OT need new laptop, looking for advice

[JZerb]

Lenovo P71. 500GB M.2 SSD for all my VM's. 500gb SSD for W10. 500GB SSD for VM backups. 32gb ram. i7-7700HQ.

Love the large screen, battery life is pretty good as well so long as you dont keep the screen brightness at 100 percent. Would love a Macbook Pro though, 2016ish model, because once you run everything in VMs the host hardware can be any OS you'd prefer. Just hate as others have said that Macbook Pros, not sure which year it started, lack many device ports and more dongles usually dont equal more fun.

 

[skorp]

My company bought me a Dell 7730.

6 Core Xeon with 64GB of ram.
2 1TB SSD drives
Nvidia P4200 Graphics



Very fast and stable. CAD is very fast on it. Large screen, but I use the docking station to drive 3 27" monitors from it.



I keep all my PLC development software versions in their own VMs and store them on my secondary drive.



I use USB to serial adapter for all my legacy stuff. No issues with using them with Windows 10 so far.


Only issue is the thunderbolt connection for the docking station is easy to knock off.

 

[Daniel_LeRoy]

I also have a Dell. Precision 7720, and I love it. The extra cost is easy to justify if you have to sit and wait for CAD software to load everyday.

 

[n55_6mt]

I use a Lenovo T470 and have been very happy with it. Mine is a i7 with 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and it flies doing pretty much anything. Battery life is OK (4-5 hours) with the 3-cell external battery which sits flush with the underside of the laptop, but I can switch in a 9-cell and it easily lasts 12-14 hours with that thing, even with the brightness maxed out. No shutdown required to change batteries as there is an internal battery as well.

My only complaint is the screen isn't the brightest.

 

[strantor]

I use a Lenovo Thinkpad P70, bought used and outfitted by me. I installed (2) 500GB m.2 SSD and (2) 1TB HDD. OS on one SSD, frequently used VMs on the other. One HDD for backups, other for rarely used VMs.
64GB ram. Older I7. I installed an LTE Modem so I have internet connectivity without having to tether my phone.

This laptop is ugly as sin. Bested in bad looks only by Siemens Field PG. But it's pretty robust and I love it. My only complaint is that when it put it in my backpack with a few tools, the pack weighs more than two of my kids combined.

 

[bob1371]

My Dell M4800 was $530 refurbished.
Core i7
16GB Ram
500GB SSD
Intel HD4600 Graphics as well as an NVidia Quadro K2100M

Just added a HD dock in place of DVD ROM. Will be adding Samsung 960 Pro as main HD and move the 500GB to the new docking bay.

 

[NetNathan]

Dell Precision is hard to beat.

 

[tragically1969]

Hi, currently have a 5 year old laptop running Windows 8.1 and RS Logix 500 Starter Edition V 9 and RSLinx Classic Lite V 3.81....I cannot upgrade to newer versions since I don't want to shell out the money, (current software meets my needs just fine) and that is the highest version I can download from Rockwell ...I purchased RS Logix 500 back in 2013

I wanted to get a new laptop (this one is starting to act up) and install Windows 10 Pro by myself, or possibly Windows 8.1

All laptops I can find online have W10 pre-installed. Can I source a laptop somewhere for less $$ that doesn't have a pre-installed OS?
Any tips or advice in general?

Mixture of Dell Precision 55xx, and 35xx in the office here, great bits of kit.

If you know what OS you need then just get it installed when ordering, so much easier.