Hey guys, so I need a new computer/laptop because my current Dell laptop is 5 years old and only has 4 GB of RAM. It has worked great but it's been slow lately I think mainly because I have the following programs running most of the time:
Skype (3 to 10 windows open at a time)
Spotify
Chrome (10-20 tabs open at a time) - Adobe flash doesn't play nice when you have multiple browsers going with 10-20 tabs
Firefox (~3-5 tabs open)
Word
Excel
Here is what I'm thinking for specs:
- Minimum of 16GB RAM (so can handle all these programs easily for years)
- needs to have a super fast chip since it is my main machine
- Windows 7 or 8 fine, as long as I have Msft Office Suite: Excel, Word and PPT
- Ideally small screen so light to carry on trips (can be 13" or even less if big enough to pack all the hardware in and not explode from heat)
- HD or very good web cam for videos / conference calls
- VGA dock so when at my office (95% of time), I can connect my massive monitor
Thoughts? Help please :-)
Patrick, your problem is most likely not only your RAM, but rather the lack of Ghz in your processor. 8 GBs of RAM should be plenty for running these programs.
RAM helps the swapping process between programs, however your computer will use virtual memory from your HD if you are lacking in RAM, slightly resolving the issue.
What is your current processor in your Dell?
Also, for the monitor situation, have you considered purchasing a port replicator? It would make it much easier to connect and disconnect from your monitors.
Two more things, what's your budget? ... and remember that RAM is easily upgraded, processors are not.
I would consider this Lenova and upgrade the SSD to 256 GB http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/?sb=:0…:
Problem with the powerful Dell and HP laptops is they are much heavier in my opinion 4+ lbs.
Thanks man...here is the processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T6670, 2.1GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2M L2 Cache
I think a port replicator would be a good idea...any suggestions on that too? Can all laptops work with port replicators?
Thanks! Patrick
Dell will use a Dell port replicator, HP will use a HP port replicator, Lenova will use a Lenova dock, etc.
You have to buy the matching brand dock. The only time that won't work is if the computer is super old and has older ports while the computer is super new or vice versa.
I would consider the Lenova laptops in the $1,500 range
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/?sb=:0…
I just bought that exact model refurbished. I need a trackpoint to function and Lenovo is the only company with a decent one. I have been very happy with it.
Get one of Intel's newer quad-core processors. My laptop is an HP Envy from 2011 with 8GB RAM and an Intel i7, and I'm consistently running Skype, Spotify, Chrome, Firefox, Word, Excel, Photoshop, and a game. Get an i7, or at the very least an i5. You won't regret it. Make sure you're getting at least 3rd gen (Ivy Bridge) if not the newer 4th gen (Haswell).
Quick guide: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebook-Processors.129.0.html
Most likely don't need 16GB of RAM, 8GB should be plenty enough. You probably won't find such a powerful/speedy machine in a 13", might have to go 15".
Is battery life a concern? If not, I would actually look into the Lenovo Yoga. Very well-built machines, speedy, unique 360 hinge to switch between tablet/laptop form: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-2-pro/?tt=d
Thanks for the suggestion...I don't really care about the tablet functionality since 95% of the time it will just be hooked up to a doc and used as my main machine.
Looking at the chip, it shows 1.7 GHZ...isn't my current CPU at 2.1 more powerful/faster?
I want a super powerful computer so I don't have to worry. I'm on here ~12-16 hrs a day so spending an extra $1k to get 16gb of RAM and a super powerful processor is not the concern. I rather go overboard and not need a new computer for ~5-7yrs...and if I want 20 Skype windows open, share screen working and 30 chrome windows open, I don't want to have to worry about the CPU overloading (usually caused by Adobe Flash crashing)
Basically, I want a BEAST that i can dock, in a small box, so when I travel I dont need a separate computer.
Thanks for all the insight so far guys! Checking out your suggestions :-)
Ah, yes. That would be because I linked you the wrong one. Meant to link: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-13/?sb=:000001C9… Clocked at 2ghz but you can always overclock if you want.
If you want a beast of a laptop though, I would take everyone else's advice and go for a Thinkpad with an i7-4xxx. Sturdy and well-built machines - never crash and my CPU never goes above a low 20% hum with them.
