

Optimizing a laptop purchase? - sanj

Last night my laptop's wireless card appeared to have died.  After some diagnosis, it turns out to be the entire PC card infrastructure.  Not a good sign for my primary development machine.<p>So now I am in the market for a new machine.<p>While pondering my purchase, I realized I had strong opinions of what mattered and what didn't, of where it made sense to spend my very limited startup budget.<p>I will list my criteria below and am interested in how others optimize their decisions.
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sanj
Let me start by saying I use Macs, which shortens my set of options.

I write web server-side code. This means I run a web server, db and multiple
browsers. I don't use an IDE. I need raw processing horsepower.

Paying for incremental processor speed is a waste of money. Get the slowest
current generation processor you can. Paying for an extra 10-20 percent is a
mistake.

RAM is king as modern OSs use it efficiently. Mysql can suck its datafiles
into memory. Never forget RAM is 1000000x faster than disk.

Max it. 2G is a minimum. 4G is good. A soon as I can cram 16G into a machine,
I'll try.

I could care less about the graphics subsystem. If I could buy a low power
version of last years card, I would.

A fast drive is nice, but the money is better spent on more RAM. I don't think
5400 vs 7200 is enough. And you lose battery life.

Many of my criteria are designed to maximize my battery life. I love working
untethered.

If I could, I would buy a machine that could use multiple batteries, like the
old wallstreets and pismos. As is, a removeable battery is critical for long
flights. Sorry Air.

The air travel point may be moot becauae the TSA does't want us carrying extra
batteries.

Bus speed matters when it impacts RAM usage. I don't understand this well
enough and so cargo cult myself into buying the Pro machines. If someone can
convince me otherwise, I would love to save $1000 and get a consumer MacBook.

It had to be able to plug into a gigantic monitor when I am deskbound.

I used to want a PC card slot. I would jam in big memory card and use that as
a external drive for DB files. Voila! Cheap SSD!

I with removeable media drives were themselves removeable. I use writeable
DVDs for long term backups, but do not need the drive 95 percent of the time.

Finally, the most pixels I can carry and fit on my lap. I am a little guy. The
17" is too big to carry or fit. The weight of just over 5 lbs is what I have
gotten used to and can tolerate.

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Zev
I dont have any problems when flying and carrying an extra battery for my
Macbook Pro. I keep it in my bag, the TSA hasn't said anything yet. Though if
i carried 12 extra batteries, they might say something.

The 5400rpm vs 7200rpm makes a difference. Not as much as working in the ram
instead of swapping, but there is a difference in performance. Whether you
need it or not is another story. Though maxing your ram out is always a good
thing to do regardless.

There isn't much of a difference from 2.4 to 2.5 or 2.6GHz, though there is a
huge one from 2.1GHz (Base Macbook) to 2.6GHz (BTO Macbook Pro). That makes a
huge difference. Even 'only' 10% more is huge when it comes down to rendering
or compiling things. The less time you have to sit around waiting for it to
render/load/compile, the more time you can spend doing work or the quicker you
can get your work done.

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sanj
Is it the jump from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz that makes the difference? Or something
else?

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Zev
Kinda. They're both Santa Rosa platform with an 800MHz bus and take the same
speed ram (667MHz DDR2 SODIMM). They've got different amounts of L2 cache
though, 3MB on the Macbook vs 4MB on the Macbook Pro which helps a bit.

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zacl
Stop agonizing--Get the MacBook. I love mine.

Add 4gb ram and firewire raid: developers dream.

It's got everything you want.

