13" most powerful laptop

[multiweb (Marc)]

What would be a laptop running an I7, 13" max so very portable, 8GB RAM (16GB preferred). Not interested in Alienware type or ASUS gaminng machines. Too bulky. Any idea? TIA.

[Steffen]

13" Macbook Pros with 8GB RAM start at $1,650. You can deck them out with SSD storage, Retina display, more RAM, Intel Iris graphics etc, the most expensive configuration being $3,350.

Cheers
Steffen.

[RickS (Rick)]

Lenovo X240?

[04Stefan07 (Stefan)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

13" Macbook Pros with 8GB RAM start at $1,650. You can deck them out with SSD storage, Retina display, more RAM, Intel Iris graphics etc, the most expensive configuration being $3,350.

Cheers
Steffen.

+1

I have the October 2013 Retina, best laptop I have ever owned.

It's the i5 with 8GB RAM and 256GB PCIE SSD but you can customise it with an i7.

[issdaol (Phil)]

I never used to be a Mac Laptop guy (I always loved my Japanese Made Sony Vaio)

However after using the MacBook with 13 Inch Retina and SSD drive I have been converted.

Just recently got the top of the range Mac Book Pro 15Inch Retina, 1Tb Flash Drive, 16gb RAM, 2gb NVIDIA GPU and it is fantastic.

Mac OSx and the embedded apps are great and plugging in external gear like Blu Ray writers is a 2 minute job.

If you have IPAD/IPHONE it seems to integrate much better without any of those annoying Windows based Itunes hangs. Also running Windows Apps and data access are a breeze with VMFusion.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

I use a Sony VAIO too, bought about 4 years ago, but the new models don't do anything for me - they seem to have fewer features than my old model!

I like the new line of ASUS ultrabooks - light, fast, and relatively inexpensive - and may get one of these for my next upgrade.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

I use a Sony VAIO too, bought about 4 years ago, but the new models don't do anything for me - they seem to have fewer features than my old model!

I like the new line of ASUS ultrabooks - light, fast, and relatively inexpensive - and may get one of these for my next upgrade.

Just me careful with the ASUS laptop. They won a contract to supply some of the government departments and they had piles of failures.

I have had other ASUS components which have been excellent so I think they must cut corners with their lower cost models and components to get the price down.

Unfortunately, as usual, this affects the reliability and the poor user that gets stuck with faulty kit.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

I use a Sony VAIO too, bought about 4 years ago, but the new models don't do anything for me - they seem to have fewer features than my old model!

Mine was the older business laptop too :-) . The black titanium case and was really thin.

IMHO the screen on those Vaio's was the best ever put into any laptop. Even rivaling and beating the Retina Screen for Clarity (but not resolution).

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Just don't buy it from them directly. Try another vendor if you can.

It's more expensive if you buy it from them directly. 14" though.

[pw (Peter)]

Originally Posted by issdaol

Just me careful with the ASUS laptop. They won a contract to supply some of the government departments and they had piles of failures.

Not confusing Acer with Asus are you?
Acer had a huge contract to supply schools and had failures galore.

[pw (Peter)]

I like my HP Folio 13"
It has a real Ethernet port, 2 x USB, 1 x eSATA, 1 x SD card reader slot and an SSD. 4 GB memory, i5 CPU and Win 7 64 bit. Excellent value and nice and responsive, was $998 about 18 months ago.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Originally Posted by pw

Not confusing Acer with Asus are you?
Acer had a huge contract to supply schools and had failures galore.

Actually now you remind me Acer had the Vic Ed contract and had lots of problems. Acer have had reliability issues since the mid 90's. You would think they would have fixed their game by now !!

The ASUS deal was a different Federal deal. I cant remember if it was direct with ASUS or through a partner. As mentioned though I am pretty sure it was mainly a problem of cutting corners with cheaper components on the mid to low end models to get the price down. The higher quality ASUS components have been very good.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Most of the manufacturers follow reference designs, which is why quad-core i7 chips are scarce/non-existent in a lightweight form factor. The thermal envelope is just too much for a thin chassis.

In my experience, you get what you pay for when it comes to quality. Their unibody manufacturing is second to none for rigidity and weight. And the PCIe solid state storage they use on the current models is very rapid.

[pw (Peter)]

Originally Posted by issdaol

Actually now you remind me Acer had the Vic Ed contract and had lots of problems.

The ASUS deal was a different Federal deal.

Wow, I didn't know that, beware computer manufacturers that start with A and secure educational contracts :-)

[noeyedeer (Matt)]

next pc (I know you're talking laptops) is a big behemoth with liquid cooling and more video ram then your current system ram via sli and a nice big fat 28" viewsonic

sorry don't like portability when it comes to computers. that's what phones are for

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by noeyedeer

sorry don't like portability when it comes to computers. that's what phones are for

Keeping in mind that Marc's question directly asked about a laptop, the point of your constructive post is what exactly?

Can you run ASCOM and PHD or pretty much any other worthwhile imaging software on your phone?
Or perhaps you lug your behemoth and 28" out into the bush to your favourite dark sky site just for the night?

Horses for courses.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Thanks for all the input guys. I already have a Macbook Pro 13" with 4GB RAM. It can be upgraded to 8GB but it's a little slow. My kid wants something with a little more grunt but portable enough to take to UNI and run a few VMs. I myself was looking into the ASUS ROG range for a new astro toy so I think I convinced him to get a G750. They're built around the cooling system, not the other way around. Going to the shop this morning to have a chat. Will probably get 2 in July for EOFY sales. By then a new model might even be out. When you think about it they're very good value. 17" or 14", 2.5k for a 32G RAM, I7 4th generation, 256GB SSD + 1TB HD, Win8.1 EOM, NVIDIA 3GB GeForce. MSI is on par, Alienware is on the dive apparently. Never liked DELL too much anyway.

[alistairsam]

This is more of a business laptop but is really fast with the SSD and is ultra light
X1 carbon
http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/lapto...ies/x1-carbon/

Cheers
Alistair