- Jul 7, 2011
- 4,223
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The need: A plugged-in laptop for my desk where I work. I'm not provided a computer at my guard station where I'm expected to sit on-call for 12 hours. I'm allowed to have such things in order to ensure I'm alert and ready when needed.
It's quite rare that I'd be taking it to a place where I have to sit & wait like the doctor's office, etc. Even a 15" is too big for places like that and a 10-12" netbook would be better, tucked in my jacket pocket.
A little light gaming is a GREAT way to pass the time at 1AM and there's no one around for hours.
I was able to snag a great deal on a Dell Latitude with 15" 1080P display and Radeon 8850 and a single 500GB SSHD hybrid hard drive for $700. Brand-spanking-new. Low-voltage dual-core i5 processor. Advantages; slightly faster video speed, new+warranty, fits current awesome laptop bag.
The alternative is a local shop that has an HP 8760W Workstation laptop for $500, less some of my old computer stuff to trade. 17" 1080P display, room for 2 hard drives plus one more if I replace the optical bay. Room for 4 DDR3 modules so I can upgrade from its current 8 to 16GB with sticks I already have... twice the 8GB of the Dell. I'll need to get a new laptop bag though...
Its video system is a Quadro 3000M which is only ~20% slower than the Radeon 8850. Full 4c/8t i7 processor for hot speed! Battery is used so may be poor... but even a brand new battery will only power this monster for ~90min at load anyway. Of course, it'd be plugged in 95% of the time anyway...
Advantages; better CPU speed, more RAM, bigger screen, easier to trade computers than sell on kijiji, lower initial cost, allows me to dump current desktop to get big upgrade hoped for.
I can return this machine to Dell with no problem, or possibly sell it at small profit since it's $850 new and I got it $200 off of that...
What do you think?
It's quite rare that I'd be taking it to a place where I have to sit & wait like the doctor's office, etc. Even a 15" is too big for places like that and a 10-12" netbook would be better, tucked in my jacket pocket.
A little light gaming is a GREAT way to pass the time at 1AM and there's no one around for hours.
I was able to snag a great deal on a Dell Latitude with 15" 1080P display and Radeon 8850 and a single 500GB SSHD hybrid hard drive for $700. Brand-spanking-new. Low-voltage dual-core i5 processor. Advantages; slightly faster video speed, new+warranty, fits current awesome laptop bag.
The alternative is a local shop that has an HP 8760W Workstation laptop for $500, less some of my old computer stuff to trade. 17" 1080P display, room for 2 hard drives plus one more if I replace the optical bay. Room for 4 DDR3 modules so I can upgrade from its current 8 to 16GB with sticks I already have... twice the 8GB of the Dell. I'll need to get a new laptop bag though...
Its video system is a Quadro 3000M which is only ~20% slower than the Radeon 8850. Full 4c/8t i7 processor for hot speed! Battery is used so may be poor... but even a brand new battery will only power this monster for ~90min at load anyway. Of course, it'd be plugged in 95% of the time anyway...
Advantages; better CPU speed, more RAM, bigger screen, easier to trade computers than sell on kijiji, lower initial cost, allows me to dump current desktop to get big upgrade hoped for.
I can return this machine to Dell with no problem, or possibly sell it at small profit since it's $850 new and I got it $200 off of that...
What do you think?
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