Suggestions for .NET developer laptop specs
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
Think of a suitably large number for memory, double it, specify that as RAM. Repeat for HDD. Long Life Battery. Best Network Card you can specify.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
4gb RAM, 250GB SSD, dual-core CPU
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
I've looked recently, but anything I'd buy is out of this months budget, and feels to expensive to lug aorund anyway. My criteria: Windows 7, >=128GB non-crappy SSD, non-crappy CPU, >=3GB RAM, optical drive included, available in Germany. All that was left were some high-end Toshiba machines (and some Alienware boxes).
Agh! Reality! My Archnemesis![^]
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
Quad core or better (I7 if you can get it) 4gb RAM min 250-500Gb HDD Are you wanting to plug two monitors into the laptop or use a single monitor along side the standard display? It's worth bearing in mind - how long are you going to be using this as a development machine? If it's in the order of years, remember that someone else is paying and go crazy! :)
Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
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Quad core or better (I7 if you can get it) 4gb RAM min 250-500Gb HDD Are you wanting to plug two monitors into the laptop or use a single monitor along side the standard display? It's worth bearing in mind - how long are you going to be using this as a development machine? If it's in the order of years, remember that someone else is paying and go crazy! :)
Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
I found a Dell Studio that matches these specs, the I7 might be a little beyond what I can get away with, but I can beef up the RAM and get a nice video card (it's possible I get bored and end up playing some WOW on here) so that might be the winner. I can't find an option to add a docking station in the Dell build your machine wizard... do they not sell those any longer?
Mike Devenney
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
Mike Devenney wrote:
My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors.
I still swear by the TripleHead2Go.[^] I've been running 3 monitors off my laptop with one for years. It doesn't take a super high end graphics card to run all 3 anymore. Unless you plan on gaming. Plus side is it connects to the standard video out port and you don't need a funky laptop specific docking station for the dual screen.
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
Why don't you make two specs: one for your dream machine (or least has all the bells and whistles you want) and one that you would settle for. They might be feeling generous and it would show that you know what the top of the line is but are business minded enough to know what will work. I personally use a 2.0GHz dual-core, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD with a 15in monitor. It works, but it is the absolute minimum I would try to work with. I'm trying to get my boss to get me a new one. I'd go for at least 4GB RAM, I tend to run out of RAM when I'm using a VM. I'd also go with at least a 17in monitor if you don't mind the size and weight. The only thing that saves me right now is I have an additional monitor at work. Two pros are more desktop room for development when you're away from your desk and when you get the larger laptop they tend to allow an additional HDD. Then you might be able to swing a 128GB SSD with a 500GB HDD without breaking the bank.
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
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Mike Devenney wrote:
My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors.
I still swear by the TripleHead2Go.[^] I've been running 3 monitors off my laptop with one for years. It doesn't take a super high end graphics card to run all 3 anymore. Unless you plan on gaming. Plus side is it connects to the standard video out port and you don't need a funky laptop specific docking station for the dual screen.
AWESOME... exactly what I was looking for. What do they run?
Mike Devenney
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
I've got one of these. [Asus Laptop] Downside; it's heavy and the battery only lasts about an hour. Upside; 6 gigs of ram, quad core processor, dual hard drives, blu-ray, vga and hdmi outputs, reasonable price.
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
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AWESOME... exactly what I was looking for. What do they run?
Mike Devenney
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I found a Dell Studio that matches these specs, the I7 might be a little beyond what I can get away with, but I can beef up the RAM and get a nice video card (it's possible I get bored and end up playing some WOW on here) so that might be the winner. I can't find an option to add a docking station in the Dell build your machine wizard... do they not sell those any longer?
Mike Devenney
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I found a Dell Studio that matches these specs, the I7 might be a little beyond what I can get away with, but I can beef up the RAM and get a nice video card (it's possible I get bored and end up playing some WOW on here) so that might be the winner. I can't find an option to add a docking station in the Dell build your machine wizard... do they not sell those any longer?
Mike Devenney
Consumer laptops don't seem to have much for docking stations anymore. You may want to look into the Business side of Dell's website for docking solutions. We're starting to get in some of the Latitude E6400 systems as a standard platform, though they don't have quad-core. C2D 2.53 GHz with 160 GB 7200-rpm hdd, 4 GB ram. I do light development at home (VS Pro 2008, SQL Server 2005 Express, etc.) with less horse-power. Really, though, it depends on the type of development you're going to be doing. The suggestion to make two configurations works well. :) Flynn
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Mike Devenney wrote:
My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors.
