Recommendations on web dev / multimedia notebook?

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Eccentric

16 posts

Geek

# 139413 8-Feb-2014 13:14

Hi all, I'm looking to buy a new notebook mainly for the purposes of:

Software development (mostly web related - Visual Studio)
Web browsing
Some multimedia - video and sound editing

I don't do gaming much. So, I need plenty of screen real estate and it doesn't have to be particularly light since it mostly stays in the office hooked up to a second large monitor. And while I don't need gaming specs I do want it to be snappy and responsive for code compiling, switching between a million web tabs, watching videos, etc. An SSD would be good, and a nice crisp non-fatiguing display quality.

My current notebook is an Asus and I really like Asus as a brand. I like well constructed laptops with a decent solid feel and nice keys. I always use a mouse.

I'd be looking to spend less than 2K, ideally, unless there's something amazing out there which would likely last me 3 years or so.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

billgates

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# 982259 8-Feb-2014 13:18

Surface Pro 2 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD configuration connected to an external monitor. You will be living the dream

Do whatever you want to do man.

gzt

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# 982263 8-Feb-2014 13:25

switching between a million web tabs,

Lots of RAM, but look into some kind of tab management. Opera is really good for that.

Eccentric

16 posts

Geek

# 982267 8-Feb-2014 13:46

I really like the Surfaces in themselves but probably not as my main dev PC. I was looking at this as an option:

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/notebooks/componentview.asp?partid=20615

gzt

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# 982288 8-Feb-2014 14:27

The specification lists a lot of options. It's not clear exactly what you are getting for how much?

nathan

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Microsoft

# 982296 8-Feb-2014 14:49

2GB RAM is not much these days

Xeon

279 posts

Ultimate Geek
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# 983117 10-Feb-2014 02:11

MSI is good performance for money, http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=/ID=22066/SID=353491536/productdetails.html you can also open them up without voiding warranty if you wanted to install an msata ssd in it. Also has 8GB x 1 stick which makes it easy to add another 8GB if your running lots of heavy programs.

TwoSeven

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# 983182 10-Feb-2014 09:59

On my setup at home I have a "writing bureau" as my desk and I use a surface pro (v1) with a monitor attached and some speakers - I use Visual Studio Online as my source code repository.

For Visual Studio development I would recommend the minimum of a Core I5, 8+Gb of memory, and an SSD with windows 8.1 and at least 2 monitors if possible. If doing MVC applications I like to keep VS in one monitor and the app running in the other monitor (until we get designer support for MVC/Razor views).

I would be thinking an Ultrabook (or Surface) would be a minimum, probably with a large a screen as possible if doing customer demo work.

Just throwing a random concept out there - one can also build a micro-PC (micro-atx) or NUC style device that can run a better processor such as a Core I7 and have more memory and disk. These can be used to run VMs and can be remote into from the laptop (remote desktop supports multiple monitors).

Software Engineer

polglase

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
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# 983218 10-Feb-2014 11:08

The ASUS G75 series is worth a look - a new one will be more than you budgeted - so you could raise your budget or I have an ex-demo one that would sell for $2k.

http://www.elive.co.nz/asus-g75vx-t4153h-laptop.php

Eccentric

16 posts

Geek

# 998107 3-Mar-2014 12:51

Well, I went with this:

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/notebooks/componentview.asp?partid=20785

I'm really liking it so far. 128GB SSD, 8GB of RAM which I might bump up to 16GB, but compared to my old notebook it's already a beast anyhow. Awesome massive screen and I'm really impressed with the build quality and the feel of the keys.

Now I can actually get work done again!

polglase

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
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# 998109 3-Mar-2014 12:53

Looks good, have a look at the ASUS G series next time around - they are excellent as well.