Recommend me a good coding laptop

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

Yours is 3M cache dual core supporting only 1333 RAM 2nd gen
Dell is 6M cache QUAD supporting 1600 RAM 3rd gen (lower power consumption overall, smaller architecture aka more transistors on chip.)

Def check out my links on the Sager setup. You can get i7 quad with 16gb 1600MHZ RAM 512GB SSD with integrated video for like 1300. p good deal.

Also, Intel should be releasing the next gen of CPUs in or around this July. Might be worth the wait ^_^

Compared to Ivy Bridge (expected):

Twice the vector processing performance.
At least 10% sequential CPU performance increase (8 execution ports per core versus 6).
Up to double the performance of the integrated GPU. (Haswell GT3 vs Ivy Bridge HD4000)

LOL WIKI SOURCE

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

I am far too lazy to wait -- if it were just a month or so, yeah, but July sufficiently far away for me.

How are these Sager laptops comparably cheaper? $1319 is what I get -- this is definitely acceptable. Any caveats to this?

Also, debating W7 Home Premium 64 bit (what I currently use) and W8 64-bit

Also lol $50 off $1350... need to find something to kick it up so I can pay $1300ish

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

I am far too lazy to wait -- if it were just a month or so, yeah, but July sufficiently far away for me.

How are these Sager laptops comparably cheaper? $1319 is what I get -- this is definitely acceptable. Any caveats to this?

Also, debating W7 Home Premium 64 bit (what I currently use) and W8 64-bit

Also lol $50 off $1350... need to find something to kick it up so I can pay $1300ish

Sager is what alienware was should have been. Keep in mind this is intel integrated GPU. I can honestly say I have never had to repair a Sager. Only had to upgrade them as far as RAM and SSD are concerned. Pretty solid underrated company IMO. You can also call these guys and chat it up with em. Usually very good support. Adding the windows 7 or extended warranty should bring you over the 1350.

The downsides are: This system is at FULL spec. No upgrades other than Drives will be available. Unless they release a BIOS update 16GB will be your max. Never will be able to add a dedicated GPU IIRC. These are all trivials issues that you may not need to worry about. Also, non modular parts will only be available from Sager. (motherboards, cables, and rare shit that shouldn't need replacing.) I do believe they ship out in a week or two max. I've heard both 3 day and 10 business day ships from them.


Just make sure you are getting the 512 SSD upgrade, the 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM upgrade, and the 16gb RAM upgrade. The ic diamond 7 Thermal compound is nice. Windows 7 pro comes up to 1379, $1,329.00 after -50 xD

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

Win7 and Win8 cost the same

I guess maybe I can tack on the dead-pixel thing because it'll be free after the $-50 rebate anyway

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

15.6" HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1366 x 768) -
Guaranteed no dead or partially-lit pixels for first 30 days of purchasing
Intel GMA HD Integrated Graphics with Share Memory Architecture up to 1.7GB
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.40GHz)
IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound - CPU
Genuine MS Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition ( 64-Bit Preloaded )
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 8GB
512GB Crucial M4 Series SATA3 Solid State Disk Drive
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
Smart Li-ION Battery Pack

$1369 (minus 50) -> $1319


Correct?


edit: The $1379 is if I ditch the dead pixels thing and upgrade to Professional -- is Professional worth it over HP? (I think I've only ever used HP)


EDIT:

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/386085/windows_7_home_premium_vs_windows_7_professional/

Dead pixels isn't a *huge* concern for me anyway (this is mostly just coding after all and I don't think the pixels are likely. I came across a forum that I'm too lazy to hash up where some rep said it's rare anyway but some people just like the peace of mind). So I'll probably take your rec and go with Professional.


EDIT3:
Ahh Professional also has Remote access. Might be a nice to have.

