2k Work Laptop

[Foxslink]

My dad is flying to the US this week and he wants to buy a new work related laptop, I had a hard time trying to talk him into going for the Lenovo p50 instead of the other weaker slim models, he wants to go for this Asus which has an i7, lots of HDD , SSD and a 4k monitor, it doesnt look bad but the p50's Xeon is better so i managed to convince him otherwise, I went it to the page to choose the model parts but i have a doubt about the various SSD options, specially if I should pick NVME, plus there are plenty of different parts to choose from for the laptop, including how much RAM, touch or non touch screen, 1080p or 4k, etc, . please help me pick the best parts for him

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/cart.workflow:ShowCart2

Processor: Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.70GHz)
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64
Operating System Language: Windows 10 Home 64 English
Display: 15.6 FHD(1920x1080) IPS Non-Touch
Memory: 16GB DDR4-2133MHz SODIMM
Graphic Card: NVIDIA Quadro M2000M 4GB
Base: P50 NVIDIA Quadro M2000M 4GB,Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.7 GHz)
Color Sensor: With Color Sensor
Camera: 720p HD Camera with Microphone
Keyboard: Backlit Keyboard with Number Pad - English
Pointing Device: 3+3BCP, Fingerprint Reader,Color Sensor
Security Features: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Security Chip: Software TPM Enabled
First Hard Disk Drive: 500GB HD 7200RPM
First Solid State Drive / Second Hard Disk Drive: 256GB SSD SATA3 OPAL2.0
Total Hard Drive Capacity: 756GB
Power Cord: 170W AC Adapter - US(2pin)
Battery: 6 Cell Li-Polymer Battery 90Wh
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC(2x2) 8260, Bluetooth Version 4.1 vPro
Display Panel: 15.6" FHD(1920x1080),no Touch,2D Camera,with Mic,with Color Sensor,with WLAN and WWAN antenna
Language Pack: Publication - English
Warranty: 1 Year Depot or Carry-in
Pointing device: ThinkPad Laser Bluetooth Mouse


So far thats about 2100 USD, its just above his budget so he is willing to spend it, i told him that its better to get an external drive instead of the 500gb HDD included in the page. like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291842292217

Another important thing to consider is that in my country we use 220v power outlets, so is that going to be an issue if he tries to charge the laptpop using a 110AC watt adapter? I hope the adapter works on 220v

I also had the option to add this:
Integrated Mobile Broadband: Qualcomm Snapdragon X7 LTE-A (Sierra Wireless EM7455)
but i dont know whats it for, maybe he doesnt even need it, i think the Wireless is enough to go online, is it really necessary?

Thanks in advance

 

[daxzy]

Most modern laptop chargers from major OEM's are 100-240V, so it shouldn't be a concern (but double check).

We also don't know what your dad does. You picked a Xeon and Quadro, so I'm assuming he's doing some kind of CAD work. Otherwise that'd be a huge waste. Prosumer laptops like the XPS 13/15 or Thinkpad T lineup is generally good enough for businesses.

 

[EliteRetard]

Yeah, unless you KNOW you need a Xeon and Quadro you can get a far cheaper laptop with similar performance.
I just went and looked on Dell outlet and found a similar spec unit for nearly a third the price ($860 shipped vs $2100+):

i7-6820HQ 8MB 3.6GHz (vs 8MB 3.7GHz Xeon)
1x 16GB DDR4 2133 makes it easy to add a second 1x16GB for 32GB total if needed (unknown in your config if 2x8GB).
15.6" 1080 display should be similar
Win 10 Pro vs Home (probably an overlooked option in your config)
512GB NVMe SSD (persoanlly I think a superior config, and certainly a faster SSD) vs the 512GB HDD/256GB SATA SSD setup
Intel 8260 wireless should be same
Backlit keyboard vs none
6 Cell 84w slightly smaller than the other 90w
AMD R7 M360 non-pro card vs Nvidia Quadro M2000M pro

 

[daxzy]

Above system is decent spec wise, but let's be pointed and say the reason it's a LOT cheaper for "similar" stats is because Mobile Xeons and Quadro cards are much more expensive than their consumer laptop counterparts (so it's not even a fair comparison). A more accurate comparison would be with the Dell Precision laptop line, if he were to choose Xeon/Quadro.

Furthermore, I doubt the build quality is on par. For the prosumer, you'd have to go XPS 13/15 or Latitude 7000 series to match a high end Thinkpad. Don't get me wrong... I think the 5000 series (Inspiron or Latitude) are "good enough", but the 7000 series is definitely a step up (I'd say XPS > Latitude 7000 > Inspiron 7000 > Inspiron 5000 = Latitude 5000).

