I couldn't agree with you more Tony.
I'm still using a Dell XPS M1710 that I bought nearly 4 years ago. It's
still got an OK processor for today's standards, but it does have a 17"
screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution.
Knock on wood that it doesn't die on me any time soon, but I haven't found a
good replacement laptop.
I like Dell, as other people have said, because of their excellent service
support.
But their latest laptop that comes close as a dev machine is the XPS 17 - it
is 17" as the name suggests but it is only 1600 x 900 resolution. Their XPS
15 has 1920 x 1080, but it's only 15" and it misses out on a number of
features available on the XPS 17. It's ridiculous!
The only two machines that they have that seem to be OK are:
- the Precision M6500
[http://www.dell.com/au/business/p/precision-m6500/pd] starting at $3,999
(which has been on offer for years so I want to avoid that).
- the new Alienware M17x
[http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-m17x-r3/pd.aspx?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dh
s&~ck=mn] starting at $3,399 but these look like they've been designed by
someone on crack - they look awful.
If only the XPS 17 came with 1920 x 1200 (or even 1080) I'd buy one today!
Let's hope my XPS M1710 stays alive. :-(
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Tony Wright
Sent: Wednesday, 26 January 2011 11:12
To: 'ozDotNet'
Subject: RE: Developer PC spec
<rant>
One of the problems with laptops these days is that most of the laptop
manufacturers just don't get it.
For developers it's all about the screen space and performance, and it seems
to be quite difficult to find a laptop that it spec'd how we want it. For
example, if I buy a 15" laptop, I want it to have 1920x1080 at least. If I
buy a 17", I expect it to have 1920x1200. But how many manufacturers build
systems to cater for this these days?
Most seem to advertise the size of the screen but not the resolution - and
that's the starting point for me. 17" is luggable enough without having to
tolerate ridiculously low resolution such as 1600x900 (XPS), or 1378x768.
I ultimately end up buying Dell or Alienware because they are the only ones
who will build a laptop close to the spec I want for a reasonable price.
I don't like their SSDs, so I get a 7200 rpm drive put in them and change
over to a RealSSD when I take delivery, and put the 7200 in a caddy.
Alienware already have 2nd gen i7 chips in their 17" lappies now too, but
why would I buy a 17" laptop that only goes to 1920x1080. If I buy 17", I
want those extra 120 pixels! (Note that first gen Alienware 17" still has
1920x1200.)
Do they expect me to always plug into an external LCD and a keyboard? If
that's the case, give me some sort of really small and powerful laptop, such
as the Alienware 10", but supe it up to be far more powerful than that!
</rant>
