Notebook Computer Recommendations
Hello All, I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs. Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.) At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential. 13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around. Excellent full-size, U.S. English keyboard and pointing device(s). I have a couple of older ThinkPads (A21p and T43) and love their keyboards, three button mice, and pointing sticks. If it must be a TrackPad, it had better work as well as the TrackPad on my Mac. I do not know if that is possible with Windows or Linux. I do not like laptops that have numeric keypads because that means the keyboard is offset to the left of the center of the screen, which I think would be like driving a car with the steering wheel that is offset a little bit from the center of the driver's seat. The hard disk type or capacity is not important as long as I can upgrade it to whatever I want. Options: Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it supports. I have seen a few brand new W541s (the "s" is for Spanish) but it is not clear to me if they have U.S. English keyboards. New ThinkPad P50 - Linux support seems iffy. Numeric keypad means the keyboard is offset. Expensive. Dell and HP both have workstation notebooks. I do not know much about them. Any recommendations? Any recommendations besides what I have mentioned? -- Regards, Clifford Ilkay + 1 647-778-8696
| From: CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it | supports. I think you should aim for a processor that is Haswell or newer. Haswell was a big step forward in power efficiency. My t530 is pre-Haswell.
Might Haswell upgrade. ... I could not resist. That joke was to die for. On Tue, Jul 5, 2016, 8:29 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
| From: CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
| Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it | supports.
I think you should aim for a processor that is Haswell or newer. Haswell was a big step forward in power efficiency. My t530 is pre-Haswell. --- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
Sorry about formatting and spelling. I'm writing this on a Nexus 5X. I'm also thinking about replacing my desktops with laptops. Try Microsoft Store. Asus seem to be reasonably priced. How can anyone do email on cell phone? It took me 30 min to type out this reply!!--William Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 6:22 PM, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk<talk@gtalug.org> wrote: Hello All, I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs. Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.) At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential. 13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around. Excellent full-size, U.S. English keyboard and pointing device(s). I have a couple of older ThinkPads (A21p and T43) and love their keyboards, three button mice, and pointing sticks. If it must be a TrackPad, it had better work as well as the TrackPad on my Mac. I do not know if that is possible with Windows or Linux. I do not like laptops that have numeric keypads because that means the keyboard is offset to the left of the center of the screen, which I think would be like driving a car with the steering wheel that is offset a little bit from the center of the driver's seat. The hard disk type or capacity is not important as long as I can upgrade it to whatever I want. Options: Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it supports. I have seen a few brand new W541s (the "s" is for Spanish) but it is not clear to me if they have U.S. English keyboards. New ThinkPad P50 - Linux support seems iffy. Numeric keypad means the keyboard is offset. Expensive. Dell and HP both have workstation notebooks. I do not know much about them. Any recommendations? Any recommendations besides what I have mentioned? -- Regards, Clifford Ilkay + 1 647-778-8696 --- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
On 05/07/16 09:23 PM, William Park via talk wrote:
Sorry about formatting and spelling. I'm writing this on a Nexus 5X. I'm also thinking about replacing my desktops with laptops.
Try Microsoft Store. Asus seem to be reasonably priced.
I do not know of any Asus models that have at least 32GB of RAM. Do you?
How can anyone do email on cell phone? It took me 30 min to type out this reply!!
Swiftkey <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&hl=en>. I am nowhere near as fast with it as I am on a regular keyboard but people, like my son, who use it frequently, can fly with this. -- Regards, Clifford Ilkay + 1 647-778-8696
On 07/05/2016 10:06 PM, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk wrote:
On 05/07/16 09:23 PM, William Park via talk wrote:
Sorry about formatting and spelling. I'm writing this on a Nexus 5X. I'm also thinking about replacing my desktops with laptops.
Try Microsoft Store. Asus seem to be reasonably priced.
I do not know of any Asus models that have at least 32GB of RAM. Do you?
How can anyone do email on cell phone? It took me 30 min to type out this reply!!
Swiftkey <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&hl=en>. I am nowhere near as fast with it as I am on a regular keyboard but people, like my son, who use it frequently, can fly with this. -- Take a look at the ASUS G752VT-DH78K · Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK Processor · NVIDIA® GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 · 64GB DDR4 RAM · 1TB HDD + 512GB PCIe SSD · 3D Vapor Cooling
Possibly its time to trade in my system. -- Alvin Starr || voice: (905)513-7688 Netvel Inc. || Cell: (416)806-0133 alvin@netvel.net ||
On Tue, Jul 05, 2016 at 11:06:18PM -0400, Alvin Starr via talk wrote:
Take a look at the ASUS G752VT-DH78K · Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK Processor · NVIDIA® GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 · 64GB DDR4 RAM · 1TB HDD + 512GB PCIe SSD · 3D Vapor Cooling
Possibly its time to trade in my system.
