Need help in knowing if descrete graphics is required.

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...sing-visual-studio-community-edition.2562701/

I know it is a weird question. The current laptop that I have is a Q550LF Got it from best buy sometime in September or October 2014. Bestbuy still has it in their website database. However I do not know which one I exactly bought (one just has the windows 8.1 update) (I got mine with the optical disk drive) (however I think I did do an update to 8.1), link 1 and link 2. It still is able to update to Windows 10 1809, currently typing this thread in 1809. However after the update it really is acting up.. very little... Windows Explorer could sometimes freeze if I right click and click or hover long enough over "New" to create something new. Other than that, I leave it on 24/7 unless an update or if I really have to take it somewhere. I have disabled sleep on it as sleep rarely if ever works, *separate issue*. It has the effects of 4-5 years, space bar is a barely a little bent, sometimes space would not type because of that, I feel a bunch of touchscreen contacts have been broken.

Good and a little weird news is..... I only have received 5 bad blocks in one instance on Event viewer for the HD.... but this was a while back in December 2018 or January 2019, meaning the HD of my device is slightly longer lasting.

NOW BACK TO THE QUESTION.

Other than hardware age problems, for school work related purposes during undergrad I used the 745M for Android Studio and Android Studio Device Emulation (Android Studio would give error messages if I tried using the integrated Intel HD 4000). I am doing masters now in a field related to Computer and IT/Network Security.

I am looking for a laptop with similar functionality (at least 8 hour battery, Touch screen, numpad, Ethernet port, at least 8GB ram, light up keyboard, and 1TB Hard Drive or 1 TB SSD.), Optionally preferred is Optical Drive, and max price at $1,500.
Other than the Asus laptops I looked at online... I also looked into lenovo ThinkPads, but only 1 is going with my options and that is, Lenovo ThinkPad P52, my question is ifit is necessary to have a GPU for android studio and the Emulator, does the Quadro work with Android Studio?
 
Last edited:

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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methinks this would be best in programming. let me know if you'd like it moved there.


my question is ifit is necessary to have a GPU for android studio and the Emulator, does the Quadro work with Android Studio?
you might also want to ask your question off the bat rather than giving a long personal history and several anecdotes. but you can fix that part yourself.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
2,390
709
136
@ElFenix sent you a reply to your message to me. Yes I would like to have this thread in OT moved to programming, and the other thread locked.


Done.

AT Moderator ElFenix
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,277
125
106
You probably won't find an optical drive on a laptop.

That being said, just about any laptop will fit the bill nicely, especially at that $1500 price point.

I wouldn't worry to much about integrated graphics causing problems, both Intel and AMD have gotten much better in terms of performance and compatibility.

I've had some pretty good experiences with Dell XPS's

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
2,390
709
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You probably won't find an optical drive on a laptop.

That being said, just about any laptop will fit the bill nicely, especially at that $1500 price point.

I wouldn't worry to much about integrated graphics causing problems, both Intel and AMD have gotten much better in terms of performance and compatibility.

I've had some pretty good experiences with Dell XPS's

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop

I only found touch option in the $2,000 one :(

Buget changed to $1,250.
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,277
125
106
Wait, why do you want/need a touch screen? Mine has one, but I would rather it didn't. It makes the screen messy to use it and ultimately a mouse is more useful for me.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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Wait, why do you want/need a touch screen? Mine has one, but I would rather it didn't. It makes the screen messy to use it and ultimately a mouse is more useful for me.

I am currently a grad student, and would like to sometimes take notes, using a computer. Also, sometimes if there is big project, I could use it for planing space, why use scrap paper and chop trees?
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,277
125
106
Understood. I can generally type faster than I can write, so I've honestly just done that.

If you are doing math heavy stuff, it might make sense to learn something like latex or even just your favorite text editor's formula formatting language. Back in my college days I could write (and read) a formula faster and better on the computer than I could with pen and paper.

If you still want the touch requirement, I've had the surface pro 3rd gen (though, outside of your price range) and it works great. You could look at the Surface Go for something much cheaper (that should still be able to do 90% of what you want to do).

If you need a bigger screen, you can look into just getting docking station.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-go/tech-specs

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023452/surface-docking-stations
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
2,390
709
136
Understood. I can generally type faster than I can write, so I've honestly just done that.

If you are doing math heavy stuff, it might make sense to learn something like latex or even just your favorite text editor's formula formatting language. Back in my college days I could write (and read) a formula faster and better on the computer than I could with pen and paper.

