Laptop for .NET Software Development - Opinions and Advice

[AdrianH]

I am going to do some MVC .NET web development for a client after hours. It will basically be a extremely small SQL Server database, and 2 relatively small MVC .NET web applications. I'll be using Visual Studio 2013 and SQL Server Express. The laptop will mainly be used for development for this client, and the usual browsing and email. No gaming, video editing or stuff like that.

Now my current laptop is about 6 years old (Pentium dual core with 4BG ram) and I need to buy a new one in order to do this development. I am looking purely for a development laptop that will be good for 3 to 4 years. I have compared the i5 v i7 and 4th generation and 5th generation chips and people are saying that a 5th generation i5 (2 core/4 threads) is ample as the entry level i7 are also (2 core/4 threads) and to move to a i7 4 core/8 threads push the costs up dramatically. But the 2 core 5th generation i7 are also an option. Also, 8GB ram should be enough. I don't need a power laptop, just one that will run 2 instances of VS2013 and Sql Server Express.

I have been looking around, and this one seems like a good deal for the price. I'm would prefer a "branded" laptop like a HP, Dell, etc I see Lenovo, Asus, and Acer seem to be readily available, any comments on those brands? R12000k is my upper limit. I think the Dell is a good deal!

I've seen the following, what do you guys think?
R8500 - Dell Inspiron i5
Brand: Dell
Product: Laptop
Model: Inspiron 15
Processor: Intel core i5-5200U Processor
Memory: 8GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz
Storage: 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 820M 2GB DDR3L
Display: 15.6 inch LED Backlit Display
Resolution: Truelife and HD resolution
Warranty: 1 year warranty
http://www.dionwired.co.za/laptops/dell-inspiron-i5-5200u-laptop-bundle.html

R12 311 - Asus 15.6 i7
Asus Non- touch 15.6" HD Glare
i7-5500U 2.4GHz (4M Cache, up to 3.0GHz)
VGA GT940 2G
RAM 8GB (4 on board) Memory slot: 1
HDD 1TB
OS: Win 8.1
SL DVD RW 8X SM DL WLAN 802.11 b/g/n VGA Camera
Battery 2Cell 37WHs
Keyboard: Chiclet with numeric keypad.
http://raru.co.za/electronics/2860379-asus-15-6-inch-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-1tb-hdd-notebook

R11 400 - ACER - ACER INTEL CORE I7 NB
Intel Core i7-5500U processor
8GB DDR3 Memory
1000 GB HDD
15.6'' HD LED backlit LCD Glare
Bluetooth 4.0
Windows 8.1
3 year warranty
http://www.dionwired.co.za/laptops/acer-acer-intel-core-i7-nb.html


R8 999 - LENOVO 15.6" IdeaPad Core i7 Notebook
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 8.1
USB PORTS: 3
CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi / Ethernet / Bluetooth
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7
MEMORY: 8GB RAM
STORAGE: 500GB HDD
GRAPHICS: Radeon R5 M230 2GB
OPTICAL DRIVE: Built-in DVD drive
DISPLAY SIZE: 15.6"
TOUCH DISPLAY: No
https://www.makro.co.za/computing-and-mobile/lenovo-15-6-ideapad-core-i7-notebook-293184EA

Thanks

 

[_kabal_]

any of those will be completely fine

 

[AdrianH]

any of those will be completely fine

I was thinking they might all be a bit overkill

 

[chickenbeef]

Swap out the HDD for an SSD and you're good to go.

 

[AdrianH]

Swap out the HDD for an SSD and you're good to go.

On my old one? I was thinking about doing that, but it is limited to the 4GB ram which kinda sucks.

 

[Kerrits]

Last time I checked (2009-ish) an SSD make a lot bigger difference when compiling than a faster CPU does. Running something like resharper on a large-ish project will probably benefit a lot more from a faster CPU though.

8GB of ram will be fine unless you want to run a VM on it as well.

I personally wouldn't dev on anything that's not at least 1080p if I can help it.

 

[Pho3nix]

I personally wouldn't dev on anything that's not at least 1080p if I can help it.

Real truth here..
VS is limited to 2gb still unless this has changed with 2015 and SQL is the same.

4gb is alright, rather buy a bigger second screen and SSD.

 

[AdrianH]

Last time I checked (2009-ish) an SSD make a lot bigger difference when compiling than a faster CPU does. Running something like resharper on a large-ish project will probably benefit a lot more from a faster CPU though.

8GB of ram will be fine unless you want to run a VM on it as well.

I personally wouldn't dev on anything that's not at least 1080p if I can help it.

I agree. As I will be developing after hours at home though, I will just plug in the external monitor, keyboard and mouse and the laptop screen can be my secondary screen

 

[oomjan]

The biggest noticeable speed difference will come from swopping out the HDD for an SSD.
For basic setup, I would go for i5, 8GB and SSD

 

[skimread]

For dev I would suggest an SDD. Waisting time to build in 2015 is not worthwhile
You can install a cheap SSD afterwards not many laptops come with them by default