So over 17", probably heavy, costs over $3000, and is only 1920x1080. I think that doesn't qualify as 'Must be really good to be worth lugging around a 17"' Nice game machine, terrible battery life I suspect, and heavy and expensive. -- Len Sorensen
On 07/06/2016 11:39 AM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
On Tue, Jul 05, 2016 at 11:06:18PM -0400, Alvin Starr via talk wrote:
Take a look at the ASUS G752VT-DH78K · Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK Processor · NVIDIA® GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 · 64GB DDR4 RAM · 1TB HDD + 512GB PCIe SSD · 3D Vapor Cooling
Possibly its time to trade in my system. So over 17", probably heavy, costs over $3000, and is only 1920x1080. I think that doesn't qualify as 'Must be really good to be worth lugging around a 17"'
Nice game machine, terrible battery life I suspect, and heavy and expensive.
That kind of poses an interesting question. If you're looking for a high performance system that you can take on the road that is one thing. If you're looking for a portable system you can use as a workstation now and then that is another thing. If the thing is FAST and LOTS of ram then your into gamer systems or something not much lighter than an Osborne. 1920x1080 ends up with 129.58 pixels/inch which is not that bad until you run the video out to your 20+" external screen. I have used most of the major brands over the years and found in the last few years that ASUS seems to be doing a good job of building nice laptops. I have been using an ASUS zenbook prime for something like 5 years now and it still is performing well where most others have started to pack it in after a couple of years. -- Alvin Starr || voice: (905)513-7688 Netvel Inc. || Cell: (416)806-0133 alvin@netvel.net ||
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 12:02:01PM -0400, Alvin Starr wrote:
That kind of poses an interesting question. If you're looking for a high performance system that you can take on the road that is one thing. If you're looking for a portable system you can use as a workstation now and then that is another thing. If the thing is FAST and LOTS of ram then your into gamer systems or something not much lighter than an Osborne.
1920x1080 ends up with 129.58 pixels/inch which is not that bad until you run the video out to your 20+" external screen.
I have used most of the major brands over the years and found in the last few years that ASUS seems to be doing a good job of building nice laptops. I have been using an ASUS zenbook prime for something like 5 years now and it still is performing well where most others have started to pack it in after a couple of years.
Asus is generally good, although they have a tendancy to NOT put US keyboards on their laptops in canada anymore. That is awful. They are also not nearly as durrable as a thinkpad. They used to make durable ones (like th R1F for example. That thing was a tank). -- Len Sorensen
On 07/06/2016 12:22 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 12:02:01PM -0400, Alvin Starr wrote:
[snip] Asus is generally good, although they have a tendancy to NOT put US keyboards on their laptops in canada anymore. That is awful.
They are also not nearly as durrable as a thinkpad. They used to make durable ones (like th R1F for example. That thing was a tank).
I have to admit I have been less than impressed with thinkpads. I have a 1 year old thinkpad here that is less well designed than my zenbook and not nearly as powerful. It is running windows so I may be judging the performance unfairly. -- Alvin Starr || voice: (905)513-7688 Netvel Inc. || Cell: (416)806-0133 alvin@netvel.net ||
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 01:21:32PM -0400, Alvin Starr wrote:
I have to admit I have been less than impressed with thinkpads. I have a 1 year old thinkpad here that is less well designed than my zenbook and not nearly as powerful. It is running windows so I may be judging the performance unfairly.
I find screen hinges and such break on a lot of laptops. I think I have only ever seen one thinkpad with a broken screen hinge (and it was old). Which thinkpad have you seen with a bad design? -- Len Sorensen
On 07/06/2016 02:36 PM, Lennart Sorensen via talk wrote:
Which thinkpad have you seen with a bad design?
Back in the late '90s, the 600 series weren't that great. BTW, back then I was doing 3rd level OS/2 support at IBM and most of my work was on ThinkPads, so I experienced many different models. I currently have an E520, which I bought almost 5 years ago, and am quite happy with.
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 02:44:50PM -0400, James Knott wrote:
Back in the late '90s, the 600 series weren't that great.
OK that is before I ever used one. :)
BTW, back then I was doing 3rd level OS/2 support at IBM and most of my work was on ThinkPads, so I experienced many different models. I currently have an E520, which I bought almost 5 years ago, and am quite happy with.
