Anyone Recommend a good laptop?

itdaddy

Hey guys

I love Acer Laptops but does anyone know of any laptops they have loved?

1. want quad core
2. want 64 bit cpu intel (no centrino)
3. want windows 7 pro 64bit
4. want atleast 8GB of ram
5. 500 GB hdd mini
6. DL DVD burner
7. webcam built in
8. DB15 for video plug in
9.typical wifi/rj45 connect
10. usb ports/1394 ports
11. 256 MB video ram or more 17 inches bigger is better!

am i asking too much??

Forsaken_GA

a quad core with 8 gigs of ram? That's a little excessive for a laptop, imho.

tiersten

itdaddy wrote: »

2. want 64 bit cpu intel (no centrino)

Centrino doesn't mean any specific CPU. Centrino is an Intel brand name for a specific CPU paired with a specific motherboard chipset which has a specific wireless chipset. Obviously they're all Intel chips.

Calpella is the latest Centrino and that has a 64 bit quad core CPU. The next generation Centrino is Huron River but that isn't available yet.

HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition would mostly fulfil your requirements. Its massive and heavy and has terrible battery life but you're going to find that in anything that comes close to your requirements.

mikej412

The Dell Studio 15 and Dell Studio 17 have the i7 quad core as an option.

A Dell Studio 15 with 8 gigs will set you back about $1600.

If you want a good laugh, check out the prices on the Lenovo quad core laptops.

itdaddy

tiersten

thanks man. I appreciate your wisdom on this matter. Yeah I have seen
AMD slow down and I have seen Intel wip window 7 around like and axe!

Thanks on the tutorial on chips again. IT has been awhile since I have
watch the stats on chips and I guess I just meant, I dont want the lower grade intel chips you know what I am talking about the ones that they say oh these are as good but not really kind of chips. thanks for the educational tip my friend..I will look into that hp.

yeah Forsaken GA I need it to run some serious sim software for
routers and switches and some vms 4-6 windows 2008 servers.
so I need heavy duty. I might be running a GNS3 maybe with some routers possibly in the range of 8 to 11 that is why and if you ever ran GNS3
it needs it with a quad core despite what people say about adjusting the
cpu values. It works but if you dont have the hard ware to help it along it can be buggie..
thanks
will let you know what i find out
I love the acers they run fast and never fail and well built in webcam
I have a 15 incher laptop that is and gosh bigger is better
hahah i want a 17 incher know I can see so much more...I hate that!

dynamik

Check Gaming Laptops - XOTIC PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks

itdaddy

dyamik cool thanks

Thanks mikej cool wow I have some cool options. yeah it is tought some much to choose from 1600 is a bit high would pay 1,000 to 1200 max hee hee
we shall see ..

itdaddy

crap link didnt take oh well. yeah HP wants same price for same specs..
mikej you were right look at this 8GB ram setup pretty close to Dell's.
huh! I want windows 7 pro not home and only 8GB and Quad core that is all I ask hee hee with my 11 things I want hahaha

tiersten

itdaddy wrote: »

\thanks man. I appreciate your wisdom on this matter. Yeah I have seen
AMD slow down and I have seen Intel wip window 7 around like and axe!

Thanks on the tutorial on chips again. IT has been awhile since I have
watch the stats on chips and I guess I just meant, I dont want the lower grade intel chips you know what I am talking about the ones that they say oh these are as good but not really kind of chips. thanks for the educational tip my friend..I will look into that hp.

Ah. In that case then avoid Celeron (I think this is what you were thinking of originally), Pentium and Core 2. Go after a Core i7 CPU.

There is an alternative to having this monster laptop but it relies on you having a decent internet connection in India and somewhere in the US. Host a box at a friend's or your own house or business if they've got always on broadband and just remotely connect to it. A quad core desktop box with a few GB of memory should be cheaper.

Do all the small labs on your laptop but if you need to create a big topology then use the remote server.

mikej412

itdaddy wrote: »

would pay 1,000 to 1200 max

That would get you a new Dell Studio 15 with 4 gigs -- but you could shop the outlet and see if there are any better deals.

I run 2 Dynamips instances with 6 routers each on my dual core laptop with 2 gigs memory and it only slows down when I fire up BGP.

exampasser

I found this one on BestBuy
HP - Pavilion Laptop with Intel® Core™ i7 Processor - High-Gloss Black - dv7-3180us
This laptop does not have 8GB of RAM but you can expand it to 8 GB. I don't know how long the battery life will be on it if you put a heavy work load on it.

Like tiersten said if you know you will have a decent internet connection you would be better off building a desktop that will me more powerful at a cheaper price and just remotely connect to it. You could then just buy a cheap netbook even to remotely connect to it.

Here is another laptop with a faster harddrive and a better graphics card, its pricey though at around 2K:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+ENVY+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+-+Brushed+Aluminum/9556394.p?id=1218123849552&skuId=9556394

petedude

exampasser wrote: »

. . .This laptop does not have 8GB of RAM but you can expand it to 8 GB.

And that should be the kicker for many folks. It will be cheaper to expand the RAM yourself anyway-- just make sure the laptop will recognize it.

I've been in this mode of shopping, too, lately-- I have a project coming up that may require me to host 4 or more VMs on a laptop. Not to mention, my time available in the day for certification studies is becoming more and more sparse, so I may end up having to chug said laptop for studying in spare moments with VMs set up for particular vendors' products. I've been keeping an eye on Dell, HP and Acer deals of late. I've glanced at Lenovo but they don't seem to have anything competitive in this sort of space yet.

I'd also say-- buy a business-class laptop if you can find one in the same price range. I'd imagine they'd be more reliable and less prone to overheating with the same workload.

tiersten

petedude wrote: »

I'd also say-- buy a business-class laptop if you can find one in the same price range. I'd imagine they'd be more reliable and less prone to overheating with the same workload.

Mmm... Thats what they want you to think. They're generally the same platform. The only differences are that they're supported for longer, difference choices of video card and that they aren't as flashy looking on the outside.

hypnotoad

I had this same philosophy for my first laptop, and while I got one with awesome specs, the battery life was bad, it was heavy, the keyboard was weird, and it had 3 noisy fans. Although I loved it dearly, I advise that you make sure you can stand using your laptop first

tiersten

hypnotoad wrote: »

I had this same philosophy for my first laptop, and while I got one with awesome specs, the battery life was bad, it was heavy, the keyboard was weird, and it had 3 noisy fans. Although I loved it dearly, I advise that you make sure you can stand using your laptop first

Originally I used to do what you did and find the fastest highest spec laptop possible. The fact that they tended to look like an aircraft carrier, weigh about the same and sound like a jet taking off with afterburners has put me off. I look for something with a decent spec that is quiet and doesn't weigh a ton.