Again, it's hard to say what the target is without know what it's going to be used for. Personally, I'd wait for Kaby Lake/Pascal laptops to show up. XPS 15/Kaby Lake with a GTX 1060 sounds and will perform nice.

 

[Foxslink]

Ok, he is not using CAD or too many graphic demanding apps, he just wants the top of the line to work as fast as possible, specially when having lots of windows open, big excel files and moving stuff around , and he also need a lot of storage. Are SSD Nvme really necessary?
In my country's forum they told me Lenovo has worse support here than Dell, so that could be a bonus in favor to Dell, i dont really think my dad needs a Xeon too, much less a very high power GPU like the Quadro. how much downgrade would there be if goes for a Dell Latitude 7000, or something similar? the good thing about the Lenovo p50 its the battery life and the solid build, if it were to fall it would resist more than the dells. Considering this what do you think is best suited for him?

 

[daxzy]

If you cannot wait for Kaby Lake, I'd get a Skylake laptop for CHEAP. I've used the Thinkpad T and X-series. They're solid, reliable, and bland looking business machines. I have some for work and I literally just toss them around (hey I don't own them, don't judge me). I've used the new Skylake Latitude 7000 13" and they are lighter, have Infinity Edge screens, have USB-C, and are more stylish. However, I would not toss them around like I do with Thinkpad's (scruff marks on a stylish notebook sticks out sorely compared to a scruff marks on some bland Thinkpad). Moreover, Latitude 7000 tops out at 13" (the 14" version missed a redesign this year), whereas the Thinkpad T-series tops out at 15.6".

Perhaps the final thing to consider is whether or not buying a laptop in the US will be covered by an international warranty. Build quality and aesthetics are useless if your laptop breaks down and no one will repair it for free in a timely manner.

As for NVME SSD's, some people here may disagree with me, but I think *currently* NVME SSD's are still immature technology. I have a Samsung 950 Pro 512GB in my SFF desktop, and it throttles like hell during gaming (this is well documented) and throttles slightly when doing CPU intensive tasks (video encode/compiling). NVME SSD's also costs 2x more than a regular M.2 SATA based SSD. However, I will say that the NVME SSD (like the Samsung PRO 950) are just plain faster overall. Whether it's worth the price premium is up for you to decide.

 

[daxzy]

Ironically, just as I wrote that above NVME post, Intel comes out with the NVME 600p series.

No clue how good that will be (or cost), but if the load power usage scales similar to idle (40mW 600p vs 70mW for 950PRO), then maybe it won't be super hot.

 

[ggadrian]

What kind of work is your dad going to do with his laptop?

I don't do anything that requires a lot of computing power (other than multiple browsers with many tabs, many excel spreadsheets and some PPTs open at the same time, which is something any CPU with enough RAM can do nowadays) and I'd hate a big, bulky heavy laptop with poor battery life.

If he's not doing thinks that require tons of computing and graphics problem, a laptop with integrated graphics, as light as possible and lots of battery life is going to be much better suited for business use.

If he does need the computing power, has he considered the XPS 15?

 

[EliteRetard]

If he works with a lot of large Excel files then he should get the 64bit version and I'd recommend at least 32GB RAM in that budget.

If he needs lots of fast storage, you can get 1-2TB SSDs in a laptop. If he only needs some fast storage for the programs and the rest for slow files (pictures, music, video, etc) then a 256-512GB SSD and 1-2TB HDD would be the cheaper option.

Could check out the Dell outlet:

http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/precision-laptops

Look at the Precision 15 7000 and just keep refreshing the page until something catches your eye. Right now various models are going in and out by the minute. Seen some really nice options under $2k.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'd definitely go for a 3K or 4K display without touch features. 1080p on a 15" display is going to be painful. I agree with dropping the Xeon. I love Thinkpads, so stick with Lenovo. I don't like some of the changes they've made to the keyboards, but that wouldn't prevent me from buying one.

 

[EliteRetard]

I think a nice 1080 (IPS etc) screen at 15" is just fine actually. Far higher PPI than most desktop monitors. And to the contrary, a high res screen slaughters battery life. Nobody wants a 2 hour laptop.

Far better to save the money and get a nice external monitor to plug in at home for when you need to do real work. 4k gives you nothing over 1080 at 15" anyway, nobody is going to be doing a split screen on a monitor that small no matter the resolution. Put it on a 27-30" monitor though and it's a whole different thing. Can get a 4K desktop monitor for $250.