-- Len Sorensen
On 07/06/2016 02:36 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 01:21:32PM -0400, Alvin Starr wrote:
I have to admit I have been less than impressed with thinkpads. I have a 1 year old thinkpad here that is less well designed than my zenbook and not nearly as powerful. It is running windows so I may be judging the performance unfairly. I find screen hinges and such break on a lot of laptops. I think I have only ever seen one thinkpad with a broken screen hinge (and it was old).
Which thinkpad have you seen with a bad design?
t440p Its not so much bad design as amazingly lacklustre. -- Alvin Starr || voice: (905)513-7688 Netvel Inc. || Cell: (416)806-0133 alvin@netvel.net ||
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 02:47:20PM -0400, Alvin Starr wrote:
t440p Its not so much bad design as amazingly lacklustre.
That one would have the problem of no physical buttons for the trackpoint, which was a design mistake (as lenovo quickly discovered). The t450 seems to have fixed that screwup the x40 was. -- Len Sorensen
On Tuesday, July 5, 2016 10:06 PM, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
On 05/07/16 09:23 PM, William Park via talk wrote:
Sorry about formatting and spelling. I'm writing this on a Nexus 5X. I'm also thinking about replacing my desktops with laptops.
Try Microsoft Store. Asus seem to be reasonably priced.
I do not know of any Asus models that have at least 32GB of RAM. Do you?
This Asus - https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/ASUS-ROG-GL552VW-DH71-Si... - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=1198&item_id=088300&utm_campaign=webbanners&utm_medium=160701&utm_source=PromoBanner&utm_content=LPAS007361 comes with 16GB, and Asus webpage says 32GB max.
How can anyone do email on cell phone? It took me 30 min to type out this reply!! Swiftkey <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&hl=en>. I am nowhere near as fast with it as I am on a regular keyboard but people, like my son, who use it frequently, can fly with this.
This reply is typed on Chromebook... much better! -- William
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 03:44:49AM +0000, William Park via talk wrote:
This Asus
- https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/ASUS-ROG-GL552VW-DH71-Si... - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=1198&item_id=088300&utm_campaign=webbanners&utm_medium=160701&utm_source=PromoBanner&utm_content=LPAS007361
comes with 16GB, and Asus webpage says 32GB max.
So probably 2x8GB, so replacing those with 2x16GB would cost $200 or so. -- Len Sorensen
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 01:23:31AM +0000, William Park via talk wrote:
Sorry about formatting and spelling. I'm writing this on a Nexus 5X. I'm also thinking about replacing my desktops with laptops. Try Microsoft Store. Asus seem to be reasonably priced. How can anyone do email on cell phone? It took me 30 min to type out this reply!!--William
I have a blackberry classic. :) -- Len Sorensen
You could go the custom gamer laptop route and build a laptop as crazy as you want. You also avoid the microsoft tax. For example: http://www.reflexnotebook.ca/newreleases/sager-np8677-s.html http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118-96-98.html#!/dir=asc&no_cache=true&order=price&p=2&size=14 On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 6:22 PM, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
Hello All,
I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs.
Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.)
At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential.
13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around.
Excellent full-size, U.S. English keyboard and pointing device(s). I have a couple of older ThinkPads (A21p and T43) and love their keyboards, three button mice, and pointing sticks. If it must be a TrackPad, it had better work as well as the TrackPad on my Mac. I do not know if that is possible with Windows or Linux. I do not like laptops that have numeric keypads because that means the keyboard is offset to the left of the center of the screen, which I think would be like driving a car with the steering wheel that is offset a little bit from the center of the driver's seat.
The hard disk type or capacity is not important as long as I can upgrade it to whatever I want.
Options:
Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it supports. I have seen a few brand new W541s (the "s" is for Spanish) but it is not clear to me if they have U.S. English keyboards.
New ThinkPad P50 - Linux support seems iffy. Numeric keypad means the keyboard is offset. Expensive.
Dell and HP both have workstation notebooks. I do not know much about them. Any recommendations?
Any recommendations besides what I have mentioned?
-- Regards,
Clifford Ilkay
+ 1 647-778-8696
--- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
____________________________________________________________ FREE 3D EARTH SCREENSAVER - Watch the Earth right on your desktop! Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/earth
On Tue, Jul 05, 2016 at 06:22:03PM -0400, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk wrote:
Hello All,
I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs.
Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.)
At the cost of ram from the manufacturer, throwing away what it comes with is often by far the cheapest option to max out the ram.
