Suggestions for .NET developer laptop specs
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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.
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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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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001I don't get why this got downvoted. It's what I have and it's a good balance. Add a docking station and two 24" monitors.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
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I don't get why this got downvoted. It's what I have and it's a good balance. Add a docking station and two 24" monitors.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
I dunno. Maybe because a SSD is so expensive. I fugred backing off on the CPU (lowers the price) in favor of a MUCH faster hard drive (raises the price)would be a good trade-off.
.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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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
I dunno. Maybe because a SSD is so expensive. I fugred backing off on the CPU (lowers the price) in favor of a MUCH faster hard drive (raises the price)would be a good trade-off.
.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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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001Getting an SSD is the best performance boost I had since I stopped booting from floppies.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
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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
My suggestion would be an E6400 with 4GB, an SSD and an E-port plus which supports dual monitors up to 2560x1600. I have one and I'm quite happy with it.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
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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
Flynn Arrowstarr / Regular Schmoe wrote:
We're starting to get in some of the Latitude E6400 systems
I have a E6500 Core 2 Duo 2.67, 4gb ram, 64gb HD. The small hard drive sucks but the docking station is nice and the machine can handle all of the (web) development I throw at it. Good battery life as well.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.
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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.
I have one of those at home to game on, as well as some development. It's a sweet machine.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.
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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.
I guess, although the $2200 list price of the NEC 3090 is high enough I'd've assumed they included every bell and whistle available. OTOH I think the cable I used was 8/10 feet long DVI-I cable; It's possible they skimped on the quality of the legacy wires or that it was the extra 4' of cable to blame.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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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
Why don't you come to my country and see what we pay for laptops. If I ever land myself in the USA I'll not let the chance go by to buy 2 (or more) of your top-end notebooks!! Seriously, what you see as a bit too expensive, to us is an outrageously awesome deal! My advice: Buy a monster, because you can!
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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
A BluRay burner :-D
____________________________________________________________ Be brave little warrior, be VERY brave
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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
First spend you money on the best hardrive (IO speed, not size, store your non-VS files on another / external drive) building large VS solutions deletes and rebuilds tons of files, then get a nice CPU and RAM is relatively cheap, I wouldn't settle for less than 3GB. I'm running a Dell XPS M1530 and I'm very happy with it, but VS 2010 likes more horses. We've switched back to desktops in our office and the same money buys about 5X the build speed, so if you don't need mobile, get a nice I7 RAID0 machine...
____________________________________________________________ Be brave little warrior, be VERY brave
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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
What are you developing? If you're working on an enterprise system, you may want to be able to run up virtual machines to work on, which will require more RAM (to allow some for the host & some for the virtual(s)) - 4GB or more. If they provide a development environment, so you're only writing the code on your machine, and then running everything on servers, you can get away with a lot less (1-2GB). If you need to run SQL Server, that'll eat up resources too, so again, lots of RAM's good; again, at least 4GB. Battery life's good if you're on the move, but if you spend most of your time at your desk / in meetings (as most developers do) you'll be on power most of the time, so it's not so important. A good processors always nice, but so long as you've got a couple of cores, and you're not doing anything too intensive, anything should be ok. You may want to go for a larger screen as that'll be better to code on when away from your monitors; it adds a bit of weight to carry around, but unless you commute by train & have a long walk either side, your actual carry time probably won't be enough to make a difference. SSDs are great for performance, but are still really pricey (50GB SSD is still more than 500GB standard HDD), so this choice depends on whether you need the space. Generally you need at least 100GB on a developer machine (though as always, depends what you do on it), so I'd go with the HDD for now; SDD in a year or two, once the price is down. Suggestions: Vostro 1720 Advanced: £429 http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/business/4x_vostro_1720/fs.aspx?refid=4x_vostro_1720&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1[^] Studio 17: £535 http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/studio-1747/pd.aspx?refid=studio-1747&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~laptops_great_deals_anav_4~~[^]
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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
Look into Lenovo ThinkPad W510. Might be a bit on the high side, but you get a lot, the product is solid and it should last years. Picking higher options, for around $2500 you get i7 quad-core processor, 500GB 7200RPM hard drive, 1GB discrete graphics, 15.6" 1920x1080 LED screen (although these are on backorder right now - optional touch-screen too), 8GB RAM (max is 16GB but really jacks up the price), around 8 to 12 hours battery life, Win 7 Pro 64-bit. There's a couple of reviews if you're interested. No, I'm not selling them! I'll probably be getting one when the screens are off backorder.
Mike
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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
In my humble opinion, the best laptop machine for developers would be a Dell Precision Laptop with the following minimum specifications: CPU: Core i7 720QM (2GHz 6MB Cache) - Quad core (with hyperthreading this should appear as 8 cores in Task Manager) RAM: 4GB 1333MHz dual channel (preferably 6GB with triple channel memory 3x2GB) Note: 64-bit OS required for anything above 4GB RAM. HDD: 320GB 7200rpm 16MB burst cache (preferably 500GB) Graphics: NVIDIA FX3800M 1GB RAM with 2 or 3 ports (1 VGA, 1 DVI, 1 DP or whatever combination you prefer) to support multiple monitors OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (because everybody should start porting their applications to 64-bit, or planning to, if they haven't started already. Certainly the major manufacturers are (Microsoft, Adobe etc.). 64-bit capable hardware has been around for quite a few years now and, if I am not mistaken, Windows 64-bit versions have been polished over at least three iterations (Windows XP 64-bit -> Vista 64-bit -> 7 64-bit). ... and USB3 of course as this is much faster then the present USB2 standard. I leave the rest to your imagination. Without criticising specific Manufacturers or models, whatever you do don't get anything other than a precision because it has the best most comfortable keyboard for typing lots of code. Other laptops are good for end users or power users, but their keyboards leave a lot to be desired. I hope this helps.
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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'm a .net platform developer currently wondering around a services mesh... With this kind of architecture I easily find myself with 4, 5, 6 Visual Studio's 2008 opened at the same time + one SQL SERVER Management Studio... + several services running on my machine to deliver content do the site... 4Gb is too short for me... 8Gb minimum... Still... for a couple of years I used only one laptop (a powerful ASUS G1S) as my only machine, with a 2nd monitor. Although the machine was very good, it isn't the same thing as having a desktop with 2 big monitor plus one laptop. So my current configuration is a Quad Core with 8Gb, 500Gb disk space and thinking about adding 2 more HD's to try to speed the IO, 1x 22" monitor + 1x 19" monitor. The Laptop is nothing that fancy but also have 4Gb and a cool performance. I have both computers on all the time but use only one keyboard and one mouse to control both. InputDirector is the best free tool around for this (way better than Synergy). At extreme cases where I need a 3rd monitor I use a tool called MaxiVista to extend the desktop PC desktop into the laptop screen... very coll and very very handy! :) Cheers mate! Good luck on your new job! :)