Oh, and take Eddie's advice and close some tabs :P
The intel i5 and i7 are quad core processors vs the core 2 duo which is dual core. The quad core will have a lower clock speed (GHz) but the overall performance is higher because its processing across 4 cores.
to quote PC Mag, " If you're browsing the web, checking email constanly, and calculating the 20,000 cells in your latest spreadsheet all at the same time, having multiple cores means that core 1 can be working on the email, core 2 on the Flash webpage you're viewing, and cores 3 and 4 on the spreadsheet.".
Just a random tip, if you want to know if a given processor is actually fast especially on a relative basis to the processor market, you can look at the passmark cpu benchmark charts:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
Just for reference, the Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 is in the middle of the "Low Mid Range" chart and has a rank of 966 out of the 1799 processors they have looked at.
@yeahright has a lot of good advice. The SSD is KEY in my opinion, will increase load times like you can't even imagine.
What is your budget?
I have a Razer Blade laptop with an Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor (Quad-core) and 8GB of memory. Razer Blade is known for making "gaming laptops," but I don't use it to play games. This is very fast, powerful machine, I would even go as far to say it is a little bit overpowered, but it has longevity and I don't think I would need to upgrade for at least a decade (Unless I want to play the latest computer games, which I don't)
You mentioned wanting 13", mine is about 14", but at just 4 lbs it is very lightweight and portable.
Keep in mind that a lot of the processors at the very top of the benchmark rankings are for servers intended for business use (anything from Intel that is named "Xeon" are for servers rather than desktops).
In absolute terms, yes, they are more powerful than something like the i7-4702HQ in my laptop, but these chips also have features and processes that you would never need or use in a personal desktop computer or notebook.
There is a chart on the same website called "Laptop/Portable CPU Chart" which has the i7-4702HQ ranked 13th. I think this is more meaningful than the 99 / 1799 ranking.
My advice:
Go to TigerDirect, buy a beast for like $600, and quit browsing like a chick and close a tab every once in a while.
My only advice is go with Windows 7. Windows 8 makes me want to throw my laptop out a window every ~15 minutes of use.
Really? Windows 8 works exactly the same as Windows 7. Just set your computer to boot into the desktop and disable the start screen. Ta-da! You have Windows 7.
Can you even fit 16 gb of ram in a laptop? 16 gb of RAM in a 14" laptop is a tall order.
I have an 8gb core i5 which supports most of my research needs, like running backtests on ~100 option surfaces over 500 trading days. My secret is that I just need to open Eclipse (expensive for RAM), Excel, Chrome (5-10 sites), Word, and Itunes at the same time. Opening another 500 windows on top of my 50 isn't really necessary. How productive can you be with one screen, anyways? Beyond 4-5 applications, you need a second screen to be productive.
It's a bit of a struggle to jam 8gb into a laptop. Mine is a clunker at 17". It's also a Dell Inspiron with a huge HD that cost me $460, so I'm not complaining.
1.) Search on ebay for factory refurbished laptops. 2.) Try to get a laptop with lots of ram and cache. 3.) If you can't get the RAM you want, consider a solid state drive, assuming the manufacturer doesn't have reliability issues. This will at least allow you to access virtual memory faster and have your computer freeze more gracefully.
How much are you looking to spend? If you have $1500, I'd put $1000 into a desktop and $500 into a laptop and just save everything to Dropbox/SkyDrive.
As someone who has been building desktop computers since the mid-2000's or so and has kept up with the computer hardware scene ever since, let me put my 2 cents in.
First, CPU frequency alone means nothing (CPU frequency is the speed of the processor measured in megahertz and gigahertz for the computer illiterate). The single biggest factor that contributes to performance is the CPU architecture. The Core 2 Duo CPU you have is based on architecture dating back to 2006, so it is old to say the least. Also, it is a dual-core processor, so the number of threads available to you limited to 2. The Core i7-4702HQ mentioned above is based on Intel's newest Haswell architecture, so even though it is clocked about 500 MHz slower than your C2D T6670, it will outperform it by a wide margin. The Core i7-4702HQ is a quad-core chip with hyperthreading (4 cores/8 threads), so multi-tasking with this CPU will be much smoother as it has more resources to allocate toward more applications.
Also, the Haswell chips all have an integrated graphics processing unit on the die. You mentioned poor performance in Adobe Flash. This is because Flash added support for GPU's a while ago and it utilizes processing cycles from your GPU to run. If you have a good GPU, this isn't a problem. In fact, it's ideal because it offloads work from your CPU. If you have a bad GPU, which you probably do since your laptop is 5 years old, Flash will run like shit. The integrated GPU on the Haswell chips will help in this regard (a discrete GPU would be even better, but this configuration will be more expensive).
