Best Laptop for MFE Students

[ICQuant]

I was wondering what would be an appropriate laptop for an MFE student, in terms of computational power (C++ & Matlab) , reliability an endurance?
Would a Macbook be inconvinient? What about ThinkPads?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I bought a Thinkpad T60 in 2006 to start the MFE program. I'm typing this right now on it. I don't know of any other laptop that is more durable.
If you go Macbook, you may run into problems where the Mac-equivalent versions of certain software does not exist (Visual Studio) or do not work equally well (Excel).

 

[alain]

get a Mac

 

[ferdowsi]

C++ is very easy to use on a mac: Xcode comes for free and is a really powerful coding environment. On the other hand, the Mac Matlab version is awful. It doesn't run natively, so you have to use X11. However, in my experience, it corrupts its own config files and has to be reinstalled pretty often. I found it easier to run Matlab on a Windows virtual machine on my computer than to use the X11 version.

 

[jackcoke]

I second IBM.. hallmark of durability..

But this gaming laptop has been my geek dream for a while... With a Core i7/8GB RAM/256GB SSD it's already better than my desktop..

 

[DMD]

Get a Lenovo Thinkpad. I have the T420. If you really want Mac interface, just create a Linux partition on your hard drive.

 

[DavidH]

I'm not in an MFE program but I am attending the pre-MFE program at Baruch. I use a Mac and did run into some slight problems while working throughthe C++ seminar so I partitioned my drive and installed windows as well. For me, it's the best of both worlds because I like the sleekness of the apple products but I'm also able to work on Windows when necessary.

 

[bullion]

C++ is very easy to use on a mac: Xcode comes for free and is a really powerful coding environment. On the other hand, the Mac Matlab version is awful. It doesn't run natively, so you have to use X11. However, in my experience, it corrupts its own config files and has to be reinstalled pretty often. I found it easier to run Matlab on a Windows virtual machine on my computer than to use the X11 version.

Octave?

 

[Barny]

Get a mac. Learn to do without Matlab and Visual Studio. When it comes to coding, you should be using text editors and a terminal. There is no need for managed environments. Matlab is all well and good until you leave university and have to pay £1k for a licence - there are better tools out there anyway. Anything matlab can do python can do (much faster, I might add) and it's a more useful and generic tool anyway. That, or as bullion says, just use Octave, which is a free matlab clone.

 

[Chashu]

After a myriad research from vaio s series to dell latitude to macbook pro, I have finally zeroed in on Thinkpad T430. Since TP is so popular on this forum, I would like to ask TP users about what warranty service should I opt for. The base warranty that it comes with is 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty. I am considering upgrading to 2Yr Onsite Warranty Next Business Day. Does anyone have any experiences dealing with this warranty or would recommend anything specific?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I had 3 year base warranty when I bought my T60. It was standard back then (2006).
You should get at least 3 year base and depends on your location or how quickly you need your machine back, you can upgrade to extra level of service.
It's worth every penny from my experience as all the damages caused by my using the laptop 24/7 are covered under their warranty.

 

[APalley]

I had 3 year base warranty when I bought my T60. It was standard back then (2006).
You should get at least 3 year base and depends on your location or how quickly you need your machine back, you can upgrade to extra level of service.
It's worth every penny from my experience as all the damages caused by my using the laptop 24/7 are covered under their warranty.

Don't forget that many major credit cards will extend your warranty by a year.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

After a myriad research from vaio s series to dell latitude to macbook pro, I have finally zeroed in on Thinkpad T430. Since TP is so popular on this forum, I would like to ask TP users about what warranty service should I opt for. The base warranty that it comes with is 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty. I am considering upgrading to 2Yr Onsite Warranty Next Business Day. Does anyone have any experiences dealing with this warranty or would recommend anything specific?

I spec out this config on lenovo site so they have similar specs like the base 15" Apple retina MBP and it comes to the same price with education discount (T430 $1954 vs 15" MBP $1999)

System components​

Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
Intel HD Graphics 4000
8 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard - US English
No Camera, with Microphone
128GB Solid State Drive, SATA3
DVD Recordable
Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader
6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+
65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n
Mobile Broadband upgradable​

 

[GordonGekko]

Why a Mac or a ThinkPad?

All you need for computational power is a processor with a lot of cache memory, a lot of RAM and a graphics card like nvidia quadro. With that and a nice Linux distro (if you are really crazy about high performance computing, look up caOS linux, even though I'm not sure it's still maintained), you're good for GPGPU, parallel computing and whatnot. An SSD might be good, but not necessary.
Also, for reliability and endurance, you'd be better off with a quality brand such as Dell, IBM, Mac, Lenovo...

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Don't forget that many major credit cards will extend your warranty by a year.

How does that actually work?
Do you call your CC who will call the manufacturer for that extra year?

 

[APalley]

How does that actually work?
Do you call your CC who will call the manufacturer for that extra year?

I never actually did it but I believe they just reimburse you and you send it back to them...

 

[ygmwy]

Windows not mac. The guy who said do without mat lab is limiting your options. In this tight job market, you should learn to use the tools that are useful job market. The worst thing is incompatibilities with ms excel which are otherwise the same until you do heavy mfe stuff. Then, you need visual studio. Look at the top banks. Do they buy Macs for their work stations? If you say "screw matlab" then you can throw out all the jobs that have matlab in the job description. Don't limit yourself so that you can over pay for an unprofessional apple product.

 

[ExSan]

@MRoss
can you help us ? --> Laptop Thread 2012
Eager to know about the: Laptop Thread 2014
what is coming ?

 

[Keith Tan]

mac with bootcamp lets me run on unix platforms with several virtual machines running on the same time and while coding in many kinds of os as well as matlab, and with the trackpad and gestures one can just swipe to change screens.

 

[jean-mathieu vermosen]

My personal choice:
macbook pro 13" with bootcamp (win 7) and Parallel desktop.

To get it short, MSVC is a must have, Excel for Mac is a toy for financial applications (no .xll/COM/activeX components, lots of missing features in VBA), so it looks difficult to get rid of Windows for the moment.
On the other hand, it's nice to put your hands on the terminal and OS X is a smooth transition to the unix/linux world.
(you can still go for X11/xQuartz in a second time !).
One more thing: if you are not in gaming/GPGPU business, the high end 15" with the nvidia card looks quite useless for financial applications. And if you are, well, I'm sure the new mac pro can fit a backpack

JM