AngryITGuy Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 I'm looking for a new laptop for myself and need some advice in picking one. Although I say it's for me I suspect it will be mainly used for work related stuff i.e running VMs, programming, web and graphic design ... Don't think I am too bothered about the brand of the laptop, ideally the screen needs to be around the 13" mark although at a push it could stretch to a 15" screen. DDR3 RAM is a must, was hoping to go for a laptop with a mobile i7 processor. With a little help from Google I can only find laptops with screen sizes between 15" and 18" anyone know of a 13" or thereabouts laptop with a mobile i7 processor?
RingOfFlame Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 i7's are to power hungry at 45W as opposed to p series processors at 25W to use in a 13" form factor. You should be looking at 15"/16" models such as Dell Studio 15, Dell XPS Studio 16 or HP Envy 15 1
mac_shinobi Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 call me biased or w/e and just so im ready for the after math am gonna hide behind a sofa lol but hows about a mac book pro Apple (United Kingdom) - MacBook Pro - Meet the new MacBook Pro family. :behindsofa: http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookpro/specs.html
Devontechie Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 I'm looking for a new laptop for myself and need some advice in picking one. Although I say it's for me I suspect it will be mainly used for work related stuff i.e running VMs, programming, web and graphic design ... Don't think I am too bothered about the brand of the laptop, ideally the screen needs to be around the 13" mark although at a push it could stretch to a 15" screen. DDR3 RAM is a must, was hoping to go for a laptop with a mobile i7 processor. With a little help from Google I can only find laptops with screen sizes between 15" and 18" anyone know of a 13" or thereabouts laptop with a mobile i7 processor? Have a word with CPLTD He maybe able to help you with a laptop. Cheers, Steve 1
RingOfFlame Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 Hummm let us read the first post again together mac_shinobi was hoping to go for a laptop with a mobile i7 processor Please feel free to supply a link to the i7 Macbook Pro in the apple store.
AngryITGuy Posted December 11, 2009 Author Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) call me biased or w/e and just so im ready for the after math am gonna hide behind a sofa lol but hows about a mac book pro Apple (United Kingdom) - MacBook Pro - Meet the new MacBook Pro family. :behindsofa: Apple (United Kingdom) - MacBook Pro - Technical specifications of the 15-inch. No need to hide behind a sofa! I already have one of the current Mac Book Pros mines the MB986*/A with a 2.8GHz processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD drive. This one has to be Windows based, as much as I love my Macs i hate to admit the fact that you can't do everything on a Mac. Edited December 11, 2009 by AngryITGuy
AngryITGuy Posted December 11, 2009 Author Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) i7's are to power hungry at 45W as opposed to p series processors at 25W to use in a 13" form factor. You should be looking at 15"/16" models such as Dell Studio 15, Dell XPS Studio 16 or HP Envy 15 I did notice that they were a little power hungry, didn't think that would have been much of an issue for modern day laptop batteries. Giving it some more thought now I'm starting to think that in a smaller form factor the laptop could get quite hot too! Suppose it was wishful thinking looking for a power house laptop in a small form factor. Edited December 11, 2009 by AngryITGuy
plexer Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 @rof the op was hoping for an i7 didn't say they wouldn't consider something else. So your dig at mac_shinobi was unwarranted. 2
mjs_mjs Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) What about alienware? Dont they have powerhouses for laptops? Or has that changed since dell took them over? http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/alienware-m15x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m15x&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1 - i know it's a 15" but it's close to the asking spec. Edited December 12, 2009 by mjs_mjs added a link.
RabbieBurns Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 I had an alienware (pre dell days) and i had a horrible experience. In fact its now a 1500UKP brick. Support was crap, which might have changed with dell, but the battery lasted about 1 hour due to all the high spec components.
mac_shinobi Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 I used to have a samsung laptop and it was pretty rock solid - not sure what they are like now ? Windows laptop based I would get the what laptop magazine - they review every laptop available as far as I am aware and that would show you reviews and comparisons pound for pound and performance wise etc etc and will give you a much better idea then us lot posting suggestions - end of day its your cash to spend and your personal pref that will decide
mjs_mjs Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 I used to have a samsung laptop and it was pretty rock solid - not sure what they are like now ? I'm sitting on an NC10, briliant for my use and i do run vm's and compile code on here. Cos it's a 6 cell version the batery life is awsome. Compared to otheres i have used Samsung and Tosh are my personal choice when it comes to laptops.