Anyway, my advice summed up: - Get a laptop with a Haswell chip (a Core i5-45xx or Core i5-46xx chip is a 4-core/4-thread CPU and Core i7-47xx is a 4-core/8-thread CPU...if you really do a lot of multi-tasking, step up to the Core i7 for more threads) - Get a SSD -- digging through files on an SSD will be much faster than a regular platter drive and there are no moving parts inside a SSD, so you won't have to listen to constant whirring like with a regular hard drive - RAM -- if you're set on 16GB, then go with 16GB although that seems a bit overkill to me. It is nice not to have part of your hard drive partitioned as virtual memory, though. - If you do some gaming on your laptop, definitely get a discrete GPU. The top of line models for laptops these days are the nVidia Geforce GTX 780M and AMD Radeon HD 7970M (you can even get multiple GPU's in a single laptop -- this solution is called SLI for nVidia or Crossfire for AMD, although this is super expensive). If not, then the integrated GPU on the Haswell chip will do.
wow, bad-ass comment, SB for you. I think this is key "Core i7-47xx is a 4-core/8-thread CPU...if you really do a lot of multi-tasking, step up to the Core i7 for more threads" ...plus, the stuff on adobe flash.
on with tiger direct right now...
what about this little beast? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Ed…
128gb SSD, 1tb hd, 12gb RAM....14" screen ( like small since i only use to travel which is rare = 4.4lbs)...
Just have never heard of MSI??
Yes. That covers all your bases and more. Spotify will sound great now too!
MSI made in Taiwan
Goddam, that's a burly machine. No experience with MSI, however.
We give our developers a choice of MBP Retina 15" (which would be my choice, as I think a BSD-based OS betters other distros or Windows, and the hardware is beautifully crafted), or a 13" Thinkpad with 32GB RAM (or 16GB for more junior hires). Usually can get either for around 2k USD. Check eBay which has many a Thinkpad shop (we ship them to Singapore). The X230 is a very portable, robust solution. Couple of screens at home and work will make it a more enjoyable experience that you can just plug in either end. SSD is key to a fast experience, more so than RAM in our experience. The irony is we work practically only on the cloud (all the code sits on AWS) so there's no need for these beasts, but hey, if you're going to be on it all day it might as well max out the specs!
A year ago, I went shopping for an ultrabook (for portability reasons) and tested practically all the models on the market for 2 months. I would pick the Thinkpad in a heartbeat. Looks less sexy, but the build quality and, especially, the design and ergonomics are unparalleled.
IMO: get a 3rd or 4th gen i5, w. 8GB of ram. I have a thinkpad and it's been fantastic. Windows 8 is extremely smooth with very fast boot. I just use it in desktop mode 100% of the time, which is very similar to 7.
If that's all you are going to be doing get a IvyBridge i5 or i3 and 8GB of ram. You aren't running any really processor or ram intensive processes, just a lot light resource usage programs at once. The problem has more to do with sheer volume than performance. Think of it this way, imagine trying to hold 50 sheets of paper so that you can read any of them at once with only two hands.
Ok, narrowed it down to 2 options:
Alienware: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Ed…
Lenovo: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Ed…
almost no difference in price or size
Lenovo has 16gb of RAM, Alienware 8gb, but Alienware has processor speed of 3.4ghz vs 2.4ghz for lenovo (seems like they are both "gaming" computers)
Thoughts based on my issues stated above / needs?
Thanks! Patrick
Lenova all day.
Alienware looks like a box, plus 16 GB ram is nice.
Tough call...even if the specs are similar, I think I'd go with Alienware...those things are sick.
Gaming computers are nice, I have a gaming desktop and it works excellent even though I bought it four years ago. Alienware has historically been a premier player in the gaming computer space (although I don't know how they are now as a subsidiary of Dell), while Lenovo hasn't been particularly known for making gaming-level machines AFAIK.
Tiger Direct kicks so much ass it should be a crime.
The beast has arrived...still getting it set up, will let you know how much faster...
^The Alienware has a platter drive (the 7200 rpm is how fast it spins) while the Lenovo has a SSD. I would go with the Lenovo based on this alone. The difference in CPU frequency between the two is nowhere near the difference between a spinning hard drive and a solid state drive.
@design It's not a SSD drive only, it has two HDs. Read the info box at the top of the link.
