Good laptop for running 1-3 virtual machines at once and multitasking around $500 budget

[Michael_z]

Preferably 512gb - 1Tb hard drive, SSD if possible or a laptop that the hard drive can be switched out if I want.

Intel core preferred, i5, i7 etc. as AMD is generally slower. Don't really need to overclock at all.

16gb of RAM or 8 and a laptop where you can add RAM sticks

13-17in display

Don't really need a good GPU as I i'm not a big gamer although a decent one wouldn't hurt as I do occasionally game and might use the laptop for graphic design

If it's refurbished/used but has sufficiently good stats to make up for it than suggestions for a particular model etc. would be very nice

Overall, just trying to get the best bang for my buck on speed for running lots of high processing power stuff and also multitasking like having 2 virtual machines, netflix or music, and Skype running all at the same time. Best combination of RAM, processor, and hard drive is basically what I'm going for.

Intending to run linux although I may run windows 7 or 10

Also 3 laptops I've looked at and considering, P.S. i'm not extremely good with processors and whats necessarily better/worse so any education would be greatly appreciated.

http/www.amazon.com/HP-EliteBook-8460P-14-inch-Notebook/dp/B01639FQSM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1451191676&sr=8-6&keywords=windows+laptop+16gb+ram

http/www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-C55-C5241-Laptop-Intel/dp/B010SBAJDS/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1451881053&sr=1-2&keywords=windows+laptop&refinements=p_36%3A35000-45000

http/www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-15-ab063cl-Notebook-Refurbished/dp/B015QICS8W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=41IlbVC09%2BL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0AH2FWYMQMF7H788E9Q8

Thanks everyone

 

[hang-the-9]

For what you want to do, you'd want a very good CPU and a very good amoutn of RAM. The HP EliteBook is the best of those, although it's the only used one.

I would suggest looking at the Lenovo W520 models, used you should be able to find some for about $500, look for the i7 Quad core models. They have 4 RAM slots vs 2 so you can stuff it with RAM for the virtual machines, and the i7 Quad core will help a lot also.

 

[Johnink]

HP Elite book 8560 is your answer with I7. Got mine with 12gb of ram and nice 2gb video card. Or really any Elite book with I7. You can buy them all day refurbished from New egg or tiger direct for $200-300. I've run three 64 bit Centos7 servers all day no prob allocating 2gb of ram each complete with gui desktop of your choice . I use VM workstation riding atop Win 7 pro stacked with all my junk on it.The HP Elite books are super easy to work on . I've owned gobs of notebooks.These are hands down the best. Don't think twice save yourself 200 smackers. Oh yeah got me a a crucial 240 gb ssd, I'm impressed with crucial as well.