At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential.
13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around.
Excellent full-size, U.S. English keyboard and pointing device(s). I have a couple of older ThinkPads (A21p and T43) and love their keyboards, three button mice, and pointing sticks. If it must be a TrackPad, it had better work as well as the TrackPad on my Mac. I do not know if that is possible with Windows or Linux. I do not like laptops that have numeric keypads because that means the keyboard is offset to the left of the center of the screen, which I think would be like driving a car with the steering wheel that is offset a little bit from the center of the driver's seat.
The hard disk type or capacity is not important as long as I can upgrade it to whatever I want.
Options:
Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it supports. I have seen a few brand new W541s (the "s" is for Spanish) but it is not clear to me if they have U.S. English keyboards.
Usualy lon thinkpads, s means slim. I have not seem a W541s but have seen W540s which from what I have seen people did not like since it dropped so many of the features that made the W540 useful that it was pretty useless. People wanted a portable workstation, not an ultrabook.
New ThinkPad P50 - Linux support seems iffy. Numeric keypad means the keyboard is offset. Expensive.
I use a W541 at work, and yes the keyboard is offset compared to the screen, but the touchpad is centered with the alphabetical part of the keyboard, so I don't mind it. My W530 doesn't have any way to get at the number pad function in any way which can be inconvinient occationally. The W541's 2880x1620 display is nice, but sure hard to see stuff on until you scale things. My W530 has the 1920x180 display which was the highest it could have. The P50 sure is expensive. You could get a T460. 14" screen, 1920x1080 an option. 32GB ram is max (I would NOT care what ram it comes with and just go to canada computers and buy 32GB ram. It is much cheaper). It does not have a nuymber apd and the keyboard is centered. A T560 would have the same specs, but has a numberpad and offset keyboard. A 3k (2560x1440) display is an option though. If you need fast 3D graphics, you could go for a T460p or T560p but if you don't, it is cheaper and simpler to work with if you don't get that. I think the P50 is the only one to support 64GB ram and 4k display. Not sure why the W550 ended up named P50 when it finally showed up. Ordering a thinkpad with the specs you want is simple and pretty fast and you can certainly get the US keyboard that way (and certainly would want to). I love the backlit keyboard, and have so far had no complaints about the chicklet keyboards they went to with the x30 series.
Dell and HP both have workstation notebooks. I do not know much about them. Any recommendations?
I have hated every Dell laptop I have ever used. I don't know how anyone can make such terrible keyboards and touchpads. I have only dealt with consumer HP laptops, and they were cheap unreliable junk, but the lenovo ideapads are almost as cheap and unreliable. Consumer laptops just seem to be that way. -- Len Sorensen
On 2016-07-05 23:22, CLIFFORD ILKAY via talk wrote:
Hello All,
I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs.
Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.)
At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential.
13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around. <snip> Any recommendations besides what I have mentioned?
The System76 Serval matches those criteria pretty well, except for weight (3.4 kilos!): https://system76.com/laptops/serval Up to 64GB RAM 1920x1080 in 15" or 17" i7 6700 or 6700k Geforce 970M or 980M It looks like a beast. A friend has used their laptops and desktops for a few years now and I'm pretty certain my next system will be from them. I've heard that their warranty/support is exceptionally good in the event that you need it too. Cheers, Jamon
On Wed, Jul 06, 2016 at 04:43:49PM +0100, Jamon Camisso via talk wrote:
The System76 Serval matches those criteria pretty well, except for weight (3.4 kilos!): https://system76.com/laptops/serval
Up to 64GB RAM 1920x1080 in 15" or 17" i7 6700 or 6700k Geforce 970M or 980M
It looks like a beast.
A friend has used their laptops and desktops for a few years now and I'm pretty certain my next system will be from them. I've heard that their warranty/support is exceptionally good in the event that you need it too.
Wow a 230W charger. I thought the 170W brick with my W530 was big. Also has the offset keyboard with numberpad "problem". :) At least they have the 2x16GB option so you don't have to toss anything to expand to 64GB later. Looks pretty nice though. -- Len Sorensen
On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 11:43 AM, Jamon Camisso via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
The System76 Serval matches those criteria pretty well, except for weight (3.4 kilos!): https://system76.com/laptops/serval
Thanks for the link. At that weight, you need handle. -- William
participants (9)
-
Alvin Starr -
CLIFFORD ILKAY -
D. Hugh Redelmeier -
David Thornton -
James Knott -
Jamon Camisso -
jonathan willis -
Lennart Sorensen -
William Park