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Affordable Ultrabook for Security researcher / Pen tester

N

northpole

Junior Member
Hi All,

I am in market for an Ultrabook (or similar) to replace my 6 year old Acer timeline series laptop. I am finding it difficult to find the right one that suits my needs.

I am a security researcher and pen tester so my hardware needs are simple. I mostly run my tools on VM (in Linux environment) for long hours and some basic reporting/documentation on Word/Excel, etc. The following are requirements:

1. Core i5 based (preferably 4th gen). i7 isn't suitable, heavy on battery and generates lot of heat
2. 8+ hrs battery backup
3. Ethernet port is must. Wifi isn't reliable & some tools don't prefer it
4. 13-14 Inch screen, touch not required
5. CD-rom not required, lighter the better

If required, I will be upgrading the HDD to an SSD and to 8GB RAM.

Problem is, most of the new Ultrabooks lack Ethernet ports. It's very difficult to find one. If I get one, either they are low on CPU/Specs or poor on Battery.

Even though, I am a long term Windows users, I am not new to *nix environment. So I went looking for Macbooks, they fit all my needs except that none of new generation has Ethernet port. One of the 13inch has it, but it's a 2012 model. So I am not sure if it's a good buy in 2015!

Another vendor who meets the criteria is Fujitsu. Their Lifebook S & U series seem good. But I just couldn't find a reseller for price or availability. Not even sure if they are in my country!

There must be other such members with similar requirements. How are other pen-testers setting up their rig?

Appreciate any help.
 
I have a 3 years old toshiba portégé and I couldn't be happier. Nice sturdy magnesium alloy case is still perfect after 3 years of daily use in and out of the bag, still got 8 hours or so of battery life (traditional removable battery so you can buy two), all ports and even cd-player, but still light (< 1.5 kg).
The only issue was that it had that function that allows you to recharge USB devices with the computer turned off that drank up all battery life during the night. I deactivated it in the BIOS I think, now it's fine.

I just went for a look on toshiba's website and they still have the ethernet port, i5 processors, 13.3'' screens, most probably they still have great battery life, so they tick all the boxes.
I wasn't able to grasp the difference between all the models they sell but I haven't read carefully. There's probably a lighter one without cd player in there.
They also have other lines but this one is pricey enough already.

EDIT: I had a better look with the selector and this is the top reccomendation: http://www.toshiba.eu/laptops/portege/portege-z30-b/portege-z30-b-107/

5th Generation Intel® Core&#8482; i5-5200U Processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
33.8cm (13.3") , Toshiba Full HD TFT non-reflective High Brightness eDP&#8482; display with LED backlighting and 16 : 9 aspect ratio
Solid State Drive 256 GB
Steel grey metallic, magnesium chassis, matt black keyboard
8,192 (1x) MB, DDR3L RAM (1,600 MHz)
Intel® HD Graphics 5500
maximum life : up to 14h30min (Mobile Mark&#8482; 2012)
weight : starting at 1.20 kg

no cd player.
 
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Toshiba's Tecra Z40T-A1410 is pretty light, has a gigE port, and has a 4th gen i5.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834216827

You'd have to add the SSD though, and that seems like a nice chunk of cash for something that doesn't come with an SSD out of the box.

Are you sure a Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 -> ethernet adapter wouldn't work for you? The stock configuration on the 13'' macbook pro w/ retina display seems like it would fit the bill nicely if you toss in a $30 TB-> ethernet adapter. It's very price competitive with the Toshiba, but comes with a much better display, and an SSD out of the box. Even factoring in the additional cost of apple-care, the fact that you need to add an SSD to the Toshiba still makes it pretty close price-wise.
 
The new Asus UX305FA for $700 is an excellent option, 1080p IPS display, quite lightweight, good battery, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM (soldered), not the fastest CPU, but a good one and it requires no fan

I bought myself a Latitude e7440 used for $500 on eBay. You can go this route too
 
@Murloc, thanks for the details. Have seen the Portege models and I agree, they are one of the best Windows ultrabooks. The Z30 model is really juicy, but as I feared they come for little over $2,000 for 8GB model. And this is way over my budget!

