• The Forums are now open to new registrations, adverts are also being de-tuned.

Wanted - Hi-end laptop

Sp!ke said:
You should go with the i7 based machines now if you are after something high end.
Click to expand...

mm, I posted a link to UK laptops, they have an alienware M17x, Intel Core I7 2.67Ghz M620, Dell price £2400, UKL price £1800, or closer to his stated budget a Intel I7, 1.6Ghz Q720 based Alienware M15X Laptop Q720 1.6Ghz 4.0GB RAM 320GB HDD Black for 1p short of a grand.

Or a Dell Studio 17 1747 Laptop Q720 1.6 Ghz 4.0GB RAM 320GB HDD Jet with Intel Core I7 1.6Ghz Q720 for a whopping £609

Though personally I can't see any normal user needing anything hotter than a core 2 duo, and he could literally buy two high spec Studio 17" jobs for his £1k budget, delivered.
 
iscaboy said:
mm, I posted a link to UK laptops, they have an alienware M17x, Intel Core I7 2.67Ghz M620, Dell price £2400, UKL price £1800, or closer to his stated budget a Intel I7, 1.6Ghz Q720 based Alienware M15X Laptop Q720 1.6Ghz 4.0GB RAM 320GB HDD Black for 1p short of a grand.

Or a Dell Studio 17 1747 Laptop Q720 1.6 Ghz 4.0GB RAM 320GB HDD Jet with Intel Core I7 1.6Ghz Q720 for a whopping £609

Though personally I can't see any normal user needing anything hotter than a core 2 duo, and he could literally buy two high spec Studio 17" jobs for his £1k budget, delivered.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the above laptop suggestions. It certainly looks as if an i7 processor is the way forward.

My business is mathematical modelling of mechanical systems like cars crashing etc. So the all-round performance of processor, RAM and GFX are quite important.
 
wemorgan said:
Thanks for the above laptop suggestions. It certainly looks as if an i7 processor is the way forward.

My business is mathematical modelling of mechanical systems like cars crashing etc. So the all-round performance of processor, RAM and GFX are quite important.
Click to expand...

This is not an advert, but I just put my professional hat on, because I build mainly high end specialist hardware for people working on subjects just like that in uni's and labs.

Unless there is an absolute *requirement* for not merely portability, but operating portability, you absolutely do not want a laptop, the subsystems are *totally* unsuitable.

The first question you have to ask is what software you are using, eg Impact / Helius / Madymo etc.

Then you want to know how it will scale to multiple cores / cpu's and memory address space, and indeed will it scale across multiple parallel computers (render farm)

Depending on the answers to the above, for your budget you could build.

a/ small stack of parallel computers
b/ a single optimised computer

Chances are you'll want to run other (windows) apps, so chances are you'll go for b...

Now you're talking cutting edge CPU, load of RAM, and more importantly a 32 or 48 gig ramdisk based on DDR2 RAM, and a fairly standard physical HD.

Now you're looking at the biggest bottleneck, disk read/write/cahe, being shot in the head, a decent RAMdisk will give you sustained i/o iro 400 MB/sec.

You're looking at a minimum of orders of magnitude faster than *any* laptop.
 
Thanks for all the above :)

I'm self-employed and contract at various OEMs and suppliers. Pretty much all of them have clusters as you mention, so thankfully I don't need to invest in my own.

What I need of my laptop is to generally launch and run models on customer's clusters, take those results and post-process them on my own laptop so I can take to other sites. On occasion I'll need to be able to run smaller sub-models on my laptop.

