Looking for a new laptop

[macbdog]

I bought a $200 laptop off the discount table I the Walmart electronics section almost 2 years ago and it's still running strong. Only had to replace the cooling fan.

 

[el_capitan]

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/sys/d/macbook-pro-13retina/6552275985.html

Guy is asking for $600; but there's so many sellers out there, it's hard to ask a firm price -- sure you could probably get this for $550 or less. My only gripe is the 128 GB SSD... Think his price is a little high considering..

Yeah, me and the wife share the laptop and we're about 40GB away from filling up the 256GB so it would have to be 256 as a minimum. I'll have to keep an eye out around the Cleveland craigslist pages. Thanks!

 

[BMAN]

@gourimoko you convinced my girlfriend that i should get the Mac Pro with your response. So looks like I’m going with that haha

 

[BMAN]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-Ma...48276&wl11=online&wl12=53146887&wl13=&veh=sem

So I found this. Not sure if this is what you guys are talking about

 

[BMAN]

This new MacBook Pro I got is solid as fuck. Thanks for the input from everyone

 

[Marcus]

I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro with a Retina display about 5 years ago. It has shown no signs of slowing down at all. Definitely the best laptop I have ever owned.

 

[Marcus]

Looking at getting a new laptop. I am primarily going to be using it for purposes related to cyber security, IA, and forensics. As such, I will probably be running multiple virtual machines on it, mainly to set up lab and sandbox environments that will allow me to study and conduct research.

Any recommendations, RCF? Probably don’t need anything TOO fancy, but it should probably have decent processing power and memory.

 

[gourimoko]

Looking at getting a new laptop. I am primarily going to be using it for purposes related to cyber security, IA, and forensics. As such, I will probably be running multiple virtual machines on it, mainly to set up lab and sandbox environments that will allow me to study and conduct research.

Any recommendations, RCF? Probably don’t need anything TOO fancy, but it should probably have decent processing power and memory.

XPS 15 9570.

The biggest two problems are it has horrible screen ghosting in the 1080p version while the 4k model is probably the nicest laptop screen on the market; and the webcam is terribly positioned and just bad all around.

This is probably the best laptop there is if you get the 4k model, and for what we do, having six mobile cores is absolutely fantastic. Think about it, 50% more threads of execution means your primary OS never has to have less than two pinned cores; you can virtualize, fully, 8 threads of execution while leaving two full cores to the host OS.

IMHO, the Carbon X1 2018 is an awesome laptop but their latest gen is still not configurable for 6-core Coffee Lake -- like, WTF? I absolutely love this laptop though, and would prefer it to the XPS if not for this one difference.

I'm about to buy the 9570 myself -- but I was hoping to find something that would come along that would have similar or better business/productivity feature-set, while not having the ghosting issues @ 1080p (I don't need 4k on the laptop), has 6-cores, and is also upgradeable. The only laptop I've seen that checks those boxes is the XPS 15 9570.

 

[Marcus]

XPS 15 9570.

The biggest two problems are it has horrible screen ghosting in the 1080p version while the 4k model is probably the nicest laptop screen on the market; and the webcam is terribly positioned and just bad all around.

This is probably the best laptop there is if you get the 4k model, and for what we do, having six mobile cores is absolutely fantastic. Think about it, 50% more threads of execution means your primary OS never has to have less than two pinned cores; you can virtualize, fully, 8 threads of execution while leaving two full cores to the host OS.

IMHO, the Carbon X1 2018 is an awesome laptop but their latest gen is still not configurable for 6-core Coffee Lake -- like, WTF? I absolutely love this laptop though, and would prefer it to the XPS if not for this one difference.

I'm about to buy the 9570 myself -- but I was hoping to find something that would come along that would have similar or better business/productivity feature-set, while not having the ghosting issues @ 1080p (I don't need 4k on the laptop), has 6-cores, and is also upgradeable. The only laptop I've seen that checks those boxes is the XPS 15 9570.

Thanks for this.

Honestly, the newer model XPS’s are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve long kicked around the idea of getting one (or something very similar), but couldn’t justify spending the money while I had a fully functioning laptop that got the job done.

That being said, my older one is starting to go, and I’m kinda sorta using this as an excuse to get something new.

A little bit pricey (Amazon currently has them listed for $1700+) but you pay for quality, especially something that will last. Barring something dramatic, I won’t be making another laptop purchase until my MacBook starts to go.

 

[gourimoko]

Thanks for this.

Honestly, the newer model XPS’s are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve long kicked around the idea of getting one (or something very similar), but couldn’t justify spending the money while I had a fully functioning laptop that got the job done.