 

[Chaotic42]

I think a nice 1080 (IPS etc) screen at 15" is just fine actually. Far higher PPI than most desktop monitors. And to the contrary, a high res screen slaughters battery life. Nobody wants a 2 hour laptop.

Far better to save the money and get a nice external monitor to plug in at home for when you need to do real work. 4k gives you nothing over 1080 at 15" anyway, nobody is going to be doing a split screen on a monitor that small no matter the resolution. Put it on a 27-30" monitor though and it's a whole different thing. Can get a 4K desktop monitor for $250.

I've got to disagree about the usability. I briefly had a Surface Book which is 13" at 3000x2000. I was running Ubuntu in a VM and it was awesome to be able to have three file editors open with one command line window for running scripts. I've got to think that would look horrible on a 1080p screen.

 

[EliteRetard]

On a 15" screen this would basically be the difference once you scaled everything to the same size (and the text in the image is scaled along with the photo itself):

15.6" 1080 is ~141 PPI and 4k is ~282 PPI (and yeah, the image I used is in DPI for photography, but close enough)

a 24" 1080 screen would be ~91 PPI

 

[EliteRetard]

Oh, and that image quality difference comes at the expense of battery life, like this:

 

[Chaotic42]

If he's going to need a lot of battery life, I agree. It's going to be a value judgement for him. All I can say is that comparing my Lenovo x220 which is somewhere around 110 ppi and a Surface Book at 227 ppi, the text difference is night and day. I could easily have those four windows open and readable. 141 vs 282? I don't know if text would be readable at 141 ppi, but it would surely be at 282 ppi. The question is, would it fit his needs? Does he need to be able to have so much information on the screen?

 

[Foxslink]

I just found some good cheaper options in Lenovo's Outlet:
http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/...W&hide_menu_area=yes&audience=445&GroupID=445

4k + SSD : http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemdetails/20EN001RUS/445
Most budget option ( fullHD + SSD:
http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemdetails/20EN001RUS/445

There is Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1505M v5(8M Cache, 2.80 GHz) but i dont know if its better than Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ Processor (8M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
These all have SSDs, up to 512 m2 . They also have 16 gb of ram which is good enough, though i could find one of 32gigs easily at 1500 usd. What model would you recommend best? The Quadro isnt that important. Is is too risky to buy Refurbished? Its true that warranty here in Chile may not apply but notebooks are too expensive here. About the 4k im not really sure but he usually opens many windows on the screen, but i tend to favor FullHD could be more than enough. My dad wants the screen that is most easy on eyes, and easier to read.

If he works with a lot of large Excel files then he should get the 64bit version and I'd recommend at least 32GB RAM in that budget.

If he needs lots of fast storage, you can get 1-2TB SSDs in a laptop. If he only needs some fast storage for the programs and the rest for slow files (pictures, music, video, etc) then a 256-512GB SSD and 1-2TB HDD would be the cheaper option.

Could check out the Dell outlet:

http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/precision-laptops

Look at the Precision 15 7000 and just keep refreshing the page until something catches your eye. Right now various models are going in and out by the minute. Seen some really nice options under $2k.

I coudlnt find the model you specified, only found this, could you help me find the one you mention?

http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemdetails/20EQX03000/445

 

[EliteRetard]

For the screen options, the regular FHD 1080 screen will be easier to read. The QHD 4k screens will make everything including the text appear much smaller. There are options in windows to stretch the text and most of the graphics to make them bigger...but it doesn't always work.

I wouldn't normally recommend a refurbished consumer laptop, but we're talking about high end workstations. These have high build quality and internal components so I'm more comfortable getting one that's been returned and checked over. I've actually bought several high end refurbished laptops (like the Dell M4800) with no issues. I currently don't see any of the Precision 15 7000 in stock, perhaps a popular item that sells out, and/or they don't get many in. But checking over the Lenovo outlet I see some good looking options, and it was your original choice anyway.

That one you posted doesn't look bad, but I see some that look like better options:

http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemdetails/PC0D5QGR-20ENCTR1WW/445

This one is refurbished for 1,472$ and I think it has an almost ideal configuration:
15.6" FHD 1080 ----- The lower option vs the QHD 4k. It may be easier to read, and still a nice option vs most laptops (90% don't even have FHD 1080).
Xeon E3-1505M v5 ----- Skylake CPU just like the i5/i7 6xxx series. This one is 2.8-3.7GHz so it's a bit faster than an i7-6820HQ @ 2.7-3.6GHz.
32GB DDR4 2133 ----- I think this is just the right amount for now, there's a chance he'll use more than 16GB, and 64GB is likely overkill
M2000M ----- Don't really need it but it certainly wont hurt to have for under $1,500
512GB M2 SSD ----- A good size for the OS and programs, a lot faster than a HDD but not the fastest. You can still add a regular HDD inside for more storage.
Intel 8260 Wifi ----- One of the best performing and reliable wireless cards