It's more durable than the MBP, but the number one reason the MB beats out the
MBP? It won't toast your lap.

~~~
maximilian
The only thing that would stop me from getting a MB over a MBP is the screen.
The "new" MBP LED-backlit screens are _amazing_!. So clear and bright. The MB
glossy screens definitely leave something to be desired. They aren't terrible
by any means, but in comparison they just suck. If they fix the MB screens
then its basically a no brainer. Put 4GB of ram in the thing and be done with
it.

I'm running an old 1stgen alu-Powerbook. It works well enough that I can't
possibly justify buying a new one. I'll probably get the Macbook as its pretty
cheap when you get the entry level one (especially with the student discount,
which I am). I'll surely put 4GB of ram in it though. With that $1000 I save
on the macbook pro, I can get 2 months rent, 2 months groceries, a track bike
+ 1 month rent, a nearly complete climbing kit, a new surfboard _and_ a track
bike. I guess you should look at what You'd spend that $1000 on. If you'd
spend it on really great things, get the macbook. If not, get the macbook pro
for its wonderful screen and fasterness.

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mironathetin
You are so right.

The missing LED screen is the only thing that keeps me from buying a new
macbook today. I am sure apple is going to streamline its production and
sooner or later also the macbooks will come with a LED backlit screen. The air
already has the 13 inch screen. So its only a tiny step until also the
macbooks get it.

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thorax
I see a lot of comments from those preferring Macs.

As much as I respect that, a lot of people reading this site are bootstrapping
startups and I'd never be able to recommend going that route unless you need
to use Mac-forte apps (or are developing for it).

If you're strapped for cash, you can get some solid, powerful equipment by
looking through sites like NewEgg for "recertified" laptops with stellar
ratings.

They won't have the style and the fashion of the Macs, nor do they often come
with a 'nix by default, but they're dirt cheap (like ~$520 for a full modern
laptop).

Get the job done and avoid the splurging.

~~~
mironathetin
No one can deny that there is a lot of truth in what you write. If battery
life is not among the critical requirements, any laptop will do the job.

According to my experience the power management of linux is one of the severe
shortcomings of that os (although I have tried only suse, scientific linux and
fedora).

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bdfh42
Not so much optimise as prioritise. I don't think I have ever found an optimal
solution.

My most recent laptop purchase had to allow me to carry it as part of my
single item of hand baggage on Europe's low cost airlines - together with
enough clothing and other personal stuff to last me a week - a tall order.

Thus weight was a severe limiting factor - but there was no point in having a
machine that could not run my development tools and their supporting
databases, internet servers etc.

So (as I said) weight was a fixed limit, I then prioritised screen resolution,
RAM and finally processing power.

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mironathetin
I have one more idea to put in.

As a developer I always liked to have a slow machine. That makes sure you
optimize your software and the user experience will be great.

This also means that you can live with the cheaper consumer lines. While my
first mac was a iBook (blueberry), I bought powerbooks ever since. But I was
never as happy with the powerbooks as I was with the iBook (except the Pismo
perhaps - that was indeed the greatest machine ever). Currently I use a
Titanium Powerbook with 1 GHz.

My next purchase will be a Macbook, no doubt. Battery life is critical and
also durability and finally weight. If you are on a budget, the macbooks also
give you more security: if one breaks down, you can buy a second one (apples
repair times are longer thana busy deveolper can afford to wait). Two macbooks
are cheaper than one pro.

~~~
noel_gomez
I agree. I had an iBook and then a PowerBook which I still use. I have never
been as happy the PB as I was with the iBook. Weight, battery, heat.

~~~
mironathetin
... fan noise

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davidw
I am happy with my Dell + Ubuntu. Be sure to get one of the discount codes
floating around the net if you go that route - they're worth something like
$200.

~~~
dkokelley
<http://www.notebookreview.com/dellCoupon.asp>

You'll find a good deal of Dell coupons there. They change regularly too, so
if what you're looking for isn't there now, it might be soon.

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bprater
As a hard core web developer (who likes to visit local coffeeshops and
travel), I had similar needs: loads of RAM, lots of pixels, big battery, etc.

I ended up getting a 17" MBP. Love it. The super high resolution variation,
1920x1200. The resolution is great for coding/development. The battery is good
enough that I normally head out for coffeeshops without the charger.

The weight made my really nervous, my first "real" laptop was heavy and I
swore never to get a big laptop again. This laptop isn't bad, I slide it into
my laptop backpack and hop around town without a problem.

Spend some time down at a local Apple store. That helped me finally seal the
deal.

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LostInTheWoods
For a PC laptop its simple: Get 1 GB or more of memory and a dual core
processor. Everything else is up to your personal preference/needs.