That being said, my older one is starting to go, and I’m kinda sorta using this as an excuse to get something new.

A little bit pricey (Amazon currently has them listed for $1700+) but you pay for quality, especially something that will last. Barring something dramatic, I won’t be making another laptop purchase until my MacBook starts to go.

My only additional advice would be to go to Best Buy and use the XPS in person... Both the 1080p and the 4k side-by-side.... If they don't have both, try a nearby Microsoft store.. But that's the key difference.

Some people cannot see the ghosting, or it doesn't matter to them. I just happen to be really sensitive to it I guess.. It's the reason I swapped out my older XPS 15 1080p for the 4k model, even though it killed my battery life and I hate the Windows shit scaling (even though I'm running Arch now).

But if you don't mind the ghosting, the 1080p version is great... I noticed it mostly in scrolling terminals.. Think tmux with side-by-side panels running zsh and shits scrolling (green on black Consolas-like text).. Just a blurry mess on the older XPS... Can't speak for the new one though.. But ... many people have said each panel is different, so some people may not even have the problem?? That's why I say you should see them in person to test your tolerance.

 

[Marcus]

My only additional advice would be to go to Best Buy and use the XPS in person... Both the 1080p and the 4k side-by-side.... If they don't have both, try a nearby Microsoft store.. But that's the key difference.

Some people cannot see the ghosting, or it doesn't matter to them. I just happen to be really sensitive to it I guess.. It's the reason I swapped out my older XPS 15 1080p for the 4k model, even though it killed my battery life and I hate the Windows shit scaling (even though I'm running Arch now).

But if you don't mind the ghosting, the 1080p version is great... I noticed it mostly in scrolling terminals.. Think tmux with side-by-side panels running zsh and shits scrolling (green on black Consolas-like text).. Just a blurry mess on the older XPS... Can't speak for the new one though.. But ... many people have said each panel is different, so some people may not even have the problem?? That's why I say you should see them in person to test your tolerance.

It’s funny you mention that, because whenever I’m there, the XPS is what I always check out whenever I wander over to that section. I don’t seem to remember them having a 4K model on display, but I could be mistaken. (Mainly because I only remember their models being like ~$1400 at the most.) At any rate, the display capabilities are great. Having worked previously with other XPS laptops (I used to be a computer repair tech), screen ghosting is not something I noticed - is this a relatively new problem, or has it always been there? I’ll definitely try it and see if I notice anything, as I’m curious now.

 

[gourimoko]

It’s funny you mention that, because whenever I’m there, the XPS is what I always check out whenever I wander over to that section. I don’t seem to remember them having a 4K model on display, but I could be mistaken. (Mainly because I only remember their models being like ~$1400 at the most.) At any rate, the display capabilities are great. Having worked previously with other XPS laptops (I used to be a computer repair tech), screen ghosting is not something I noticed - is this a relatively new problem, or has it always been there? I’ll definitely try it and see if I notice anything, as I’m curious now.

It was present in the 9550 on some of their 1080p panels. Some worse than others.. Mine was fucking brutal, but the display model on the floor at Best Buy was okay -- you could see it, but it wasn't bad.

I don't game on my laptops seriously these days, so gaming to me is mostly irrelevant. But scrolling text is a thing -- I spend the majority of my time in a text editor (Vim these days) or an IDE or on the console..

There a shit ton of forum posts on Dell's site about the issue, with many people sending their 9550s back and getting replacement panels that they say worked out much better. So it could be a manufacturing issue where some people got bad panels.

I haven't read anything about the 9570 and the ghosting problem though and it only affects the 1080p panel.

 

[Ohdang]

I'm leaning towards pulling the trigger on this:

https://smile.amazon.com/ZenBook-Pr...d=1530841131&sr=1-4&keywords=asus+zenbook+pro

Its exactly what I'm looking to spend, ideally ($1000-$1200). I can be persuaded to go up to about $1500 if its the difference between something good and something great.

I built every PC I've ever owned, but my days of custom gaming rigs are over. I work from home a bit now and take call so the portability is very desirable. But it will also be my only computer, so I need an all around workhorse.

Any opinions on my choice? I've seen a lot of mentions in this thread about Dell XPS laptops, but I'm very ignorant with laptops.

@gourimoko halp

 

[gourimoko]

I'm leaning towards pulling the trigger on this:

https://smile.amazon.com/ZenBook-Pro-UX501VW-TouchScreen-UltraBook/dp/B071CTS1DM/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1530841131&sr=1-4&keywords=asus zenbook pro

Its exactly what I'm looking to spend, ideally ($1000-$1200). I can be persuaded to go up to about $1500 if its the difference between something good and something great.