@Essence_of_War, the Tecra Z40 seems good. I will look for this model with sellers here (India). The problem with Toshiba is they have entirely different model number in different countries. Some models or options visible on a UK/US site, aren't even listed in other countries. but I found a similar one here:
http://laptop.toshiba-india.com/product/TecraZ40-AX0410B

At around $1,100 they are reasonable.

The problem is not with Wifi interfaces itself, but it lies with other devices. One of them is wifi access points. Most APs these days are pre-configured to prioritize VOIP/AV streaming/etc traffic, and have WMM/no-ack enabled. This hampers my network/application assessments which rely lot on ACK replies, speed and reliability, etc. I had to buy a DDWRT compatible model and tweak it to work at my SOHO. Another problem is when port scans open several half-open TCP connections, or hundreds of connections in case of DoS tests, the AP can't handle the traffic and crashes. So I have to connect directly to a GB switch during such tests. And most USB/thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters are just fine for normal traffic.

@stateofmind, thanks, this ASUS model is sleek & really cheap, but doesn't have a Ethernet port.
 
It won't. The element of weak access points, dropping frames/packets, number of devices on same channel, collisions, etc matters a lot. The wifi inherently is unreliable and not expected to provide quality service for crucial data. Instead on fixating myself on resolving numerous issues with wifi, I would just connect to an ethernet switch.
 
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northpole said:
It won't. The element of weak access points, dropping frames/packets, number of devices on same channel, collisions, etc matters a lot. The wifi inherently is unreliable and not expected to provide quality service for crucial data. Instead on fixating myself on resolving numerous issues with wifi, I would just connect to an ethernet switch.
Click to expand...
Essence is talking about this
HT5299_3-thunderbolt-to_ethernet-002-mul.png

not wi-fi.

Since you're doing pretty technical stuff, I'm not sure if that would work for you. Would it?
If the answer is yes, you open up all options.
 
Thanks Murloc.

I understand. I'm just little wary of these new gizmos (old school!?). The current Virtual machines and even native run Linux/freebsd too are uncomfortable with these new gears and lack drivers to many.

So far I have come down to this list:

- Fujitsu Lifebook S935
- Fujitsu Lifebook U745

- Fujitsu Lifebook U904
- Fujitsu Lifebook S904
- Toshiba Portege Z30-AX0433B
- Toshiba Tecra Z40-AX0438

The first two Fujitsu models have 5th gen Intel Core i5 processors (and rest are 4th Gen Core i5) with the futuristic palm vein sensor for biometric authentication (obviously it will be pricey)!

And they all have standard configs:
- 4th Gen (or 5th gen) Intel Core i5 Processor
- 8GB 1600Mhz RAM
- Ethernet Port (prefer Gigabit)
- 13.3" or 14" non-touch display
- 128/256 SSD built-in
- 10+ Hrs battery backup
- Light weight
- No cd-rom drive

I am rigorously trying to get the local retailers to source me the cheapest one. Will update once I get it.
 
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northpole said:
Thanks Murloc.

I understand. I'm just little wary of these new gizmos (old school!?). The current Virtual machines and even native run Linux/freebsd too are uncomfortable with these new gears and lack drivers to many.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind, that one of the benefits of an external Ethernet dongle is that it can be very predictable, and have almost every feature you would need to support.

Lots of notebooks (especially budget notebooks) come with Ethernet ports fueled by controllers that can't even do VLAN tagging, which, depending on your environment, may be a requirement for your testing. If you are serious about sticking with integrated Ethernet, it would do you well to heavily research the Ethernet port on the device you're looking at to ensure it supports the features you're after. Just food for thought.
 
Lots of notebooks (especially budget notebooks) come with Ethernet ports fueled by controllers that can't even do VLAN tagging, which, depending on your environment, may be a requirement for your testing. If you are serious about sticking with integrated Ethernet, it would do you well to heavily research the Ethernet port on the device you're looking at to ensure it supports the features you're after. Just food for thought.
Click to expand...

This is a good point. I'd much rather use a USB/TB -> ethernet adapter than deal with whatever terrible realtek chipset a budget notebook comes with 🙂
 
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