Win10 for PLC Laptop ?

Martindag

Member
Join Date
Sep 2009
Location
quebec
Posts
227
Hey guys,

I'm having problem with my current laptop and im trying to convince my boss to buy a new one.

I was planning to use VMware with Win 7 and Win Xp for my PLC Software and keep my laptop only for my office software.

If i plan to use VMware for my PLC software, do it really matter to pick still a laptop working on windows 7 64bits ? or simply pick one with windows 10 ?

I read few post on google about it but they were abit old, just wanted to make sure.

The software i use are:

Rslogix 500, 5000
View Studio ME
Unitypro
Vijeo Designer
XG5000
XPbuilder
Zelio Soft

and some CAD software

or if you got a good deal on one you recommend please also let's me know.
I need atleast a 17 inch screen. I had enough with my 15 inch.
 
Hey guys,

I'm having problem with my current laptop and im trying to convince my boss to buy a new one.

I was planning to use VMware with Win 7 and Win Xp for my PLC Software and keep my laptop only for my office software.

If i plan to use VMware for my PLC software, do it really matter to pick still a laptop working on windows 7 64bits ? or simply pick one with windows 10 ?

I read few post on google about it but they were abit old, just wanted to make sure.

The software i use are:

Rslogix 500, 5000
View Studio ME
Unitypro
Vijeo Designer
XG5000
XPbuilder
Zelio Soft

and some CAD software

or if you got a good deal on one you recommend please also let's me know.
I need atleast a 17 inch screen. I had enough with my 15 inch.

Yes VMware works well, i would go with Windows 10 Pro 64bit with as much RAM as you can get in the chassis, at least 16GB, also worth considering going for a 128GB SSD for your OS and a further 1TB SSD for your VM images and data

This topic has been covered a few times in the last few months, have a search as there was some good suggestions in them

17" laptops are heavy beasts though, Dell Precision 7700 would be worth a look, get your boss to sit down before you put the quote in front of him though.......
 
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Yes VMware works well, i would go with Windows 10 Pro 64bit with as much RAM as you can get in the chassis, at least 16GB, also worth considering going for a 128GB SSD for your OS and a further 1TB SSD for your VM images and data

This topic has been covered a few times in the last few months, have a search as there was some good suggestions in them

17" laptops are heavy beasts though, Dell Precision 7700 would be worth a look, get your boss to sit down before you put the quote in front of him though.......


(y) P7710 / 16GB, win7 still. Good but heavier than old 15" was
 
Those who use VmWare,
Do you use VMWare Workstation 12 Pro?
How many virtual machines can you set up?
Do you setup a Virtual machine for RSLogix 500, and a different Virtual machine for RSLogix 5000?
How does XP and Win7 operating system licencing work?

Is the VMware program one time purchase or a subscription?

Sorry if this is a hijack on your thread.
 
Typically use the latest version of Workstation Pro. You can purchase 1 time, but you'll be limited on software updates. So if they migrate from v12 to v13 you wouldn't be able to upgrade unless you are paying for support.

If your host is Windows 7, you can run XP virtually with no additional licensing. However most now are running Windows 10, so you'll need windows 7 licenses if you plan on running Windows 7 in a VM. Companies may or may not have volume licensing, so you might have to dig up some Windows 7 licenses. I separate VMs usually by manufacturer. So AB has a VM with everthing, Wondeware is another.

Number of VMs you can have is really limited by harddrive space. Number you can run at any given time will be Ram and licensing. Maybe CPU. Laptops with an SSD, 16GB of ram and a modern processor will run 3-4 simultaneously w/o problems.

If you want to get crazy, start building a homelab :). Dual CPUs, 72GB ram and 1.5TB in SDD space at my disposal!
 
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Thanks,
...I separate VMs usually by manufacturer. So AB has a VM with everthing, Wondeware is another.
Does the AB VM have different Windows licence than the WonderwareVM, so you need two Windows licences, or can you share, and only run one VM at a time?
 
Thanks,

Does the AB VM have different Windows licence than the WonderwareVM, so you need two Windows licences, or can you share, and only run one VM at a time?

I'm on volume licensing through work, so it's easy for me.

The 'grey' area comes on how you handle retail licenses. I'm sure Windows activation is smart enough to determine if it's a valid license or not. I would consider volume licensing (software assurance) or MSDN subscription.
 
Thanks for the advice, this way i get more option for my computer if it doesnt matter to get it with windows 10.

Thanks also for your recommendation, i will see with my boss what is my budget for my next laptop
 
I'd like to second your choice of using VMWare. Your host OS doesn't really matter as long as it is supported by current virtualization software.

Their VMs are portable between different systems and easy to create, manage, and backup. I use Fusion on my MacBook Pro and its VMs can be transferred to a Windows machine running VMWare Worstation, or even uploaded to an ESXi host or cluster. Snapshots can be created so you can rollback against unwanted side-effects of installing or changing software settings.
 
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I'd like to second your choice of using VMWare. Your host OS doesn't really matter as long as it is supported by current virtualization software.

Their VMs are portable between different systems and easy to create, manage, and backup. I use Fusion on my MacBook Pro and its VMs can be transferred to a Windows machine running VMWare Worstation, or even uploaded to an ESXi host or cluster. Snapshots can be created so you can rollback against unwanted side-effects of installing or changing software settings.

We have an ESXi box that hosts a load of our dev and test servers, the integration with VMWare workstation is pretty cool.

Also another nice feature of VMWare is Unity mode, basically lets you run applications from the VM integrated into the host machine desktop environment.
 
On my WIN 10 laptop I use WMware workstation 12 Player with no problems.
I have 1 virtual PC for each manufacturer of PLC systems.

I have 64 GB RAM in the laptop, so there is "power" to the virtual PC.
 
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That's prety much the mistake that happened to me, i installed all my PLC software on my laptop directly and all my driver got corrupted and i get communication problem now with my old laptop.

I will try to get a laptop on Wndows 7 or 10 and try to put a VMware like JERA said, 1 VM for each manufacturer using a Win7 or WinXP VMware.
 
I've been running everything on a win10 laptop for a while - the only issues coming from windows updates. All of my AB software has been working once I installed the current versions first and then older versions afterwards.

Make sure you get at least a 256GB SSD for use with the OS. I actually filled my 128GB in just software in no time at all. Prices on those are coming down, which is nice.
Most lappys will have at least a 1TB secondary drive to use for files, music, backups, etc.

As for brand - I opted for a MSI gaming laptop. Gaming rigs will have all of the computing and graphics power for what you're doing while usually having nicer displays, more usb ports, and more efficient cooling.
 

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