Desktop Replacement Laptop

Afternoon All ..

I am bidding on a gig that will, if awarded, allow me to get a NEW laptop for the first time in my life. I have budgeted $2000 for it, but can go as high as $2500. It will primarily be used as a Windows development machine (Windows 7/8, SQL Server, Visual Studio 2012, etc.) but I will also be able to use it for play, i.e. photography related stuff. It does not have to be light and stripped down. I want a desktop replacement; something that will be as fast as a badass desktop.

By the time I configure the fastest 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with 16GB and a Apple USB SuperDrive I am already at $3328, so its probably out of the question

I'd love to hear some recommendations on who/what I should look at. Of course I am looking for max screen size & quality, USB3, SATA3, 16GB RAM, great Video card that will assist with PPing of images. As usual I shall appreciate any feedback regarding the direction I should take.

Freddy

Hmm, I always did find DTRs a bit of a complicated subject, because you're looking at spending a lot of money on compact tech. I always used to budget $3000 for such computers and they'd last me a good 5-6 years. Battery is really only there if you want to move between two rooms or if the power goes out, you're lucky to get 1 & 1/2 hours lol.

If you'll be doing windows development, you probably may not want a retina MBP if you go the Mac route, because you'll most likely be running a VM or bootcamp, and those don't behave too well with retina's crazy 2880x1800 resolution. Even many Mac apps don't support retina yet. That said, you won't find a better screen on anything but a desktop.

I'd check out the Lenovo W530 and the Dell M4700. Both are extremely capable and both have options for high quality screens - perfect for photography.

I went with the Lenovo T530 as I have a powerful desktop and valued battery life (more so than the W530). With current promotions, I was able to come in at about $1000 for a pretty competent machine. I also added 8GB ram, SSD, and a drive in the optical bay for another few hundred dollars. With a $2000 budget you could build a very potent W530.

I just bought the new Alienware M17x R4: Intel i7 3630QM, 16 gigs of ram, AMD 7970M, SSD drive and so on. Cost me $2081 after a $86 discount immediately and another $100ish coming in as a gift card.

I already have an external monitor so that retina display on MacBooks didn't interest me. YMMV though!

They also have a 18.4" model with more powerful options if you want that.

vsg28 wrote in post #15171246
I just bought the new Alienware M17x R4: Intel i7 3630QM, 16 gigs of ram, AMD 6970M, SSD drive and so on. Cost me $2081 after a $86 discount immediately and another $100ish coming in as a gift card.

Technology sure does chug along, 6 years ago a 2ghz core duo (yes, core duo, not C2D), 2gb ram, AMD x1600 and 120GB 5400rpm drive laptop used to cost much more than that!

alphamalex wrote in post #15169065
I'd love to hear some recommendations on who/what I should look at. Of course I am looking for max screen size & quality, USB3, SATA3, 16GB RAM, great Video card that will assist with PPing of images. As usual I shall appreciate any feedback regarding the direction I should take.

Freddy

Don't pay as much attention to screen size as screen resolution and quality. If you go a 15" route the difference between a 1080P screen and a 1366x768 screen is quite a lot for the screen real estate you get to work with.

Get a SSD if you can, either with the purchase or install it after. Single biggest improvement you can make IMO for speed.

As for the video card either check the programs you are using or list them here for some help. Most photo editing programs won't utilize the GPU much. A long editing session in light room and my GPU doesn't receive any load. Photoshop will use a GPU for some tasks but Im not sure if anything in photo editing will utilize that power.

For most photo editing applications CPU horsepower is what matters.

One more vote for W530. Had 4 IBM/Lenovo laptops in the last 7 years, from T43 to T520, both at work and at home, absolutely no problems with good performance.

Lenovo's a good brand. For development lots of threads is pointless unless you need them for something specific, better to get fewer faster cores. An SSD and lots of RAM makes more difference for development, databases, VMs, etc.

If you don't mind having a big heavy laptop why not just get a desktop? Nicer keyboard, nicer screen, cheaper, only downside is less portable.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #15171103
If you'll be doing windows development, you probably may not want a retina MBP if you go the Mac route, because you'll most likely be running a VM or bootcamp, and those don't behave too well with retina's crazy 2880x1800 resolution. Even many Mac apps don't support retina yet. That said, you won't find a better screen on anything but a desktop.

This is something I was not aware of ... great information!

JoeyC wrote in post #15171198
I'd check out the Lenovo W530 and the Dell M4700. Both are extremely capable and both have options for high quality screens - perfect for photography.

I will do that, thanks.

vsg28 wrote in post #15171246
They also have a 18.4" model with more powerful options if you want that.

I saw that one ... yumm

tim wrote in post #15174267
Lenovo's a good brand. For development lots of threads is pointless unless you need them for something specific, better to get fewer faster cores. An SSD and lots of RAM makes more difference for development, databases, VMs, etc.

If you don't mind having a big heavy laptop why not just get a desktop? Nicer keyboard, nicer screen, cheaper, only downside is less portable.

A desptop would have been my first and only option because less capable laptops are priced higher than laptops .. but alas, portability is an issue.

That said, I will try to finagle that into a desktop. Let's see what happens ... an Aurora desktop sounds sooo yummy

Another vote for the Lenovo W530. I just purchased one with the FHD display and will say that I love it. If you go this route, get the least ram and smallest HD and upgrade yourself, if possible. Lenovo charges ridiculous prices for upgrades. I got mine with only the FHD screen and upgraded battery and swapped out the 4 gigs RAM for 32 gigs and swapped the HD for a Samsung 256 gig SSD and added a 1 Tb conventional drive for storage. This setup can be had for $2000, if you shop around.

Edit: also, in case this is of use to you... you can purchase a docking station from Lenovo that, besides the convenience, allows you to run up to 3 external monitors as well as the laptops monitor for a total of 4.