Buying a new laptop for Pentesting [I need advise]

[qwertyrules]

Hello everybody!

I've been trying to select the perfect laptop that meet my requirements for a while now but I'm getting lost each time.
If it was just a normal performance issue I could just check benchmark but the things I will mention I can't find in a table.
I will be using this laptop mainly to run BackTrack 5. That's why the following things are important:

* High CPU speed
* Decent RAM
* Very good wireless card (good range, speed and able to do packet injections)
* Good battery
* Able to run BT5
* Under the 800 euro

If anyone can suggest a laptop or perhaps multiple it would be highly appreciated! I know it's a pretty difficult question because it's all relative and there's no website where you can just insert all these things and get some results sadly enough.

Have a nice day and I hope someone can help me.

Grts,

Qwertyrules

 

[qwertyrules]

Anyone ?

 

[mcnumpty23]

any modern laptop will run bt5 easily

i can run it fine on an old ibm t43

but i also run it on acer timeline x 5820t with 12 hour battery in it--core i5 and 4gb of ram--that meets all your

requirements

just plug in an alfa usb wireless adapter for better performance than the built in atheros and off you go

wont take my link but the alfa AWUS036H 1000mW

 

[Supermuncher85]

As mcnumpty23 said Your going to want to use an external usb wifi adapter anyway, so don't even try to find a laptop that will run out of the box for packet injection. I use a 4430s with a 9cell and dual boot + vm's. i5 with 8gb ram (yeah the SQL database will eat your ram, I say 4gb ram as the minimum). Gogo metasploit!

 

[qwertyrules]

Alright thanks for the info guys! I thought maybe build-in wifi adapters were able to compete with external ones but I guess not. I've read quite some good stuff about that alfa adapter I guess I'll pick one up then.

 

[mcnumpty23]

heres a comparison for built in adaptor and external

http/i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z330/mcnumpty23/alfa.jpg

 

[qwertyrules]

Damn that's a huge difference, thanks for the info!

 

[qwertyrules]

I'm deciding between:

Name: Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E520 (NZ3K7MH)
Price: € 450,-
CPU-type Intel Core i3 2350M
Speed: 2,3GHz
Memory: 4 gig
Intel HD Graphics
1366x768 (WXGA Wide)
320GB, 7200 rpm

Name: Asus N53SV-S1886V
Price: € 699,-
CPU-type Intel Core i7 2670QM
Speed: 2,2GHz
Memory: 6 gigs
15.6 inch
resolution: 1920x1080 (Full HD 1080p)
GeForce GT540M
500 gigs, 7200rpm

As you can see the Asus is obviously better although I'm not quite sure how much battery the better videocard will drain. Two more gigs, better video card / resolution and more storage vs price and battery which I'm not sure about.

The acer timeline x 5820t looks interesting battery wise but beside that I think it's a pretty bad laptop honestly. It's the exact same price as the Asus but the Asus laptop has a better resolution / graphic card / Better RPM on the hdd, better cpu more storage. So it's not a contest really.

 

[mcnumpty23]

the acer isnt a bad laptop actually

its not a gaming laptop

its ideally suited for what i use it for

and since i can find an open box one for £300 cheaper than the asus with a memory upgrade to 8gb to me for

pentesting and internet and basic stuff its a no brainer--though this one only has the 8 hour battery not the 12 mine

has--since i only paid £399 i put the saved money to an ssd and stuck that in there as well

http/www.simplyacer.com/Open_Box_-_Acer_Aspire_TimelineX_5820T_1211604.html