-----

http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemdetails/PC0D6MA2-20ENCTO1WW/445

This one is NEW for $1,196 I don't think the configuration is as ideal as the one above, but it's cheaper and new:
15.6" FHD 1080 ----- Same as above
i7-6820HQ ---- Regular consumer CPU and just a little bit slower than the Xeon above.
16GB DDR4 2133 ----- Still an OK amount of RAM, can probably upgrade to 32GB later if you really need.
M1000M ----- Lower end GPU than above, but sounds like it may not be used much anyway
512GB M2 SSD ----- Same as above
Intel 8260 WiFi ----- Same as above

-----

Personally I think I'd go with the second one I listed. Compare it to the first option you posted as well, almost the same for nearly half the price.
The CPU is hardly any worse than the Xeon so it doesn't hurt in my opinion. Looks like you don't need the GPU, and this still has one to help out a little if you do decide to dabble. In this case, for the savings, I think it's a good change. I'm more concerned with the 16GB RAM, but it's really not bad at all. Adding RAM is usually fairly cheap and easy. With the $250 saved vs the other option (or the $1,000 vs your first option) you can easily afford to add RAM later if you actually need to. And then there's the fact that it's new vs the refurbished. If this new one weren't available at this price, I think the refurbished one for $1,472 would still be a good option especially compared to the $2,100 unit you first posted (same CPU/GPU, more RAM, bigger SSD, and $600 cheaper).

 

[daxzy]

I've got to disagree about the usability. I briefly had a Surface Book which is 13" at 3000x2000. I was running Ubuntu in a VM and it was awesome to be able to have three file editors open with one command line window for running scripts. I've got to think that would look horrible on a 1080p screen.

I had (and sold) a Dell XPS 15-9550 (15.6") 4K Touch. That screen was easily the most beautiful screen I've ever worked with. Then you run into all the legacy applications (or sloppy developers) and it really starts getting annoying. Ubuntu Unity was alright, but I needed to remote into it, so I had to install xfce4, which was slightly worse in scaling. Remoting also means if you set your UI to 4K scaling, but you work on 2K monitors, you'd have to re-adjust your UI scaling again. In general, I found it NOT worth my time to fiddle with UI scaling and ended up selling it for a XPS 13-9350 2K screen. Oh yea, the 4K touch also means your battery life is down by 30% or so.

Dell Outlet runs a twitter and these are the coupons this week:
https://twitter.com/DellOutlet
http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/...s-us-outlet-new?dgc=SM&cid=295050&lid=5772752

Precision M3510 for $1579 -> $1105 with 30% coupon

• Processor: Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6820HQ Processor (Quad Core, up to 3.6 GHz, 8M Cache, 45W)
• Windows 10 Pro
• 256GB SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive
• 8GB (1x8G) 2133MHz DDR4 Memory Non ECC <-- need to upgrade
  
• 15.6 Inch Dell FHD (1920x1080) Touch Display
• AMD FirePro W5130M 2GB GDDR5
• Dell Outlet Precision M3510

The post above me's ~$1200 Thinkpad P50 is probably a better deal. FirePro W5130 is probably overkill on the Precision, the 512GB SSD/16GB memory would probably get better usage.

 

[Foxslink]

guys we bought a P50 !! It doenst come with SSD so can you help me choose one? , how can I know if the SSD can be installed on his new workstation?
Thanks for your help

• Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Processor(6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)
• Windows 10 Home Premium 64 - English
• 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), anti-glare, LED backlight, IPS w/HD 720p Camera
• NVIDIA Quadro M1000M
• 16GB DDR4 2133 SoDIMM Memory
• 500GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Hard Drive
• No Optical Included
• Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable
• Bluetooth
• 1 Year Standard Depot Warranty
• UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
• 6 cell Lithium Polymer (90WHr)

 

[daxzy]

So assuming it's an m.2 slot:

If you want a cheap, decent performer, the Sandisk X400 512GB is about $135.

For slightly more and a little better performer, I'd go with the Samsung EVO 850 500GB, about $170.

If you want the current cheapest NVME (but a lot better than 850 EVO), I'd go with the Samsung PM951 512GB (this is OEM only, so you have to buy off eBay), about $220ish. Might have some compatibility issues, as its OEM specific (I had some with a Dell system).

And then the best performing readily available NVME, Samsung 950 Pro 512GB, about $320ish.

Personally, I'd go EVO 850 or try my luck with the PM951.