In need of some forum advice - Laptop upgrade

[WcBurgh]

So its time to upgrade my laptop, so I put it to you: With the considerations below what would you say is the laptop of choice?

Considerations in order of importance:

• Budget is +- R9000
• Max memory should be >= 16GB (Just for future proofing)
• Needs to run 2-3 VMs at a time
• Mostly used for win server admin duties
• With a upgrade or 2 it should be able to cope for the next 2-3 years
• If it could cope with a bit of gaming every now and again that would be a plus

In my opinion I would rather skimp on the CPU and drop down to a i5 with a larger memory pool. This point is open for debate though, so please correct me if I am wrong here.

Been running around the options out there and still nowhere close to finding an companion for the next couple of years, so any opinions on this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[skimread]

You going to struggle to find an i5 with at least 16GB RAM laptop for that price

 

[HavocXphere]

Just make sure you end up with an SSD...makes the experience 100% better. Its going to take a serious bite out of your budget but its worth it imo.

Prices are bad atm...tech is just stupidly expensive right now thanks to our exchange rates & politicians spewing krap. Its not going to get better any time soon though so might as well bite the bullet.

If its specifically aimed at VMs then you should also look at processor support on this. e.g. I wanted VT-x support. Thats prev gen though...there is probably a new VM related abbreviation thingie to supersede it already.

Also...keep an eye on Incredible connection. Mostly their stuff is overpriced but occasionally they field specials that are just stupidly good. The trick is just to dig in and tune them k@k until they give you what was advertised.

e.g. I did some IT shopping for my dad's company....spotted some good specials & went to IC. Like 20k-ish stuff (which was a lot before the forex took a dive). No stock. A little smooth talking later and...they suddenly have stock. Imagine that.

You going to struggle to find an i5 with at least 16GB RAM laptop for that price

He asked about slots not actual 16gb installed.

 

[dj_jyno]

Picked up a virtually new ThinkPad T420s with Core i5 CPU and 8GB RAM (upgraded to 16GB) on eBay for R5 500. Another R2 500 for a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD and you're set.

Very light and it has a 1600x900 14" screen.

 

[DA-LION-619]

Picked up a virtually new ThinkPad T420s with Core i5 CPU and 8GB RAM (upgraded to 16GB) on eBay for R5 500. Another R2 500 for a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD and you're set.

Very light and it has a 1600x900 14" screen.

Delivery? Customs?

 

[dj_jyno]

R6500 all in.

 

[WcBurgh]

Thanks for the advice.

I picked up a 500GB hybrid drive a couple of months ago, will probably swap that into the laptop once I get my hands on it.

HavocXphere is correct, the 16GB max memory is just a upgrade consideration. Once the a nice pair of corsair matched modules gets affordable I'll get rid of the stock memory.

dj_jyno, how is the tech support in sa for your laptop though? Was there still some time on the warranty left when you bought it, or is that not applicable?

 

[dj_jyno]

It has the balance of the three-year warranty left (which you can check on Lenovo's website), and they are pretty good when it comes to honouring claims. Luckily I haven't had to claim for any system-related failures, just a docking station power adapter that was DOA.