I'm looking for a high-end workstation laptop...

[derplol]

Hi!

I had a ThinkPad W530, however have had to send it into service, and when it comes back I might just be using it as a spare.

Anyways, I'm looking for a high-end laptop to replace it.

By high-end, I mean it - my budget, as long as it's under $10k (however, if there is something above that that deserves special consideration, please include it as well).

This laptop will pretty much serve as my primary computer.

I would like around a 15.4-15.6 inch screen - anything else is simply too large to carry around. 6-8 pounds (again unless there is a special case that deserves extra consideration). I'd like it to also be at most 1.5 inches thick.

I don't mind batteries that stick out of the laptop, so hopefully something that lasts as long as possible.

One thing that I am looking for in particular though: WWAN support. This should work on at least Verizon LTE in the US, but preferably can also support international either built in or at least with a part I can replace myself before traveling.

Preferred: HDMI port. As many USB ports as I can get.

The most up to date, highest performance parts available. I was considering Falcon for this - with their support for 2 SSDs each carrying 500GB for a total of 1TB.

32GB RAM, Discrete graphics (I was also considering Falcon for this - with their high end graphics).

I was also looking at the HP Elitebook line, but their 15.6 inch series does not allow me to specify customizations, and I'm not sure if it supports the WWAN card.

Thanks!

 

[Pinhedd]

Hi!

I had a ThinkPad W530, however have had to send it into service, and when it comes back I might just be using it as a spare.

Anyways, I'm looking for a high-end laptop to replace it.

By high-end, I mean it - my budget, as long as it's under $10k (however, if there is something above that that deserves special consideration, please include it as well).

This laptop will pretty much serve as my primary computer.

I would like around a 15.4-15.6 inch screen - anything else is simply too large to carry around. 6-8 pounds (again unless there is a special case that deserves extra consideration). I'd like it to also be at most 1.5 inches thick.

I don't mind batteries that stick out of the laptop, so hopefully something that lasts as long as possible.

One thing that I am looking for in particular though: WWAN support. This should work on at least Verizon LTE in the US, but preferably can also support international either built in or at least with a part I can replace myself before traveling.

Preferred: HDMI port. As many USB ports as I can get.

The most up to date, highest performance parts available. I was considering Falcon for this - with their support for 2 SSDs each carrying 500GB for a total of 1TB.

32GB RAM, Discrete graphics (I was also considering Falcon for this - with their high end graphics).

I was also looking at the HP Elitebook line, but their 15.6 inch series does not allow me to specify customizations, and I'm not sure if it supports the WWAN card.

Thanks!

I actually came here to recommend the W530...

I'm an Alienware fan myself. I love my M17x R3 and wouldn't trade it in for anything except an M17x R5.

You're going to be hard pressed to find anything in the 15.6 range better than the W530. You may be able to spec one out with better internals but that's about it. After a while the formfactor becomes the limiting factor.

 

[derplol]

The W530 I had was already specced out - otherwise, I would.

In that case, is there a larger laptop I could get? Keep in mind though that it should still be portable, in that I could carry it in a standard size backpack around daily without getting spine problems.

I had also been considering - Falcon Northwest and Digital Storm, but all of those laptops are 10+lb and from the measurements, the same size as my W530ds.

 

[Pinhedd]

The W530 I had was already specced out - otherwise, I would.

In that case, is there a larger laptop I could get? Keep in mind though that it should still be portable, in that I could carry it in a standard size backpack around daily without getting spine problems.

I had also been considering - Falcon Northwest and Digital Storm, but all of those laptops are 10+lb and from the measurements, the same size as my W530ds.

I'm going against my own principles here but if money is not an issue and weight is an issue, look into a MacBook Pro. They're the most portable 17 inch laptops on the market, but specs will be an issue.

As far as powerful 17 inch laptops go, cooling is often the limiting factor, hence the rather large cooling assemblies present on the Alienware laptops. My M17x R3 weighs a whopping 9.7 pounds but I got used to carrying it around. The top notch cooling has a few advantages though,

First, it's generally rather quiet.

Second, the top stays comfortably cool at all times, even after gaming for hours. The bottom can get a bit warm, but not scalding hot like some of the junk from Apple, HP, and Razer.

Third, the rubberized frame on the M17x series is very comfortable to use. It doesn't chafe my wrists or anything like that. I can sit here all day plugging away at stuff.

Since this is going to serve as your primary computer it's imperative that it be comfortable to use, so I highly recommend that you check out the Alienware M17x lineup (now at R5 with Haswell) if you think that you can wrap your mind around a 9.5 pound mobile desktop. Your other considerations from Falcon Northwest and Digital Storm are also good.

 

[derplol]

The thing I have with Macs is how uncustomizable and locked down everything is, not to mention I write code for Windows.

Money is no concern at all. As long as the thing works as I want it, I'm more than happy to pay.

The biggest issue is just the size. I also own the W700ds which is around 10lb, and a 17 inch screen, and it is the furthest thing from portable possible.

I've also seen the Precision M4800 and M6800, and was considering Origin as well. And Origin weighs in at ~7lb, and they'll honor emailed custom hardware requests, but are they durable laptops? (ThinkPads are supposed to be quite durable and after about 3 months mine already started showing signs of heavy physical wear..)