From various laptops I've seen so far the greatest difference is in GFX cards and I'm struggling to find useful benchmarks for those. So if you know of any suitable websites that'd be helpful. Cheers :)
 
In that case buy the alienware I linked to, and treat it with kid gloves, always on a hard flat surface to ensure good airflow etc.

http://www.uklaptops.co.uk/shop/Alienware_M15X_Laptop_Q720__1.6Ghz_4.0GB_RAM_320GB_HDD_Black.html


  • Unit has a True-life (glossy) style LCD screen
  • Keyboard: QWERTY (UK) Illuminated
  • Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit
  • 4.0GB RAM & 320 GB Hard Disk
  • 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M Graphics Card
  • Built-in Webcam
  • eSATA
  • Bluetooth
  • 6 cell battery
  • Intel 5300 N WiFi
  • 12 Month Warranty
CPU Type:Intel Core I7, 1.6Ghz Q720 Hard Drive Capacity:320GBRAM:4.0 GB Optical Drive:DVD+/-RWVideo Type: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260MVideo Memory:1.0GBLCD Max Resolution:1920 X 1080p Screen Size:15.6" TruelifeDisplay Technology:Full HDFirewire:YesBluetooth:YesWiFi Enabled:Yes SD Card Reader:YesHDMI:YesPrice: £851.06 (£999.99 Including VAT at 17.5%)
 
Last edited:
iscaboy said:
Alienware M15X Laptop Q720, 1.6Ghz 4.0GB RAM 320GB HDD Black
Click to expand...


Thanks, the decission seems to be between that and this one:
Dell Studio XPS 16 Deals, Coupons and Evalue Codes

Intel Core i7 720QM 1.60GHz Windows 7 Home Premium 15.6" 1080p Full HD WLED 4096MB 500GB 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4670 DVD+/-RW £999

The key difference looks to be the GFX card. So I found this review of several GFX cards including the above two:

ATI Radeon HD 4670 Graphics Card Review - 3DMark Vantage - Legit Reviews

It looks as if the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M is quite a bit better
 
I thought the Studio XPS were meant to be quite fast too. I just wished the Alienware laptops looked more business and less gaming orientated. But since it ticks all the boxes I may just go for it.
 
I'm typing this on a Studio, yes, it's fast, for a laptop, fast enough, for a laptop, then you do something cpu and/or i/o intensive that a desktop would shrug off, create a set of 4.5 gig rar's to contain a 30 gig archive (no compression) and then a 10% set of pars, and come back SIX HOURS LATER and it's still running.
 
Try PCSpecialist. I've used them a few times for both lappies and desktops. Good after-sales service as well.

You start with an appropriate base unit and can then specify it to your heart's desire.
 
Id buy any Lenovo or HP win7 64. And of course Macbook Pro. Well... im a mac user anyway :)
 
Ahhh. I would never buy another HP after the experiences I had with my son's (very expensive) touch screen laptop.

"No Sir, the fact you can show us a litany of identical faults on HP User Forums doesn't mean it's a manufacturing defect. It's just a series of isolated incidents"
 
Well I waited 2 months hoping to find a better deal on UKLaptops and in the end found near enough the same as iscaboy did.


• Unit has a True-life (glossy) style LCD screen
• Keyboard: QWERTY (UK)
• Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit
• 4.0GB RAM & 250 GB Hard Disk
• 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M Graphics Card
• Built-in Webcam
• eSATA
• BD-ROM
• Facial recognition
• 9 cell battery
• Intel 5300 N WiFi
• 12 Month Warranty

Technical Specification

CPU Type:Intel Core I7, 1.6Ghz Q720
Hard Drive Capacity:250GB
RAM:4.0 GB
Optical Drive:BD-ROM
Video Type:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Video Memory:1.0GB
LCD Max Resolution:1920 X 1080p
Screen Size:15.6" Truelife
Display Technology:Full HD
Price:£999.99 inc VAT

ps. please no links to better deals!!!! ;)
 
Last edited:
Make ??
 
Is that a Dell Studio xps?
That is what I bought through the Dell Outlet store- got a refurbished one with the i7 720 chip & 250Gb SSD at a good price & very impressed with it.
 
[S-TAG]It's a Dell Alienware[/S-TAG]

[S-TAG]Is that a Dell Studio xps?[/S-TAG]

:doh::doh::doh:
 
Sorry- not sure what happened there but the last vital post was not visible?? :o:doh:
 
Nearly 4 years on and the laptop feels towards the end of it's life. The battery no longer charges with 'plugged in not charging' warning. It also often over heats and instantly shuts down. Whilst it has been fast it's also been a very hot laptop. Time for a new laptop - any suggestions? Nothing too fancy, though one with SSD as standard would be ideal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top Bottom