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Here's my write-up[^].
I'll go a surface Pro when it slims down a little more and meets the specs of the Macbook Air (battery life is the big one, but RAM, and frankly price, are issues too)
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I hate laptop keyboards. However, the Dell Precision Mobile Workstations are worth looking at since you can get a docking station and use a real keyboard and full size monitors.
For trivial use, I highly recommend ASUS.
One thing that really frustrates me with the current laptop offerings (besides the keyboards and touch pads) are how few SSD options there are and much prices are inflated for those options. By far the biggest issues I see with the laptops of family and friends are hard disk failures (and charger connectors.)
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I have a desktop for daily use and a laptop as both a backup and travelling machine.
I bought the laptop last year from Dell.
Alienware 17
Intel(R) i7-4710HQ [4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)]
16GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (2x8GB)
1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 1
490-BCLJ NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 980M with 4GB GDDR5 1
555-BCDR Killer 1525 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 1
555-BCIC Killer Wireless 1525 Driver 1
(At the time) Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit English - since upgraded to Win10 Pro
As a bonus, it's a great gaming machine.
Cheers,
Mike Fidler
"I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright
"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright
"I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit, but it wouldn't matter." Steven Wright yet again.
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I resisted buying a new laptop for years as I have a great desktop setup -- Core i7 with 24 GB of memory, dual video cards and four monitors, plus my own virtual server farm on the network. I still do most of my development on that.
But a few years ago I had to go on-site with the current development project, and be able to make changes in the code. At that point my portable technology was a little 10-inch netbook, so I had no choice but to get something decent that could handle Visual Studio and a database client.
After some searching I found an Asus N56V -- Core i7, 8GB (which I upgraded to 16GB), a 750GB drive, Blu-Ray reader, and a 1920*1080 15.6 screen. It has an aluminum chassis, came with little in the way of crapware, and has performed flawlessly now for over 3 years. I have a virtual network running on it with a Windows Server and a database server, so I can do full Web development within its own few pounds of weight anywhere that I want.
The biggest drawback with it was Windows 10. It came with Win 8, and I let it get upgraded. Now, every time Windows decides to upgrade, it kills the touchpad drivers and screws up the backlit keyboard, all because MS thinks it has better drivers (it doesn't, most assuredly).
From a hardware standpoint, its 6-cell battery didn't give it much life, but I found a good 9-cell on eBay that not only fixes the longevity issue, but props up the base to a nice angle for typing.
Highly recommended, and I won't part with it until it dies.
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I think there's a way to lock down the drivers so that they don't get killed by MS Update, but I can't find it right now.
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Asus N76VZ that I got 50% off because it was a shelf model. Excellent full sized keyboard, wide screen, decent battery life, 2 x 500G HDD, excellent sound with pluggable external woofer. I've had it for a year and has served me very well. Upgrade to Win10 was fine. Track pad is a little too sensitive for me and won't stay shut off.
Highly recommended.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx
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HP ZBook15, with 500GB SSD for system and 16GB RAM. Extended with Dell 24" IPS monitor.
Great machine, specially if you are MS stack dev and have 2-3 Visual Studio projects opened simultaneously.
It runs every available 1st-person shooters, either 
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Early 2011 17" MacBook Pro, with 2nd Gen Quad Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 1TB internal SSD. It was my main work machine from June 2011 to May 2015. Now my main work machine is a 27" 5K iMac and I keep my working files on an external Thunderbolt SSD so I can easily switch to the laptop when I need to work away from my desk or on the road. I primarily program in Java using IntelliJ IDEA, but I also run Windows Server and Linux, using VMWare Fusion, which performs fine for my needs.
FWIW - I also own 2 Sony VAIO's, a Gateway netbook, and an HP netbook, but all but the newest VAIO (2010, 1st Gen Quad Core i7), rarely see any action.
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I have an ASUS laptop with core i7 and 6 GB RAM. I changed the disk for an SSD. 
It runs perfectly Visual Studio 2015, SQL Server developer, XAMPP, and a couple of virtual machines (not all at the same time!). It's light and has a decent screen (not spectacular).
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Okay, I have an i7 Dell M6600 with 32GB RAM, Dual 1TB SSDs. I have 3 external monitors (one through a USB adapter) that I use when screen sharing with users with tiny monitors.
I could not be happier. I have a spare one with 16GB, and no drives in it, in case this one fails.
I have 2 sets of spare HDD drives. If/when it fails, I can swap to the other machine by moving my SSDs, or popping the most recent clones, or restoring from the NAS. The upside of this, is that I actually practice disaster recovery. It takes 5hrs to restore my system.
Now, this thing is HEAVY. I don't use the laptop mode MUCH, but I do travel with it. I am as likely to travel with a spare monitor as well. I have just about lost the ability to use a single monitor computer effectively. But I live in meetings and in development.
I don't take it to the coffee shop. EVER. It is heavy. My computer bag has wheels as my back cannot handle this plus its power brick. But once in the bag, I have everything I need to go somewhere, and setup. I have a spare docking station I can travel with, and do.
This December, I will consider upgrading one of my drives to a 2 TB SSD as my VMs keep growing.
It runs multiple VMs just fine. Normally I am below 10% CPU.
Very happy with this setup.
We have a surface book pro 4. I think you could code on it. In a pinch, it is great. Have not run VMs on it. Great as a remote access and email/web device.
