Suggestions for development laptop

[MystereMan]

I've been googling for hours, and coming up short every time I turn around. I am hoping someone here can help me find what i'm looking for.

I'm searching for a new laptop that will be primarily used for software development. Here's the specs i'd like, obviously I may not get all this, but I will explain my priorities afterwards.

• Haswell i7
• 16GB (pref 32GB) Max Memory (doesn't have to come with it)
• 256GB (pref 512GB) 6GB/s SSD (alternatively, a large hybrid drive)
• 13"-17" Capacitive Touch LED Backit IPS Screen (Pref 14-16)
• Minimum 5 Hour battery life
• 802.11g/n/ac + Gigabit Ethernet
• HDMI 1.4 output (prefer DisplayPort and HDMI 1.4)
• Bluetooth 4
• USB 3
• Backlit keyboard
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) (Requirement for work)

Things I do not care about (but wouldn't reject because of)

• Optical Drive of any kind
• GPU (built-in intel is fine)
• Any kind of gaming features
• Gaudy gaming culture styling
• High end audio - standard is fine
• Operating System - I'll install my own anyways.

I know this is a tall order, but price is not (much of) an issue. I'd spend $2500 but not $4000. I need a lot of memory because I need to run virtual machines, and run memory hungry development tools.

I'm prepared to accept a relatively heavy piece of hardware if necessary, though I would of course prefer as light as possible.

It seems like all the hardware out there i'm finding is either limited to 8GB max memory, or doesn't offer SSD or Hybrid options (yes, I could replace it, but i'd rather not pay for it and have to buy another drive). It's also hard to find a touch enabled screen and a powerful system. It's like they think no power users will want to use touch.

I'm pretty agnostic as far as manufacturers go.

Any suggestions?

 

[JasonCoder]

Not sure it's spot on but a good read nontheless: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Initi...4thGenerationDeveloperPrototypeUltrabook.aspx

 

[Ketchup]

I have one of these and very happy with it. Mine is an Ivy Bridge and gives me about 6 hours of battery. Had it about 3 months. My particular model has one memory slot with an 8 GB stick and 3 free slots.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...w-series/w530/

 

[MystereMan]

Not sure it's spot on but a good read nontheless: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Initi...4thGenerationDeveloperPrototypeUltrabook.aspx

Yes, it's a good read.. and of course, a complete prototype that will never be for sale.

I have one of these and very happy with it. Mine is an Ivy Bridge and gives me about 6 hours of battery. Had it about 3 months. My particular model has one memory slot with an 8 GB stick and 3 free slots.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...w-series/w530/

That's not a bad battery life, but do you use it heavily? It's also not a Haswell. I've been holding of on a laptop purchase specifically so I could get a Haswell system. I'm not going to compromise on that. But it does have some nice features, for sure.

 

[Ketchup]

That's not a bad battery life, but do you use it heavily? It's also not a Haswell. I've been holding of on a laptop purchase specifically so I could get a Haswell system. I'm not going to compromise on that. But it does have some nice features, for sure.

In that case, you may want to look at a Y model:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...-series/y510p/

I used it every day, and weekends I am on call. For example, I was probably on it for 24 hours if not more this weekend. My last one was a T510, and I was really surprised at how much more more battery life the Ivy had over the i5 in the T510. I am sure the Haswell has even more.

 

[sm625]

[*]Haswell i7

Are you looking for a 4 core 8 thread cpu? If you're going to be doing serious work on it then you dont need it to be haswell. All haswell gets you is a better gpu and better battery life, neither of which seem relevent for your purposes. You'll get a much better price on a ivy i7. Also, you might find a better deal on something that has a discrete gpu, counterintuitive as that might sound. You'll definitely have to upgrade the RAM and HDD yourself if you want the best deal. If you can do that you should be able to find what you need for around $1200.