I still swear by the TripleHead2Go.[^] I've been running 3 monitors off my laptop with one for years. It doesn't take a super high end graphics card to run all 3 anymore. Unless you plan on gaming. Plus side is it connects to the standard video out port and you don't need a funky laptop specific docking station for the dual screen.
The only caveats I'd give for it is that it's limited to 2x1920x1200 or 3x1680x1050(?), and you get a single spanned screen instead of 2 or three separate ones. I'd be a little leery about image quality at the highest resolution; the equivalent number of pixels was a mess on my 2560x1600 monitor via analog. Dunno how much of that was the actual protocol vs cable length/quality although analog is normally listed as maxing at 2046x1536. The other caveat would be with an HDMI out. Unless the TH2G explicitly supports HDMI 1.3 (or later) an HDMI-DVI adapter would limit you to an output resolution of 1920x1200 across all monitors.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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The only caveats I'd give for it is that it's limited to 2x1920x1200 or 3x1680x1050(?), and you get a single spanned screen instead of 2 or three separate ones. I'd be a little leery about image quality at the highest resolution; the equivalent number of pixels was a mess on my 2560x1600 monitor via analog. Dunno how much of that was the actual protocol vs cable length/quality although analog is normally listed as maxing at 2046x1536. The other caveat would be with an HDMI out. Unless the TH2G explicitly supports HDMI 1.3 (or later) an HDMI-DVI adapter would limit you to an output resolution of 1920x1200 across all monitors.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
Dan Neely wrote:
2x1920x1200 or 3x1680x1050(?)
It'll run other resolutions. I run at 3x1280x1024. I'm running on the analog triplehead2go and the image is still nice and crisp. The video card just sees the triplehead as one big monitor that it's hooked to. The specs for my video card card said its max resolution was below the 3x1280x1024 but it still hums right along. I like that it's a single spanned display. I believe you can use the software that comes with it to have things like windows maximizing to only one screen if you like.
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
Mike Devenney wrote:
I want to keep it reasonable for them
Good grief, whatever for?!?!?! :confused: You will never look as valuable to an employer as you do ten minutes before you walk in their door, so get all you can before you start. And compare the cost of the laptop to your first paycheck. What you think is unreasonable is likely a drop in their procurement bucket, even for a small company.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
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Dan Neely wrote:
2x1920x1200 or 3x1680x1050(?)
It'll run other resolutions. I run at 3x1280x1024. I'm running on the analog triplehead2go and the image is still nice and crisp. The video card just sees the triplehead as one big monitor that it's hooked to. The specs for my video card card said its max resolution was below the 3x1280x1024 but it still hums right along. I like that it's a single spanned display. I believe you can use the software that comes with it to have things like windows maximizing to only one screen if you like.
thrakazog wrote:
I'm running on the analog triplehead2go and the image is still nice and crisp.
Must be cable length degradation, or the TH2G using a cable with extra heavy shielding then, or both. How long of a cable does it use for input? Personally I detest the breaks in the image that come from bezels. Outside of gaming uses I can't see any reason why I'd want my dialogs broken up like that.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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I'm moving to a new company and they asked me what kind of machine I want when I get there (this is a first). I've never developed on a laptop and want to be able to bring things on the road with me. I never gave any thought to what kind of horsepower a developer machine needs because I was always told what I would be using and just put up with the performance. Now that I get to pick I'm at a loss. They're a Dell shop and suggested that I build one on Dell.com and send them the link. My only requirement is that I can hook up two monitors. Other than that I want to keep it reasonable for them, so no crazy peripherals like a BluRay burner... Any suggestions/direction greatly appreciated!
Mike Devenney
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thrakazog wrote:
I'm running on the analog triplehead2go and the image is still nice and crisp.
Must be cable length degradation, or the TH2G using a cable with extra heavy shielding then, or both. How long of a cable does it use for input? Personally I detest the breaks in the image that come from bezels. Outside of gaming uses I can't see any reason why I'd want my dialogs broken up like that.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
There's a 3 or 4 foot cable running to the triplehead and then standard length monitor cables from there. The cables don't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. The triplehead unit itself might be enhancing the image somehow as it passes through. It's got a little circuit board in there that requires it's own power supply. There could be more going on in there than just separating the image.
