Development Laptop
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
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We use 17" Fujitsu Celsius i7 with 8 Gig of RAM and SSDs at work, far better than any Dell I've ever used. In my experience Dells tend to overheat.
I have an 17-inch Acer i7 with 8Gb of RAM and 640Gb HDD (not SSD) - basically this[^], but with more RAM and a smaller HDD As for advice, I can't tell you what to get, but I can't tell you what NOT to get. Don't get an Acer. Mine (and my colleague's for that matter, they're identical) tend to freeze and take ages to load stuff with VS2010, Eclipse, Toad and an Ubuntu VM open. Plus the keyboard is a PITA (I brought my own, I couldn't stand the laptop keyboard).
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
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Not too bothered there, as long as it's got a high resolution & I'm happy working on a smaller screen. Plus, it's at home so I can always hook it up to my existing monitors or my 40" TV!
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Not too bothered there, as long as it's got a high resolution & I'm happy working on a smaller screen. Plus, it's at home so I can always hook it up to my existing monitors or my 40" TV!
Dylan Morley wrote:
my 40" TV!
I would go for a larger screen :) No, just kidding. I like large monitors for the real estate, no squinting or having to use sliders.
--------------------------------- I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^]
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I have an 17-inch Acer i7 with 8Gb of RAM and 640Gb HDD (not SSD) - basically this[^], but with more RAM and a smaller HDD As for advice, I can't tell you what to get, but I can't tell you what NOT to get. Don't get an Acer. Mine (and my colleague's for that matter, they're identical) tend to freeze and take ages to load stuff with VS2010, Eclipse, Toad and an Ubuntu VM open. Plus the keyboard is a PITA (I brought my own, I couldn't stand the laptop keyboard).
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
Thanks - that's useful...I was looking at Acers. I'm well out of the loop on laptop tech, been towers all the way for me for years - so it's just good for me to hear what people are using & their experiences with different brands.
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Thanks - that's useful...I was looking at Acers. I'm well out of the loop on laptop tech, been towers all the way for me for years - so it's just good for me to hear what people are using & their experiences with different brands.
I have a custom machine that cost about £600. (Was high spec about 2 years ago, but time moves on). I also have an Advent which is remarkably sturdy, and would recommend them as a manufacturer.
--------------------------------- I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^]
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I have an 17-inch Acer i7 with 8Gb of RAM and 640Gb HDD (not SSD) - basically this[^], but with more RAM and a smaller HDD As for advice, I can't tell you what to get, but I can't tell you what NOT to get. Don't get an Acer. Mine (and my colleague's for that matter, they're identical) tend to freeze and take ages to load stuff with VS2010, Eclipse, Toad and an Ubuntu VM open. Plus the keyboard is a PITA (I brought my own, I couldn't stand the laptop keyboard).
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
I think we've got the same Acer. I bought a 17" with 8Gb and a 500Gb HDD for home use. I'm fairly happy with it apart from the fact the HDD is slow as hell. I'm sure it would be infinitely improved with an SSD. I don't mind the keyboard so much but it does kick out some heat, nowhere near as bad as some Dells I've used in the past.
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I think we've got the same Acer. I bought a 17" with 8Gb and a 500Gb HDD for home use. I'm fairly happy with it apart from the fact the HDD is slow as hell. I'm sure it would be infinitely improved with an SSD. I don't mind the keyboard so much but it does kick out some heat, nowhere near as bad as some Dells I've used in the past.
Yeah, for home use they're probably a good deal. Ours cost around 700€. I've installed Diablo 3 on mine, and it works well. For development however, my experience with it has been less than satisfying so far (I've been using it for some seven months now).
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
The best laptop I've ever had is an IBM (not lenovo which I never owned one). Lightweight, powerful, worked like charm... Fujitsu-siemens also worked well, HP elitebook also nice but I've got problems with the battery. I'd look for a LENOVO T430s or T530.
[www.tamautomation.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
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Yeah, for home use they're probably a good deal. Ours cost around 700€. I've installed Diablo 3 on mine, and it works well. For development however, my experience with it has been less than satisfying so far (I've been using it for some seven months now).
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
Mine was CHF 890.- in a sale. Back home in the UK the 11.11 of any year is remembrance day whereas in Switzerland it's an 11% off sale day. I do have a VM on mine which I do occasional work on, but mainly I have a huge collection of old school DOS games and DOSBox. Unsurprisingly it does fairly well with them.
