I'm running a Studio XPS, with 2 VMs running on it simultaneously, VS2010, R#, SQL Server - no problems at all. I rarely use the battery for more than an hour, and it has no problems. Never dropped it, so can't comment on ruggedness. Ditto warranties and repairs.
HTH On 6 May 2011 16:44, Greg Keogh <[email protected]> wrote: > I've just been through an interesting exercise in helping the missus buy a > laptop. It's interesting because her previous one is a MacBook Pro and I've > never needed a laptop, so we're both relative newbies on the subject. I see > people in here talking about developer laptops in the $2000+ and far beyond > range, but I was shocked to see the high power and low price of laptops > when > we wandered into JB Southland last Saturday to check out their sale. Things > have changed in the 10 years! > > There were 6 DELL laptops lined-up on display from $599 to $1699. Only the > 5th one had the full HD screen with a beautiful "creamy" smooth look, so I > told her to buy that one. This Studio 1558 has 6GB RAM, 600GB HDD, i7 and > heaps of plugs and devices I haven't even figured out what they do yet. I > don't know what the battery life is like yet. > > I've even "stolen" a piece of it by creating a VS2010 development > environment in VM Player so I can borrow when I go out for a meeting next > week. > > I get the impression the Studio series is for home users, but it's so > powerful that it can easily be used for development. Which leads me to ask > what major differences are there between the DELL Studio and laptops that > people in here consider suitable for development? Is it ruggedness, weight, > battery life, warranty and repairs, or what? What do ThinkPads have over > the > Studio series? > > I plan to get a laptop within a few months, so I want to be sure I'm > looking > at the right sort of brand and series for the right reasons. General > comments would be welcome. > > Greg > >