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A refurbished Mac book Pro with 13"/i7/16G/1TB as this
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G0QP2LL/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-pro-31ghz-dual-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display
Simply made it with half storage for Boot Camp/Windows 10 and it worked quite well.
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I use an ASUS ROG G751JL laptop.
Intel Core i7 (4th Gen) 4720HQ / 2.6 GHz
17in Screen
500g ssd
1TB HDD
16g ram
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M - 2 GB GDDR5 SDRAM
I run VS2015 & SQL Server and some VM's with no problems and can still play a game!
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I use a Dell M3800 for my everyday development. But to be precise, I don't do all my development on it. A lot of my work is done on virtual servers on the network. It's got all that I need and in a great format. Aircraft aluminum case and light as hell. So whether it's doing design on the run or sitting down at the office it gets the job done. My only issue with it is that it gets hot when running a heavy graphics load.
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I have a Surface pro 2. With the power cover keyboard battery detachable battery thingy. 20 hours give or take on a full charge.
I do like it alot. I can edit videos on the thing if I need to. Yes the screen is small but with the docking station I connect to a full size keyboard and monitors.
Yes I do 90% of my work in one of two locations at work or at home office. and yes a desktop at one of those places would be easier. But having two primary locations the tablet/laptop form factor is sooo much better. Also, if I am on the road for some reason(last week) I can do all my work including reviewing code, designing web sites, SQL command edits etc..... you name it from the surface all by itself. is it as nice as being at home? NO, but it does get the job done.
Each person works differently. I am seriously thinking that next computer will be the lenovo yoga. Mainly because it supports linux completely and I think that is where I might be in the near future so I need that flexibility.
To err is human to really mess up you need a computer
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I've got so used to a natural keyboard that I literally can't hit correct keys and slow to a craw in a normal keyboard, let alone a compact keyboard like all laptops provided with tiny screen real estate.
I carry my own keyboard (30+ year old Microsoft PS2 Natural Keyboard) to all companies I work for. I have 4 32" monitors setup too.
Please, anything but don't make me code in laptop.
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I've been using Thinkpads since the mid-90s. I've tried a Toshiba once and learned my lesson to never leave the Thinkpad. I've worked on Dells before and they're a step better than Toshiba. But Thinkpads by far are the best I've ever seen. They're built very well.
Right now, I have a Thinkpad W540 (the workstation version). I've been eyeing the new P70s that Lenovo just introduced. They're "nasty" powerful.
My current W540 has 1TB of SSD and 32GBytes of RAM set up with three monitors (I tried four, but that pushed the video card too hard). I work on various VMWare instances for coding as I still have to support legacy software (I, unfortunately, need Windows XP). I also develop iOS mobile apps, so I have a VMWare VM for Maverick OS.
I've upgraded to Windows 10 and actually like it. Especially, since I purchased the $5.00 Stardock Start10 app that converts Windows 10 into a Windows 7 look and feel. This allowed for a non-existent transition.
I do have a Surface Pro which I set up with a development environment (Visual Studio 2015 and all the bells) so that whenever I travel, I have something lightweight to fix any problems that come up and people are in a panic. I can at least make fixes on the Surface and keep things going. It isn't something I would code with on a daily basis.
I like the fact I'm mobile with a laptop. I can take it when I go see my customers and demo my latest software for their feedback.
It's really the way to go.
Enjoy!
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Hi RealTodd,
Why waste your money on a MAC????
Acer makes nice cheap laptops for less than 1/4 the price of a MacBook.
Upgrade HD to a SSD and away you go. Buy two so you have a backup and you are still way cheaper than the MAC. I models are updated so often why spend a fortune? That's my 2 cents worth from 28 years of experience with computer hardware.
mike
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After 37 years of dealing with hardware, I would say, though cliche, that you get what you pay for. Apple quality is quite superb: good screen, well machined, nice battery life. It *IS* a little overpriced, but not as much as most believe. A person can "get by" with a cheap chunk of plastic; however, better hardware improves one's sense of self worth. My experience is that developers that feel better about themselves will produce better code; those "on the cheap" create code that is "adequate".
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I believe I understand what you are saying but I think it is illusion. Not really much difference inside in this day and age. All mass produced. From what I've seen inside you are mainly paying for perceived prestige and marketing. I haven't found Apple products any more reliable. Sometimes even less - power supplies, video chips, etc. giving up the ghost. If the specs are what you need go for it but brands and price alone mean nothing. As in smoke and mirrors.
I remember in the old days when people went on about reliable hard drives and I looked at my large stack of crashed drives...pretty much equal numbers of all brands. Much more like slot machines at the casino. I've done a lot of data recovery over the years. Kept some drives going while blowing a fan over ice to cool it.
My $395 on sale Acer laptop is chugging along fine after 15 months. If you are happy with what you have that's good. My sense of worth does not depend upon some piece of hardware but rather on what I have done.
Best to all, Mike
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Wizard of Id[^]
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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from the prying eyes of the FBI.
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I was in traffic passing the stadium while the Offaly / London gaelic football match was in progress on Saturday.
A man and his five year old son were walking by at the same time, when the match ball came over the stadium wall, bounced twice near them and was caught expertly by the little boy. Both father and son continued walking with junior clutching the ball as if he'd had it all along.
Good job they have spares at these things!
Ger
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Ger Hayden wrote: Offaly 0-17, London 1-07
So who won? 
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