I’m looking to purchase a new laptop and I’d appreciate your feedback on which make and model.
This will be a my primary BizTalk development environment and as such I will need something that is both powerful and at the same time light (so I can lug it around while I’m on the road), has a decent screen size and resolution.
As for software, I am looking at Vista Business Edition or Home Premium (I’m not too worried about the extra features of Ultimate), it will need to run at least 1 VM development environment (Microsoft Virtual PC or VMWare) and the usual productivity suite (Microsoft Office, Firefox, Outlook etc.)
So, my requirements are as follows:
- Intel Core 2 Duo (or similar rated processor)
- 1/2Gb RAM (expandable to minimum 4Gb)
- 100G+ hard disk
- Minimum 14″ screen size and 1280×1024 screen resolution
- 802.11* connectivity (bluetooth if poss)
- Weight < 3Kg
I’ve had a brief look at the current UK market and there are a few models that shine, but I would appreciate any feedback the community may have.
Looking forward to hearing your recommendations!
I use a dell latitude d820 which meets most of your req’s.
Its great. Dual code, fast and slim, big enough screen for biztalk work.
I strongly advise you to get a usb external drive (7200 rpm) and work with virtual pc images. I would never install biztalk on a host os on a laptop. When you run the vpc on an external drive, it performs MUCH better.
I have a few problems with dell latitude’s over the years were after a few moments has the keys on the keyboard would simply stop working. A quick call to tell and a ship to a new keyboard without questions asked. I even worked in a company couple of years ago and we had about half of them with the same issue. About three weeks ago my sister-in-law came calling with the same issue on the keyboard. Again a quick call to Dell and they send out a new one……just makes you wonder sometimes.
I ended up going with a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 in the end. Always wanted one of those: not too heavy and sufficient umpfh to do all the heavy lifting I need. I have also discovered that its running a x64 capable chip, so instead of running the pre-installed 32-bit Windows XP, I’m now running 64-bit Windows 7. Sweet.