"Its 1TB hard disk drive and 8GB solid state drive provides enough space for all your multimedia files and other digital data"
I bought a Lenovo earlier this year. I had to send it in two weeks ago because the SSD failed.
Yeah, SSD's are much improved and they're constantly being improved. My Crucial M4 256GB SSD has had 5 or 6 firmware updates posted on Crucial's website since it first hit retail (some of them aren't necessary, but some improve read/write speeds and stability).
They've also gotten much cheaper. SSD's used to be priced at around $3 per gigabyte, but now it's more like 50 cents per gigabyte. Definitely a good investment if you use your computer frequently.
I'm just curious, do you want a gaming laptop, or just something powerful, not necessarily with a great graphics card?
Just between the 2, I'd go with the Y510p. It weighs about the same as the 14" Alienware, and it has a 1080p screen. 1366x768 resolution is bad for a $1,000 laptop, and a lot of people can see the pixelation.
If you want something that will 100% last for 4 years, you need a 4 year warranty. 85% of laptops will be fairly problem-free for 4, 5, 6 years as long as there aren't any accidents, but why take the gamble? I'd go with a Thinkpad T- or W-series, with a 4-year onsite (next-day) + accidental, warranty. With an Alienware you'd probably end up seeing the warranty tech guy more than your doctor, so don't bother with that.
I'd go with a Thinkpad T440p. You can get a 14" 1080p IPS display (IPS = insane viewing angles, no need to have the monitor tilted just so to get a good picture), a quad-core, 16GB of RAM, weighs just 4.7 pounds, built from carbon fiber and magnesium, backlit keyboard, etc. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440p/?tt=c
@yeahright, correct, but the 8GB drive is the SSD, which the operating system will be loaded on. This is the important part. As long as your applications (Office and any games you might play) are installed on the SSD (8GB should be enough room for this), they will run pretty fast. The 1TB spinning hard drive can just be used to store your generic files (music, movies, word docs, etc.).
I totally agree with you, but Windows 8 install size is about 8 GB after all is said and done. It would barely be faster during actual business work since Office is going to be on the 1TB. Honestly, he can't go wrong with either.
Just paid up for a Lenovo and I'm totally content with it.
Am I the only one who has never heard of Alienware?
I vote for the Lenovo. I'm honestly shocked that you can now find laptops with 16GB ram; they must have changed the chip size/framework.
Ah, I had no idea that Windows 8 install size was that big. I'm still on Windows 7 and see no reason to upgrade at the moment.
In that case, I don't think that either of these options best suits you, Patrick. Both laptops include a dedicated GPU, which you don't seem to need as I haven't heard you talking about gaming on your computer. This is unnecessary since the money allocated for the GPU can be used for an actual full-size SSD (either a 256GB one or a 512GB one...1TB SSD's are pretty expensive) and you can just use the integrated GPU that comes with your CPU for stuff like Flash and watching movies.
If you have a little more time to browse, I would look at some of the boutique PC vendors. Shops like Falcon Northwest, Velocity Micro, Maingear, and ORIGIN PC make some very nice laptops and you'll be able to customize what you want. You might be paying a little more for them, but the build quality is fantastic and their warranties are pretty good.
and, no, i am not looking for a "gaming laptop", these are just the ones that tend to come up when you are looking for an i7 chip with a lot of ram i guess...
Patrick, as someone who has a pretty good idea about your usage, you really should be looking at a desktop. You can get a shit ton more for the money, and your current laptop will suffice when you're on the road. Seriously, think about it. I went back to a desktop about 8 months ago (still use my laptop almost every day when I'm out of the house) and it is just night and day.
Not to mention when it comes time to upgrade you can swap out a few parts and not buy a whole new one.
yeah, I'm not against desktops, just like having a smaller footprint, built in web cam, and in case I am traveling and have files on my hard drive (instead of g drive), I'm not forced to sync it...plus being able to move around apt/house easily with it I think is worth the extra costs as well...
Those reasons alone I think i will go with that MSI beast laptop unless people have heard bad things about them? @design ?
You guys have been amazing.
The desktop idea is pretty good. You can build it yourself as well. Just give me a budget and I can put together a list of parts for you real quick.
MSI has a good rep among the PC enthusiast crowd for their products in the performance desktop space, mainly their motherboards and GPU's. I don't have any experience with their laptops, but judging from their track record in the desktop space, I'd be inclined to give them a shot. That thing does seem like a bit of a brick though...