mac_shinobi Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) Hummm let us read the first post again together mac_shinobi Please feel free to supply a link to the i7 Macbook Pro in the apple store. @ rof If you read my post ref the mac book pro I did state I was hiding behind the sofa because I know he requested i7 so no lets not re read the first post and maybe take into consideration why I in fact stated the comment about hiding behind the sofa Not having a go back but just clarifying @ AngryITGuy I bet that mac book pro with the 256gb ssd and 8 gigs of ram is gorgeous at least imo lol @ mjs_mjs Ive seen a few people with toshibas and have been put off by them - Dell, Samsung or possibly HP if I had to choose a laptop now that was not mac. Just personal pref but as stated above if i had to go windows then I would get the aformentioned what laptop mag and read up on it. Edited December 12, 2009 by mac_shinobi
RingOfFlame Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 @ rof If you read my post ref the mac book pro I did state I was hiding behind the sofa because I know he requested i7 so no lets not re read the first post and maybe take into consideration why I in fact stated the comment about hiding behind the sofa So therefore your post was just another meaningless "just get a mac" style answer. So @plexer my reply was not unwarranted as you wish to think. 1
mac_shinobi Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) So therefore your post was just another meaningless "just get a mac" style answer. So @plexer my reply was not unwarranted as you wish to think. It's called being facetious - you ever heard of that word ? Also I have posted a reasonable post up above instead of trying to be argumentative I take it boot camp was not a good solution due to it not being that brilliant with windows 7 - yet ? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920 Also the asker already has a really well speced out mac book pro so obviously does not want to go down that route as mentioned above - am just asking about the boot camp option out of curiosity. Is that ok ? Edited December 13, 2009 by mac_shinobi
synaesthesia Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 Perfectly reasonable suggestion - it takes further questions or suggestions to find out exactly what the person needs otherwise it would be a pointless thread For all you know a macbook could have been the best solution for this user. Without asking, we'd not know. Anyway, I've found samsung laptops to be very reasonable in price and performance however remain an ardent fan of Dell Latitude kit. I must admit though, modern Toshiba kit is going rather well, and their refund and replace policy (if its still running) gives you a fair bit of peace of mind on the reliability front. 1
mac_shinobi Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Perfectly reasonable suggestion - it takes further questions or suggestions to find out exactly what the person needs otherwise it would be a pointless thread For all you know a macbook could have been the best solution for this user. Without asking, we'd not know. Anyway, I've found samsung laptops to be very reasonable in price and performance however remain an ardent fan of Dell Latitude kit. I must admit though, modern Toshiba kit is going rather well, and their refund and replace policy (if its still running) gives you a fair bit of peace of mind on the reliability front. Since being converted to the dark side have not really had the cash or need to look at windows laptops / desktops so nice to know that Toshiba are improving anywho other then reading up on it ie what laptop magazine you could possibly go places that have a lot of different laptops and have a go on them after you have narrowed it down to a few laptops and see what you think of them ie keyboards not too springy, screen , quality of tft used etc etc Edited December 13, 2009 by mac_shinobi 1
Haptic Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 be sure to checkout the new L500 range of toshiba laptops they rock, Satellite Pro L500 Series - Toshiba all with the toshiba reliability refund policy;) 2
synaesthesia Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Aye - those sort of things are often a personal taste, just like when you're buying keyboard and mice for your desktop. And of course, one persons taste won't always match another. Everyone knows I think Apple is the spawn of the devil but that doesn't necessarily mean I think the same should apply to everyone. Worth noting that the cheaper Toshiba's (L300/A300 ranges etc) feel a little bit too "Acer-like" - i.e. not the sort of laptop you'd want to run around with you for fear of snapping something around the screen area. But, the OP want's something powerful and small to run VM's on. The only thing close is likely to be the Sony Vaio area, but you will pay a HUGE premium for things like that, especially adding ddr3 and I7's into the mix. And running VM's, the more memory you can squeeze in the better. I don't know if they do any I7 based models but the Z899GBB is a Core2Duo based item with 4gb DDR2, 13" and natively running XP. Average price appears to be around the £1400 mark if google is to be believed. I really do think you'll be better off raising the size a bit, it'll certainly broaden the range a lot and make working with VM's so much easier - therefore if anything I'd agree with an earlier post and look at the Dell Studio range. Oh, edit to take in CPLTD's information above - the Satellite Pro L500-1RJ does look rather nifty for the price actually, well worth considering. Discrete graphics card taking load off the processor, up to 8gb ram (DDR3) - it might "only" be a Core2Duo but they're still not exactly slow. Plus a large 400gb hard drive and eSATA connectivity too on a combined eSATA/USB port, which means you can use self powered eSATA external drives. Very, very useful - grab yourself a terabyte external drive, throw all your VM's on it and that's a lovely portable/combination desktop replacement in one. Edited December 13, 2009 by synaesthesia 1
kmount Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 be sure to checkout the new L500 range of toshiba laptops they rock, Satellite Pro L500 Series - Toshiba all with the toshiba reliability refund policy;) Don't buy one with a T5870 CPU if you want to run 64Bit VM guests as it doesn't have Intel VT (VT-X). The more expensive ones with the P8700 CPU does however have this support. 2
AngryITGuy Posted December 14, 2009 Author Posted December 14, 2009 I bet that mac book pro with the 256gb ssd and 8 gigs of ram is gorgeous at least imo lol It certainly is a power house, quite the step up from my Core Duo MacBook. The issue with BootCamp hasn't really affected my decision to go Windows based for this laptop as its for home use the wife will also need to use it and she is anti Apple! I really do think you'll be better off raising the size a bit, it'll certainly broaden the range a lot and make working with VM's so much easier - therefore if anything I'd agree with an earlier post and look at the Dell Studio range. Think you may have a point with this based on the fact that it will certainly broaden the range of laptops available. I've worked on a 13.3" MacBook for ages and never had an issue with the small screen size was mainly looking for something a little more portable than my MacBook Pro and alot faster than my S101. I must admit the Toshiba L500 laptops have great specification for the price. However as silly as it sounds I'm not keen on laptops having a numeric pad it just doesn't look right!
synaesthesia Posted December 14, 2009 Posted December 14, 2009 Feels bloody odd too, but in the short time I used a similar one (HP) it was *wonderful* - I rarely ever use the number keys at the top of a keyboard, in fact only to use the shift functions so it's a nice addition
Robbocop Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 I notice Toshiba UK have yet another cash back offer going. These have been pretty much continuous for months now, reminding me of the furniture giant MFI with their permanent sale!
witch Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 The last 4 school laptops I have bought have been Tosh. I like them - reliable, sturdy, good value for money
tommej Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 While toshiba's are fairly reliable, they do feel pretty tacky and cheap while in use!
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