I built every PC I've ever owned, but my days of custom gaming rigs are over. I work from home a bit now and take call so the portability is very desirable. But it will also be my only computer, so I need an all around workhorse.

Any opinions on my choice? I've seen a lot of mentions in this thread about Dell XPS laptops, but I'm very ignorant with laptops.

@gourimoko halp

Do you NEED the 4K touchscreen? I guarantee you are spending at least $200+ on that alone...

Do you game? What kind of productivity work do you do?

How important is portability?

This laptop is a 6th generation i7.. 8th gen laptops hit the market about 3-4 months ago.. The laptop uses a GTX 960 when there are current laptops with 10-series cards (1050 Ti and up)..

It's got Thunderbolt 3 and 16 GB of ram; all of which is great, but.. again, what will you be using it for?

p.s.
Check this out:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...-15-9570-laptop/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop?~ck=bt

That's the XPS 15 9570, in multiple configurations.

If you game, please see:
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/m27242vs3649

That's a comparison of the 1050 Ti vs the 960m ..

Also note that the XPS 15 is Coffee Lake (8th gen) and is a hexa-core 6 CPU i7; so you get 50% more cores (50% more concurrent workload) and you're 2 architectures ahead (about 5% performance improvement IPC vs Skylake).

Also the XPS 15 gets you a 3.9 Ghz All Core Turbo Boost vs the 3.3 Ghz All Core on the Skylake.. You'd need to have someone change out the thermal paste on the XPS 15 to sustain those speeds without throttling, however, for just a $80 liquid metal thermal solution you could sustain that turbo all day long so long as the GPU wasn't in use.

That's a very significant difference in performance... At least 25% per core; and again, you've got 50% more cores.

If $1500 were my maximum budget; that'd be the laptop I'd buy and I'd look for a refurb, Amazon Warehouse Deal, open box, or whatever to get the price down.

I own the previous model of the XPS 15, but I'm about to buy a Gigabyte Aero 15X once they come back in stock... the laptops I was looking at before deciding were the MSI GS65, the Aero 15X, the XPS 9560 and the 9570 (i9) variant, and the Razer Stealth 15.

All 4 are basically the best laptops on the market, IMHO; and the MSI can be had for around $1750, IIRC.

 

[Ohdang]

Do you NEED the 4K touchscreen? I guarantee you are spending at least $200+ on that alone...

Do you game? What kind of productivity work do you do?

How important is portability?

This laptop is a 6th generation i7.. 8th gen laptops hit the market about 3-4 months ago.. The laptop uses a GTX 960 when there are current laptops with 10-series cards (1050 Ti and up)..

It's got Thunderbolt 3 and 16 GB of ram; all of which is great, but.. again, what will you be using it for?

p.s.
Check this out:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...-15-9570-laptop/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop?~ck=bt

That's the XPS 15 9570, in multiple configurations.

If you game, please see:
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/m27242vs3649

That's a comparison of the 1050 Ti vs the 960m ..

Also note that the XPS 15 is Coffee Lake (8th gen) and is a hexa-core 6 CPU i7; so you get 50% more cores (50% more concurrent workload) and you're 2 architectures ahead (about 5% performance improvement IPC vs Skylake).

Also the XPS 15 gets you a 3.9 Ghz All Core Turbo Boost vs the 3.3 Ghz All Core on the Skylake.. You'd need to have someone change out the thermal paste on the XPS 15 to sustain those speeds without throttling, however, for just a $80 liquid metal thermal solution you could sustain that turbo all day long so long as the GPU wasn't in use.

That's a very significant difference in performance... At least 25% per core; and again, you've got 50% more cores.

If $1500 were my maximum budget; that'd be the laptop I'd buy and I'd look for a refurb, Amazon Warehouse Deal, open box, or whatever to get the price down.

I own the previous model of the XPS 15, but I'm about to buy a Gigabyte Aero 15X once they come back in stock... the laptops I was looking at before deciding were the MSI GS65, the Aero 15X, the XPS 9560 and the 9570 (i9) variant, and the Razer Stealth 15.

All 4 are basically the best laptops on the market, IMHO; and the MSI can be had for around $1750, IIRC.

Thanks for the response, very helpful.

There's actually an open box XPS 9560 on bestbuy.com right now for $1495 that I might pull the trigger on. Any good reason not to? Maybe a deal on Amazon Prime Day in a few weeks?