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

is Professional worth it over HP? (I think I've only ever used HP)

Have a look HERE I use HP for everything I need.

tl;dr

No "XP Mode on HP" You can always run VM software.
No Network Backup settings LOL
No Domain mode http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...res/networking

I do not think you will need Professional for those reasons. However, I am in no way a developer so someone else may want to chime in.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

On second thought sticking with HP, figure I'll be taking the laptop errwhere anyway

pulling the trigger

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

On second thought sticking with HP, figure I'll be taking the laptop errwhere anyway
pulling the trigger

Nice, I am def Jelly. Let me know how the order/shipping process goes.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

Thanks for all your advice / recs ITT -- will do

I am excited for the SSD :X I've never really used them before

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

Thanks for all your advice / recs ITT -- will do

I am excited for the SSD :X I've never really used them before

You are most welcome! Thanks for using Bits and Bytes xD Love this subforum. SSD will be like a breath of fresh air. Enjoy!

[qqwref]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

My experience with Linux installing has basically been "Install thing I want. Oh, that didn't work. Repeat [Looks like... I'm missing something called [name]. Install [name] and dependencies. Clean up and try installing thing I want again] until it does." Add sudo where necessary. It's not perfect but for some types of software it's several times easier than getting it working in Windows. And yeah, if Ubuntu is an issue there are many other distros with a similar style - GUI friendly, and designed for people who aren't hardcore into *n?x (I am not either). Just a suggestion anyway. I personally really like having it sitting in a virtual machine, and maybe that would work really nicely for you too.


As for win7/win8: having used both, 7 is absolutely better. 8 is basically designed for tablets, and even more so for casual computer users, which means a lot of design decisions that make no sense for a workstation. Think mouse "gestures" where you have to hover in one corner of the screen, native apps that will ONLY run full-screen (including the PDF viewer! what were they thinking?!), and a start screen where your programs are shown in little boxes across the whole screen. I'm sure you could get around some of its problems by getting used to it and overriding a lot of the defaults, but I don't see why you should have to bother. Get the one designed for real computers and save yourself some hassle.

Full disclosure: I still have XP 'cuz I'm lazy.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

My experience with Linux installing has basically been "Install thing I want. Oh, that didn't work. Repeat [Looks like... I'm missing something called [name]. Install [name] and dependencies. Clean up and try installing thing I want again] until it does." Add sudo where necessary. It's not perfect but for some types of software it's several times easier than getting it working in Windows. And yeah, if Ubuntu is an issue there are many other distros with a similar style - GUI friendly, and designed for people who aren't hardcore into *n?x (I am not either). Just a suggestion anyway. I personally really like having it sitting in a virtual machine, and maybe that would work really nicely for you too.

My experience with virtual machines is nonexistent (assuming VMWare here). Are you saying that you could run Ubuntu "from Windows"?

As for win7/win8: having used both, 7 is absolutely better. 8 is basically designed for tablets, and even more so for casual computer users, which means a lot of design decisions that make no sense for a workstation. Think mouse "gestures" where you have to hover in one corner of the screen, native apps that will ONLY run full-screen (including the PDF viewer! what were they thinking?!), and a start screen where your programs are shown in little boxes across the whole screen. I'm sure you could get around some of its problems by getting used to it and overriding a lot of the defaults, but I don't see why you should have to bother. Get the one designed for real computers and save yourself some hassle.

Full disclosure: I still have XP 'cuz I'm lazy.

Yep, that is more or less what I read online when looking up comparisons between 7 and 8 -- same sort of deal. Seems like 8 is better if you're a casual user who's into touchscreens and whatnot. 7's been great for me so far so I see no reason to switch away from that. A great deal of people who've tried both (from what I've read) prefer 7 even after some adjustment time.

[qqwref]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

My experience with virtual machines is nonexistent (assuming VMWare here). Are you saying that you could run Ubuntu "from Windows"?

Well, I have Oracle VM VirtualBox, but same idea. And yeah, it just works as a windowed OS which runs off my internet connection and hard drive. I'm sure there's some performance detriment compared to having it run natively, but it hasn't been noticeable so far.

[ELRayford]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

http://www.vmware.com/products/player/ I believe this is free now.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Recommend me a good coding laptop

How exactly does a virtual machine work in this context? Does it partition off part of the HDD that is only accessible via virtual machine or something?