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
I just bought a I5 with 6GB Ram, 750GB hard drive for $550.00 USD which is not much at all to pay ! It is a DELL laptop. Runs VS 2010 great ! A fine development machine. The only issue I have with it is when I start typing I keep accidentally hitting the touch pad and moving the mouse around. I have to look into disabling the touch pad. ANYWAY, GREAT LAPTOP AND REALLY REALLY CHEAP !!! I was impressed at what I got for the price I payed !
================================================== The greatest trick the U.S Govt ever played on the world was getting people to think that Satellite Torture was all about crazy people...
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
Most laptop lines seem to be about the same as far as quality. Some people love them and others hate them. Some of that comes down to which line you buy off of. For example, Dell has their home line and their business line. Only ever buy off of their business line (there aren't any restrictions on doing so). The quality is night and day different. The same goes for HP and others. As far as the hard drive, a SSD will make any laptop faster. However, I would recommend getting it third-party. That will allow you to get a cheaper system (even after buying the drive) and it will allow you to get a good drive. Not all SSDs are the same. Some are slower than others and some are prone to failure over time. I personally recommend this line: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/[^] I have had two of them and I have put them through their paces. If you are going to spend money anywhere, spend it here. It will make all the difference in the world.
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
I have an Asus G73J with 17" screen backlit keyboard. Here i7 proc, 8 gig ram 650 gig hd. Will play movies in HD etc etc.. Price pushes $1500 so would be right at your limits if I have the conversion right. I run a full SQL server instalation, a Mysql install, Visual studio 2008, 2010 and 2011 beta. I also run up to 5 VMs with vmware that have a web server, a sql server, Domain controller, sharepoint server 2010. All at the same time(minimal recourses on them of course.) that are my testing playground. Also run Android emulator, Eclipse. I have run quite a few of them at the same time with little to no issues as far as being draggy or slow. When I run all 5 vms at once it can get a little laggy but still functions.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
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I have an Asus G73J with 17" screen backlit keyboard. Here i7 proc, 8 gig ram 650 gig hd. Will play movies in HD etc etc.. Price pushes $1500 so would be right at your limits if I have the conversion right. I run a full SQL server instalation, a Mysql install, Visual studio 2008, 2010 and 2011 beta. I also run up to 5 VMs with vmware that have a web server, a sql server, Domain controller, sharepoint server 2010. All at the same time(minimal recourses on them of course.) that are my testing playground. Also run Android emulator, Eclipse. I have run quite a few of them at the same time with little to no issues as far as being draggy or slow. When I run all 5 vms at once it can get a little laggy but still functions.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
That does look really nice, but apparently we're getting ripped off over here - prices seem to range from £1500 to £2000!
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Right, it's time for me to buy a new laptop. This is going to be mainly for development purposes at home, so I need it to be able to handle Visual Studio, SQL, IIS, all the goodies. Mobility not an issue, it's going to be staying in the house. I know I could get more for my money in a tower, but I literally have no space for another full setup - I have a small music studio at home & use a Mac Pro there which pretty much takes over the room :) I'm happy to spend up to £1000 - I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE...for £900 it seems like it's got a decent spec + reviews are positive. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s10&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1[^] That does have a lot of what I'm after (15" screen min, lots of RAM + decent processor). Some people seem to be saying SSD is the way to go though, & maybe go for an i5 rather than i7? Anyway, if you had a budget of £1k and needed a laptop for development, what would you be looking at?
We use MSI gaming laptops - mine's a G640 (i7 + 15.4" display); Beth's is a newer model with an i5, 15.6" full HD display and twin hard disks. I would heartily recommend them, though whatever you go for make sure you pick one with a decent screen resolution and that has a graphics adaptor that doesn't steal main RAM.
Anna :rose: Tech Blog | Visual Lint "Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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That does look really nice, but apparently we're getting ripped off over here - prices seem to range from £1500 to £2000!
ouch. I actually got mine at 1200 US on sale. The normal price was 1500. Double that over there? jeesh.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
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That does look really nice, but apparently we're getting ripped off over here - prices seem to range from £1500 to £2000!
That being said though, the idea still holds. Look at gaming laptops that fall in your budget. Gamers tend to like a lot of horsepower, which translates into horsepower for development as well.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
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That being said though, the idea still holds. Look at gaming laptops that fall in your budget. Gamers tend to like a lot of horsepower, which translates into horsepower for development as well.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
Yep that's a good shout, I've seen the specs on a few now & they definitely deliver what I'm after - just a bit on the pricey side for some of the models.