Best Laptop for MFE Students

[C S]

As someone that's used Mac laptops for a while now, I've come to the conclusion that it's best to get a laptop with a lot of computing power that can easily run Linux, e.g. Ubuntu, in addition to Windows. Matlab and R can be quite slow at times, and it can really make a difference if you have a gamer's dream type laptop, rather than a Mac. The reason for Linux is that the tools available there are just so much more powerful generally and also knowing Linux can sometimes be a make-or-break thing in an interview.

I'd also recommend getting an SSD. Life just won't be the same. It works out very similarly to having a huge amount of RAM.

 

[mhy]

I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch from 2010. My MFE program requires Visual Studio, so I have VirtualBox with XP installed. Depending on the kind of coursework, I may end up buying a fast Windows laptop with Core i7 on it.

At home I keep a dual 24-inch screen powerhouse desktop PC with an i7, 16G of RAM, and gaming-friendly GPU.

 

[Ole Bueker]

5.5kg, easy deployment, right...might as well carry your personal computer in your backpack.

 

[IntoDarkness]

putting a 3d screen and xeon to a notebook is not really an innovation... and the screen resolution is a bit low. id rather buy a loaded w540

 

[ExSan]

i like it, rather wait for the ultrabook version

 

[GoIllini]

For the folks looking for a decent price on a reasonably fast laptop, this seems like a decent deal. Core I5 w/ 8 GB RAM $465:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspir...93821001?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item3f30551149

I have something similar with an older Core I5 and 8 GB RAM in a clunker of a 17" laptop. It's great at running backtests, handling arrays and matrices with lengths into the millions, and providing the JVM with 2 gigs of memory while I have Excel open, am debugging in Eclipse, and have a copy of R and Internet Explorer open.

For an extra $95, you can get a Core i7:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latitu...91589538?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item3f303304a2

A Dell Inspiron case is not exactly something made with the quality of a Lenovo or Sony, but it's a half step up from an HP or Acer on the build quality. Mine has survived multiple drops, even getting rained on when I accidentally left it in the back of my car with the window down. The first thing to break on an HP is the cooling system, and after two years, I have no complaints to report on my Dell Inspiron. You can probably get an HP for a bit cheaper, but it's worth a $50 premium for a grad student.

 

[MRoss]

Either that Billy guy is a spambot or he's using a link to get commission for the sale of one of those mammoths.

Now a little story for you. This guy AlexandreH (who use to frequent these forms) bought a massive 17" Asus beast for MFE. In the middle of the program he couldn't stand the weight and just got a Mac Air which served him fine through three heavy-programming courses. Keep in mind this was the Mac Air from 3 generations ago. The current ones are far more powerful.

So am I telling you to get a Mac? No. Just buy whatever computer is in your budget, is from a good brand (not HP), and has the weight and look you desire. It will get your through MFE without breaking a sweat. Sure for truly heavy computing you would need a discrete graphics card, but realistically in an MFE program it will almost never come to that.

Gaming is an entirely different story. For gaming or those obsessed with the idea of a light but powerful computer for school I would recommend the Gigabyte 14" laptops.

 

[Menascyn]

Now a little story for you. This guy AlexandreH (who use to frequent these forms) bought a massive 17" Asus beast for MFE. In the middle of the program he couldn't stand the weight and just got a Mac Air which served him fine through three heavy-programming courses. Keep in mind this was the Mac Air from 3 generations ago. The current ones are far more powerful.

I have a 17" Macbook Pro (6.6 lbs) and I think it is pretty heavy. Another annoying thing is wasted space. When I use the internet (especially forums), only the middle 50-60% of the screen is actually used. At the bottom of the body, there are two large spaces (each twice as large as the trackpad) that are unused. One plus is when I read PDFs, I flip them 90° and put my laptop at a 90°. The result is reading the PDF much larger than it would be if it were printed out. All in all, it's just not that practical. It's too big to use on my lap comfortably, and I feel that is the biggest issue. I've done some upgrades and it's a great computer in terms of performance.

I'm not anywhere close to an MFE program, but I just thought I'd share my experience with large laptops.

 

[ExSan]

something has been deleted here ... why? is it possible to restore that post ?

 

[MRoss]

something has been deleted here ... why? is it possible to restore that post ?

Haha I guess Andy agrees that Billy is a spammer. And I don't think anyone would benefit from that being restored.

 

[moretodo]

M personal favourite is the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro. Light, sturdy, full aluminium body, SSD, 8 GB RAM and i7-4500 processor are more than good enough to run computations even in a rigorous MFE program

 

[ExSan]

2 nice ultrabooks, samsung looks better

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon/4505-3121_7-35833730.html
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/samsung-ativ-book-9/4505-3121_7-35796875.html

the bad: SSD 128 GB not enough, wait for the 500Gb

are they note taking capable ?

 

[MRoss]

2 nice ultrabooks, samsung looks better

are they note taking capable ?

Notes? They are not tablets.

Besides once you are in the mood to spend well over $1000 to bust an ultrabook better spring for the Asus. There new ultrabooks are jaw-dropping gorgeous.

In short? These aren't worth the money. If you want a very capable 3lb sleek ultrabook for well under $1000 just buy the Asus UX32VD on eBay for $700. I used it for months and it remains one of the only ultrabooks with a dedicated graphics card. Besides, it is customizable so you can do what I did: Purchase a brand new 256GB SSD drive for $200 on Amazon and WHAMOO! You have a sleek 3 lbs dedicated graphics 256GB SSD i7 ultrabook... for all under $1000.

 

[DanielChow]

I am considering a MacBook Pro Retina due to its better processor. Is a ULV processor sufficient?

 

[CandyOates]

@mhy On Mac I believe you can install VisualStudio compatibility into the C/C++ perspective in Eclipse, and perhaps also in kdevelop. Both are free and can be run from OS X.

 

[AlexanderJ]

Either Lenovo or Macbook.
I personally have a Mac and it has been working perfectly for 2 years.

 

[danielruc]

Personally recommending TP X series.
I bought my X201i 4 years ago when I started my college. It still looks so good in shape and performance. And the shape of a small black box is great representations of geek culture~~:D
Also, the reason I recommend X series is that last time I send my laptop to upgrade, the person there told me X series have the lowest repairing rates in their internal record.

 

[John Marks]

How much excel is needed?

 

[Quant4Life]

I paid $1,300 (including SSD upgrade) for HP envy 15 touch-smart:
Quad Core i7 4700MQ (most important)
16GB RAM (also very important)
Samsung SSD 500GB (also very important)
Nvidia 740 GT (not important)
a spare battery (useful)
etc...

I know people will argue that HP quality does't compare with Apple or Lenovo and I agree. But no Apple or even lenovo with similar configs. as mine would cost that little. Also, I don't personally seek a laptop that would last 3-4 years. My goal is to upgrade every 2 years, to get a more powerful and new machine, with new generation technologies, especially CPU, SSD and RAM. Had it for 6 months and works great. I'm good with computers and even if something goes wrong with my HP, I will figure out how to fix it... But that's just my approach to buying a laptop...

 

[PrakharT]

I bought Dell Inspiron 15R 5537 for USD 870
It is Core i7 (4th Gen) 4500U, 8 GB DDR3, HDD 1 TB
I extended the warranty to 3 years. I don't think I could get a better laptop in such a low price..

+

As I bought it from Dubai GITEX Electronic fair, I got a Lenovo Yoga 8 tablet free.. wooohhh...