Best laptop for very fast data read/write, no gaming and with a long lasting battery?

[thehawk]

Good evening friends.

What would you recommend for someone who needs a laptop purely for software development purposes? I will do zero gaming on it but it needs to be extremely fast in file processing/copying/archiving, loading time of applications(photoshop, etc.) and things like that.

Cheers.

[CrazyNutz]

I dont know an exact model, but from what your describing you'll want one with an SSD.

[zanzabar]

what kind of photoshop work and processing. it looks like the best thing to get would be the cheapest core i7 8xx laptop, then swap the HDD for an SSD and get the least ram and replace it with a good 8GB kit (ram u get ripped off and they put garbage so if its high use u want to buy your own)

[CaptMorgan]

what kind of photoshop work and processing. it looks like the best thing to get would be the cheapest core i7 8xx laptop, then swap the HDD for an SSD and get the least ram and replace it with a good 8GB kit (ram u get ripped off and they put garbage so if its high use u want to buy your own)

Related to that-what is the best way to go about that? Most lappy's always seem to come with a recovery partition; Would one image what is sent with the laptop Or do a completely fresh OS install-heck most come with some kind of bloatware,which can be easily removed.

Also the original question does have a bit of catch to it-long lasting battery is always desired and great but in the case of wanting photoshop or something related one would need a GFX card of some decent caliber,correct?

[zanzabar]

u cannot get a quad core without getting a gpu, u wont get a gaming one but it will be there with a lower mid range desktop grade and then u get the double cell battery and u should get 2-4 hours of work, like 6-7 of standby and browsing.

on the drives, i have in the past, just removed it and use a clean windows disk, u can image the drives recovery partition then put it on the drive u want. but u wont get a SSD on any laptop that is not a gaming laptop, so the best option is to buy it affter u buy the laptop

[445533]

photoshop is reccomended with a gpu. go for the optimus tech since it saves a significant amount of power yet you still get great performance.

[thehawk]

Thank you for the replies guys, I am ready to sacrifice long lasting battery as long as the machine is fast.

[StAndrew]

If you have the money, check out alienware.com:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...alienware-m17x

Software & Services
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Lunar Silver - Anodized Aluminum
Intel® Core™ i7 940XM Quad Core Processor, 2.13GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 8M Cache)
8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3)
CrossfireX™ 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
512GB Raid 0 (2x 256GB Samsung Solid State HDDs)
17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
My Software & Accessories
Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Quasar Blue
Personalize
1 Year Basic Service Plan, DMLP
My Accessories
Also Includes
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1 with EDR
240 watt Adapter
Automatic Updates: On
Standard Nameplate

All for about 4,849.00 . If you want, you can cut down on the proc a bit for a nice economical price of $3,599.00...

For a budget, try something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214053

[Manyak]

Thinkpad T410. It's got a core i7-620M and 16 hours of actual battery life (rated for 18). And the keyboard is the best you'll find on any laptop. It comes with a 7200RPM drive, and you can swap out the CDROM for a caddy for a second hard drive - this way you can run it with one SSD for speed and one HDD for storage. Not to mention, thinkpads have the best keyboards you can find on a laptop, period.

I know it's a bit shady to recommend the laptop I'm selling, but it's exactly what you're asking for so I couldn't resist!

[Williambra]

im not sure how different laptops are in their construction. but i would help your answer what is the best question.
thanks.

[mlambert890]

Good evening friends.

What would you recommend for someone who needs a laptop purely for software development purposes? I will do zero gaming on it but it needs to be extremely fast in file processing/copying/archiving, loading time of applications(photoshop, etc.) and things like that.

Cheers.

Need more info... Most important are:

1) how important is portability? This is the BIGGEST factor... Whether or not size/weight matter to you and, if so, what is your tolerance. Some feel 7lbs isnt heavy. To me, 4lbs is a ton.

2) what is your budget? Enormous difference between "under $1000" and "up to $3000"