If you still want the touch requirement, I've had the surface pro 3rd gen (though, outside of your price range) and it works great. You could look at the Surface Go for something much cheaper (that should still be able to do 90% of what you want to do).

If you need a bigger screen, you can look into just getting docking station.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-go/tech-specs

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023452/surface-docking-stations

It has the following.
Intel® Pentium® Processor 4415Y

2M Cache, 1.60 GHz
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...entium-processor-4415y-2m-cache-1-60-ghz.html

I don't think I stated my requirements of some programs that I use.
Microsoft Visual studio 2019 requirements:


Hardware

  • 1.8 GHz or faster processor. Quad-core or better recommended
  • 2 GB of RAM; 8 GB of RAM recommended (2.5 GB minimum if running on a virtual machine)
  • Hard disk space: Minimum of 800MB up to 210 GB of available space, depending on features installed; typical installations require 20-50 GB of free space.
  • Hard disk speed: to improve performance, install Windows and Visual Studio on a solid state drive (SSD).
  • Video card that supports a minimum display resolution of 720p (1280 by 720); Visual Studio will work best at a resolution of WXGA (1366 by 768) or higher.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releases/2019/system-requirements

Android Device Simulator requirements:
The Android Emulator has additional requirements beyond the basic system requirements for Android Studio:


  • SDK Tools 26.1.1 or higher
  • 64-bit processor
  • Windows: CPU with UG (unrestricted guest) support
  • HAXM 6.2.1 or later (HAXM 7.2.0 or later recommended)

The use of hardware acceleration has additional requirements on Windows and Linux:


  • Intel processor on Windows or Linux: Intel processor with support for Intel VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality
  • AMD processor on Linux: AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3)
  • AMD processor on Windows: Android Studio 3.2 or higher and Windows 10 April 2018 release or higher for Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHPX) functionality

To work with Android 8.1 (API level 27) and higher system images, an attached webcam must have the capability to capture 720p frames.

https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator#requirements_and_recommendations

Android Studio:
Windows

  • Microsoft® Windows® 7/8/10 (32- or 64-bit)
  • 3 GB RAM minimum, 8 GB RAM recommended; plus 1 GB for the Android Emulator
  • 2 GB of available disk space minimum,
    4 GB Recommended (500 MB for IDE + 1.5 GB for Android SDK and emulator system image)
  • 1280 x 800 minimum screen resolution
https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html#Requirements


WIRESHARK:
Wireshark should support any version of Windows that is still within its extended support lifetime. At the time of writing this includes Windows 10, 8, 7, Server 2019, Server 2016, Server 2012 R2, Server 2012, and Server 2008 R2. It also requires the following:


  • The Universal C Runtime. This is included with Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 and is installed automatically on earlier versions if Microsoft Windows Update is enabled. Otherwise you must install KB2999226 or KB3118401.
  • Any modern 64-bit AMD64/x86-64 or 32-bit x86 processor.
  • 500 MB available RAM. Larger capture files require more RAM.
  • 500 MB available disk space. Capture files require additional disk space.
  • Any modern display. 1280 × 1024 or higher resolution is recommended. Wireshark will make use of HiDPI or Retina resolutions if available. Power users will find multiple monitors useful.
  • A supported network card for capturing

https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/ChIntroPlatforms.html

The following is what I found supports those things in the price range.

$859.99

  • Sapphire Blue
  • Windows 10 Pro 64
  • Intel® Core™ i7-7500U (2.7 GHz , up to 3.5 GHz, 4 MB cache, 2 cores) + NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 (2 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
  • 12 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM (1 x 4 GB, 1 x 8 GB)
  • 15.6" diagonal FHD IPS BrightView WLED-backlit touch screen (1920 x 1080)
  • 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA; 16 GB PCIe® NVMe™ Intel® Optane™
  • 16 GB PCIe® NVMe™ Intel® Optane™
  • Office Software Trial
  • Security Software Trial
  • 3-cell, 41 Wh Lithium-ion prismatic Battery
  • No DVD or CD Drive
  • Full-size island-style backlit keyboard(Natural Silver)
  • HP Wide Vision HD Camera with Dual digital microphone (Sapphire Blue)
  • Intel® 802.11b/g/n/ac (1x1) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 Combo
  • HP Pavilion - 15t Laptop
https://store.hp.com/us/en/Configur...Iu-G2kImbg8GLETwry_WKpP29v1UQPhLQAJhKNrHw_wcB