What laptop spec for web developmen?

[andriusb]

I need a new laptop for web development and programming.
Currently I have a 3 year old toshiba with a first gen i3 and 4gb ram, and its just way too slow. If I run a virtual machine on it, it becomes unusable and sometimes overheats and powers off.

I will be using linux.
I will be running a few VMs at a time, so will be needing about 6-7gb ram, though I will probably go with 16gb just incase.

I will be using this laptop both at home and work, so would be good if its not too heavy as I will be taking it to work every day. Screen size does not matter as I will use an external 27in hd monitor.

What CPU should I choose? What case? Do various laptop models here have different mother boards and power supplies? If so are all of them good enough or should I go for some specific model just to get a better motherboard and smoother power supply?

I was thinking I need an i7, 16gb ram, 500gb ssd.
Though I have no idea what model/case is better for me.

Any suggestions?
My budget is 800-1500gbp.

 

[DannyWanny]

For your needs, i7 and 16GB RAM is definitely a must if you are to run several VMs (i7 will aid in multi-tasking via hyperthreading and the RAM would ensure you can comfortably run several VMs at once)

An SSD would be a good upgrade but not necessary.

Here's a quick quote that comes to just shy of £759 (well below your budget)

----------------------------
Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 840M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 HMC (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
COSMOS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £759.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/cosmosII/6PQTwJ0_n9/
----------------------------


The Cosmo II chassis is very light and portable, the power brick itself is a good size (90W, not too much of a 'brick')

Have opted for the 840M graphics card, I wouldn't think that you need a powerful spec to do mostly web development, with the 840M you can at least do some light gaming and HD playback comfortably.

You can possibly reduce the price even more if you wanted to have the system shipped without an operating system (if you are indeed intending to install Linux) - this will take it down to £680.

Hope that helps!

 

[andriusb]

Thanks I will consider that build.
Which chassis/case is better if I carry it every day to work? Are they all same durability?
Which one has better connectivity options? I will need to plug in a mouse, keyboard, hdmi display, usb speakers, external harddrive, maybe more.

 

[DannyWanny]

The laptop chassis generally have a same durability - but would not recommend handling them very roughly. The main difference is the thickness and feel to the chassis as this does differ from chassis to chassis. The weight changes if you go up to the higher end chassis like the vortex and if you were to go for larger displays.

Personally, I think the Cosmos II hits the sweet spot of performance vs portability. They are the bridge between our portable range (UltraNote) and our top spec range (Optimus)

Most of our laptops have at least 2 x USB 3.0 ports and 1 x USB 2.0 port (and the majority have 3 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0).

All of the detail for each chassis is shown on our configurator.

 

[maxbor]

Check out the optimus v 13.3" in the review section. Really good deal for the price if you can put up with the smaller screen. I plan on doing a fair bit of programming and running solidworks on it and I think the portability is more important than the screen size. Plus it has a full HD screen so real estate will be plenty. Can always plug it in to a monitor when at work.

 

[andriusb]

Ok thanks!

I like the 13.3!
I need it to be portable so thats perfect as I can stick it in my backpack.

How is the chassis of the 13.3? My brother has the 17 inch optimus and the chassis is great. If its made in the same way as the 17inch one then I am sold.

Also, another question. Should I just get a 500gb ssd or a 256msata ssd and a 1tb disk for storage?

Are the msata disks as good as standard 3.5inch ones?

Also, do I need the gtx card? Will that boost performance of any application besides games?

Also, which i7 is best for me? I know the higher the better, but which one is a best compromise between price and performance?

Also, any point to pay more for win8.1 pro? I use virtualization to run multiple linux boxes in virtual machine, does the win pro have any features that help regarding that?

Sorry for asking so many questions. I just want to get a really good laptop for my needs that will last me about 3 years.

 

[grimsbymatt]

The i7-4710mq cpu is by far the best value. You won't see much (if any) advantage from the higher models.

If you get the review model Optimus, you can't change the spec without losing the discount.

 

[maxbor]

I bought the review spec in order to get the discount and awaiting delivery so can't comment on the build quality but it seems to get good reviews. I thought about dropping the processor down to a dual core i5-4310m and changing the harddrive but it makes no sense as you'll lose the discount and pay more for a lower spec laptop. Dual core would run cooler (lower TDP) but it won't multitask as well as the quad core. I've seen one review recommending not going above the i7-4710mq (i.e. i7-4810m) as the CPU can throttle due to the heat meaning they never reached the speed the cpu was capable off.

No idea what the difference between standard ssd or msata is but the review model comes with a 1Tb SSHD which combines the best of both worlds regarding speed and capacity. Check out the videos on youtube comparing SSD vs SSHD vs HDD.

Whether the video card makes a difference or not really depends on if you run any graphically intensive programs at all. For example photoshop will use it in some case whereas lightroom won't. You can set it to use the onboard intel graphics or the 860m in the nvidia optimus control for individual programs and therefore play less demanding games without running the battery down too quickly. Linux will require you to install a program from project bumblebee as otherwise I believe you lose the optimus control.

 

[maxbor]

Just a thought, the review spec model comes with win 8.1 that you don't want if you are using linux so I recommend playing with the configurator. Also if you are happy without the graphics card you could go for this:

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4712MQ (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
Memory - Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £690.00 including VAT and delivery.

The i7-4712mq is a lower power, cooler CPU. I had a look at the 14" version but it doesn't come with an full hd screen.

The only problem (not really a problem I guess) with PCSpecialist is the shear number of options!

 

[andriusb]

Ok thanks for all the help. Now I will just have to decide between the ultranote and the optimus

The ultranote with almost same specs but no gpu costs 870 while the optimus 13 with gpu and a slightly better cpu costs 1070. So 200 quid for a better chassis (is it better? The ultranote seems flimsy), a slightly better cpu and a much better gpu.

Hard decision.

Oh, which one do you think is more portable? I want to carry it in a normal backpack.

 

[maxbor]

I spent ages trying to decide between the Ultranote, cosmos and optimus. When I started looking I was looking for a standard laptop or ultrabook to do android game development on and play some really low res games occasionally. Then I spent time in PCWorld playing with the ultrabooks and realised not a single one has a half decent touchpad! There are no mouse buttons (they are built into the pad) and this means you accidentally zoom and rotate and what have you if you rest a finger on the left click area like I do. Decided I needed proper buttons so that kinda ruled out every ultrabook out there so stumbled across the 13.3" Optimus. Played around with the configurator for 5 days before deciding the review model was the best bang for your buck and went for it. £749 for a powerful 13,3" gaming machine is a steal!

 

[andriusb]

Ok, optimus 13.3 it is! Buying it now. Excited.
Thanks for help.

 

[Pakratna]

good luck bro

 

[carlito]

Heh... I discovered this too (the hard way, after buying a laptop with an all-in-one touchpad, which I now need to sell) hence my thread trying to figure out which PCS models do not suffer from the same pitfalls as my expensive mistake.

 

[andriusb]

Thanks for help guys! Ordered my Laptop last week!

Now just waiting it to arrive!

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 13.3" Matte Full HD LED IPS Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 HMC (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
13.3" Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
13.3" OPTIMUS SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Internet Explorer
Monitor
IIYAMA E2481HS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI 1920x1080
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Promotional Item
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Quantity
1