Vanity: Suggestions for a high-performance business laptop?

me ^ | 6/8/2016 | Me

[freedumb2003]

I am about to embark on a career as an Independent Contractor -- I am a computer consultant (37 years) in the ERP space.

I have some pretty good laptops now but I really think I need a high-powered, high-performance Wintel laptop. I would like to keep it at 15" to take with me, although I have a Surface (which I like but has idiosyncrasies) I use for mobility.

This is business, not gaming (which I eschew), so I don't think Alienware and its derivatives are what I am looking for.

[freedumb2003]

Nerds: This is a chance to show all your biases in terms of Hardware. This does have to be Windows -- I have a Linux box I converted from an old PC, a toaster, blender and a 1977 RCA Color TV. Works like a champ!

Sorry Swordmaker, Wintel only. This is for business.

[freedumb2003]

I mentioned you so form says I should ping you.

I hope you appreciate the very gentle joke.

[Paladin2]

Get something capable of running WinDoze in VirtualBoxen from a Linux host.

[DBrow]

I use a high-end gaming lptop. Fast, lots of RAM, wonderful graphics card, lots of storage space, big display.

Business advantage is that I can show marketing videos that display impressively. I do a lot of math, too, so a fast deep computer means I can run OCTAVE, MATLAB, SPICE and STRIM models.

[Gaffer]

My first question would be “Why does this laptop have to be high-performance?

Are you running complicated and time-consuming modeling programs? Multiple iterations of different design sets?

Or is this just the normal cadre of business need software?

[texas booster]

If you need the tax write off, look at the HP Xeon powered workstations with the latest NVidia chips. Depending on the software you are running, look at new 1070/1080 based mobile chipsets.

[bigbob]

Good joke!
I’d just get an i7 Skylake core laptop like the HP Envy or Lenovo for around $750 and be done with it. Plenty of power for what you describe, and more.

[Pelham]

https://www.originpc.com/

You won’t be disappointed. Bench built upon your order. American support 24/7

[E. Pluribus Unum]

"Gaming" just means fast.

You can't go wrong with something like this:

MSI GE62 Apache Pro-004 15.6" Skylake Core i7-6700HQ

[upchuck]

Business grade laptops.

[Westbrook]

Hp Elitebook in i7 with 1TB hybrid disk and 16 GB DDR3 or better.

http://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&urlLangId=&langId=-1&storeId=10151&catEntryId=1226652&quantity=1

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

ASUS. ‘Nuff said.

[Snowybear]

I wound up getting an HP Envy laptop. Big screen, Nvidia graphics card, 16GB RAM, Intel i7 and 1TV of disk space. It’s a killer machine.

[TomGuy]

Knowing the type of work could help:

large databases?
heavy graphics?
extensive spreadsheets?
etc.

==

One thing to consider is the hard drive. Many now come with SSD drives, but they have been problematic. Do look for or plan to swap out a 5400rpm for a 7200rmp so the laptop won’t be quite so sluggish.

Weight may be another factor. I have a 17” Dell that is quite heavy and not conducive to being carried around. It replaced a SamJunk 17” that was much lighter and died just after the warranty ended.

==

If you need heavy processing, probably look for an i7 or Amd10 processor. An i5 or Amd8 might be sufficient.

[CodeToad]

I am a Dell guy and have found their equipment to be the best for the money. Their Outlet has excellent bargains; usually at least a 30% savings.

Here is a link to their outlet business laptops.

Dell Business Laptop Outlet

[Bookwoman]

Yes - just what we got. Powerful enough, plenty of RAM, big screen. Fast. HP Envy.

[Chickensoup]

Tech Ping!

BTW does anyone have that old pic of the computer made of parts in an aquarium?

[Reno89519]

Shop for a gamers laptop, which will get you cutting edge for many features. I've gone though dozens pf laptops over the years and currently have half-a-dozen in operation. HP seems to be the best feature/price at the moment, Dell sometimes. I buy current and one generation back, depending on who is going to use it. HP, like others, makes business and consumer versions of their laptops--difference is rugidness and warranty.

A good consumer-level one: HP Pavilion 17-f233cl 17.3" Full HD BrightView WLED Touchscreen Notebook Computer with 5th Gen Intel Core i5-5200U CPU, 12GB DDR3L SDRAM, 1TB HDD and Intel HD Graphics 5500. $560 range on Amazon.

HP ENVY m7-n109dx 17.3″ Premium Multimedia Touch-Screen Laptop - Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit). $719 range on Amazon. There are newer versions that are in the $1,250 range.

Get at least 12GB memory, swap out the mechanical drive with a SSD, such as a Samsung EVO 512GB or 1TB drive.

Few cases or bags fit the 17.3 inch screen well. Swiss Gear 17 incho work for these laptops.

17.3 over 15? Absolutely! I even got an 22" HP LED display, that fits snuggly in my check-in bag, so that I have dual displays when working remotely or from a hotel.

A good wireless mouse is critical for productivity, then turn off that stupid touch pad.

And, if you have need to draw or annotate, even use a whiteboard, get a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Medium Tablet CTH680 (Certified Refurbished). Doesn't take up much space in the bag, but comes in handy.

When I travel I also bring along an iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and my phone is an iPhone 6+, so have lots of size choices depending on the situation. Plus, gives me options if there are any connectivity issues or other challenges.

Anyway, that more or less is my recommendation based on actual use.

[zeugma]

I have to agree with Gaffer and TomGuy. Without knowing what the laptop will be doing, any recommendations people might give aren’t really all that terribly useful.

These days, just about any gaming rig would be fast enough to do just about anything you could reasonably want of it. However, “gaming” also tends to bump up the video specs quite a bit, which you might not need, and would therefore be a waste of money better spent on memory or a faster disk.

Since you say you’ve ruled out a real operating system for it, (heh) you’re probably not going to be doing kernel recompiles. Honestly, these days processors are plenty fast enough for just about any normal business purposes. More ram is always better than just about anything else you can buy unless you have needs of top-end video rendering. I’ve got 18GB on my desktop, and have only really managed to completely max out the processors and ram a few times unless I was simulating a production environment in VMs.

[freedumb2003]

>>large databases?
heavy graphics?
extensive spreadsheets?
etc.<<

Think more core business applications (Payroll, Financials, etc.) — I will need to run things like VMs.

Not much graphics yet.