Another suggestion would be the NoteMagix M15 LE from Velocity Micro.
http://www.velocitymicro.com/wizard.php?iid=244
Has everything you need and nothing you don't -- top-end processor and no dedicated GPU. With 16GB of RAM and a 240GB SSD, it comes out to a little under $1500, but it comes in a much thinner chassis and a better warranty plan. Should be easier to carry around and is much sleeker too.
Thanks design, you and everyone else have been amazing in this thread.
I ended up going with the cheesy "dragon eyes" - MSI GE40 2OC 245US Dragon Eyes - 14" - Core i7...since I'm such a hard core gamer ;-)
That one you linked to was nice, but it also weighs about 2lbs more than the smaller 14" MSI (when i do travel, prefer lighter) and screen size doesnt matter since 99% of time hooked up to larger monitor.
Thanks guys! Will let you know how it is...
-Patrick
macbook air
I didn't think SSDs were worth the hype either. Then I got a work-issued laptop with decent specs (i5 processor, 6GB ram) and an SSD. That laptop was honestly the first work-issued computer that I have ever been satisfied with. It is zippy--boots faster than anything I ever owned, and is super responsive. Searching for files inside of My Documents is also extremely fast. I'll never get another computer without an SSD ever again. In my desktop, I currently have a 128GB SSD for the OS and key apps, and a 2TB HDD for file storage: it's cost effective, and works beautifully.
For the record the reason that Lenovo's are best for mission critical work is the transferable, next day onsite warranty that you get with many of them. Anything goes wrong, gets fixed rapidly and it means you can pick up used machines from eBay with some confidence.
I have an X230 with i7, SSD, 16gb RAM and 12.5" IPS screen. Weighs 3lbs, battery lasts 6 hours (9 hours with extended battery) and have it plugged into a port replicator for when I need it. Cost ~900 all-in.
Late to the game, but if you want power and aren't concerned about having a heavy, bulky laptop, get: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w530/?tt=d
I've built my last two computers and can confidently say that going from HDD to SSD has been nothing short of amazing. I do run a SSD/HDD combo but that's just like having a SSD in a laptop w/ external HDD. There's nothing like going from 5 minutes of boot time down to 30s max.
Although, unlike some others I think getting an i7 would be overkill. Same for great graphics card. You probably don't need either to do work. Now if you were also trying to play the newest computer games that'd be a different story.
my new computer couldn't get here fast enough...
Just buy an 8-core 32 GB RAM monster... I'll start clicking all the ads if you need more funds.
Lots of Lenovo fans on WSO...
@wallstreetoasis.com - Have you thought about custom? There are lots of shops that will build a custom laptop with the latest Intel i7 processors, high capacity SSD, USB 3.0 (should be standard these days but for some reason it still isn't, especially with pre-boxed computers like Lenovo, Dell, HP), and a good graphics card.
Comments above about how it is overkill to get an i7 or a high end graphics card are only correct in the short term. While it's true that an i7 will likely never be fully utilized due to performance bottlenecks elsewhere, that processor just means that your computer will be relevant for longer. Also, you shouldn't discount a good graphics card. The graphics card handles the math for rendering images, so it will take the load of the CPU when running skype and other programs. Absolute top of the line custom laptops can be as cheap as 2-3k and you'll have them a long time.
think you missed my post above...I said:
I ended up going with the cheesy "dragon eyes" - MSI GE40 2OC 245US Dragon Eyes - 14" - Core i7...since I'm such a hard core gamer ;-)
12GB RAM, latest i7 processor, 14" screen (i like small), only 4lbs, 128GB SSD - a beast in a small box, how i like it (and all this for ~$1,500)
Nice specs should be a solid machine. I've used plenty of MSI video cards in the past and never had any problems
Wait what - I'm confused, the computer you bought is nowhere near the computer you said you wanted. Its bigger, a lot heavier and why do you even need a graphic card given Haswell onboard graphics? Also, who gets that much RAM (are you running a ton of virtual machines or something)?
Modern ultrabooks from any OEM with those specs are half the weight and 30% cheaper. Even a surface would have been a decent option.
bigger? I wouldnt call 14" monitor and 4lb that big...
As far as why go wth the one that I did - because it checked all of the boxes that design said I should look for:
Buy an Apple laptop,you'll rarely have any problems.
Lenovo FTW
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