best for your needs.

In short, here is my suggestion.

In general, the best laptop for podcasts is MacBook Air. It’s a myth that podcasting requires a powerful computer. In order to produce the best podcast episodes, one needs a good-quality microphone that can be plugged into the laptop. Next, the laptop must be able to run sound-editing software.

Secrets of Good Sounding Podcasts on MacBook

My daughter has hosted a College-related podcast on Podbeans for more than a year, and she has more than 70 episodes to date.

When she started, I set up hardware and software and taught her how to use everything. Now, it takes her less than an hour to edit soundtracks, add intros.

The sound is very clear. If you are curious, check the podcast here.

It took some time to figure out all the technical pieces, but in the end, here is what we settled on.

Good Microphone Equipment

If you watch YouTube gurus, they generally suggest starting with your smartphone and start publishing episodes. The quality of videos on YouTube varies dramatically, and as long as you have interesting content, viewers generally forgive the amateur quality of sound and video.

However, this doesn’t apply to podcasting.

It’s true that you can start your journey on iPhone or Android device. And probably, it’s a good strategy for someone who just wants to try it out and see if they will like the new hobby.

On the other hand, if you are serious about your passion, you should invest at least $100 into equipment. If your shows do not sound great, listeners will bounce out no matter how interesting your topic is.

You can definitely invest more than $1000 into hardware, but I wouldn’t suggest doing so. The difference between a decent microphone and the top-of-the-line one is so negligent so your listeners won’t be able to know the difference.

Here are my suggestions:

Audio-Technica Microphone (ATR Series)

We tried multiple USB microphones, and this one is by far the best for under $100. The good thing is that it comes with multiple connector types: USB-A, USB-C, and XLR. If you have a MacBook, just plugged it into USB, and you are good to go.

In the beginning, I was so nervous about external sounds cropping into the recordings, so I kept telling the rest of the family to stay quiet while my daughter was recording. However, we quickly realized that this microphone was able to isolate them. Even when lawnmowers worked outside, you wouldn’t hear them after light editing.

Tip: Don’t forget to turn your mic on. We had several cases when we forgot to turn on the mic and wondered why the sound was so awful. We didn’t know that the MacBook used its internal mic when the external was off.

Neewer Adjustable Microphone Suspension Boom Scissor Arm Stand with Shock Mount

In order to have the best sound, the microphone must be as close to your mouth as possible. That’s why I do not recommend the tripod that comes with ATR. Buy an adjustable boom arm stand like the one below. This one also comes with a shock mount, which is a must to avoid vibrations. If you buy another stand, make sure to buy the shock mount as well.

Good Microphone Techniques

When you are recording a podcast, you need to know good mic techniques. The most important one is to keep the mic very close to your mouth.

You should, as some say, eat the microphone. Only in this case, your voice will sound crisp and loud.

If you learn this, you can even get away with not soundproofing your room.

Soundproof Room

If your room is echoy, you may need to soundproof it with acoustic foam panels like these.

Another way to achieve the same effect is to record in a closet. The smaller the space, the better the sound is. And clothes hanging around will act as acoustic foam.

Editing Software

After recording, you will have to do the following:

• Remove the umms, ahhs, and other filler words
• Remove long pauses
• Add music at the beginning and the end

If you are using Macs, then you have great software that does all above – it’s GarageBand. It is free and comes preinstalled with all Macs.

The app is pretty simple. Just search for a good YouTube video tutorial, like this one:

Software for Interviews

Most episodes on my daughter’s podcast are guest interviews.

Initially, she started doing podcasts on Skype. In order to record both guest and host soundtracks, I bought her Ecamm Movie Tools for Mac. It allowed multiple ways to record audio and videos. Unfortunately, it constantly kept disappearing from the Mac, and it was great stress to reinstall and set it up 5 minutes before the scheduled interview.

So, my daughter stopped using it and switched to Zoom.

Zoom is free, and you can record longer than 40 minutes as long as only two people are on the call. Another advantage of Zoom is that it is easier to install compared to Skype and most people now have it installed anyway.

Quality Improving Software

This is the coolest podcasting tip I have found lately.

After the recording is done, you can use GarageBand to remove all noise and adjust sound levels.

Or, you can do it easily with Auphonic.

Here’s how:

• Go to Auphonic.com and create a free account. The free account is limited to 2 hours per month, which should be enough for four weekly 30-min episodes. You can always buy additional credits if needed.
• Click on the New Production button
• Upload the recording by clicking on Choose File button
• Scroll down to the Audio Algotirhms section
• Check all options: adaptive leveler, loudness normalization, filtering, noise and hum reduction
• Make sure that Loudness Target is set to 16 LUFS (podcast standard)
• Start Production