Solved! Virtualization/Graphic Design Laptop

[ayveoh]

1. What is your budget?
1,200 or less (preferably under 1,000)
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15inch

3. What screen resolution do you want?
As high as possible
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?
3hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Won't be playing much games, maybe Combat arms and Starcraft. (low-medium settings)

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
VIRTUALIZATION VIRTUALIZATION VIRTUALIZATION.
I basically need a laptop that can run VMWARE WORKSTATION smoothly. For as cheap as possible.
Adobe photoshop/illustrator.
C++ and Xcode Programming.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500gb

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Any site/ any store.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Throughout highschool and college(6 years)

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DvdRom/writer.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Anything that will last, and is for a good price.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I just want something that can run VMWARE Workstation SMOOTHLY and streamlessly for as cheap as possible. It can also handle Adobe photoshop/illustrator. Web browsing, video playing, music playing.



Cheap as possible thanks!
I was looking for 2630QM i7 + 4gb ram
but that's usually over 1k.

Can VMWARE run smoothly on i5?

 

[WR2]

Hello ayveoh;

VMWare can run very smoothly on Core i5 CPU. VMWare smoothly plus Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator & web browsing at the same time?
You probably want a quad core i7 for that.

Dell XPS 15 configured @ $1205
Core i7-2630QM CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD WiFi/Bluetooth, USB 3.0 and 15.6" 1920x1080 LCD w/ Nvidia GT 525 graphics.
Use Coupon code 5TK?LC9VJ5F$33 (exp 5/31) to get a final price of $963.99
And use Coupon code HLSKSR06S9ZG0F to get free shipping.

You can upgrade to the GT 540 graphics card for $80 if you want a graphics card that will play most modern games on medium or even a bit higher.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M review
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M review

 

[ayveoh]

Oh no! Not at the same Time, I'll probably only be doing a combo of 2.
Such as Photoshop + web
or illustator + web.

But with virtualization, I won't be running any other program on the host, just the guest.

 

[WR2]

You can certainly spend less if you're not going to be heavily multi-tasking and don't mind the basic resolution LCD screen.
Dell XPS 15 15.6-inch "Sandy Bridge" Laptop Core i5 $674
Core i5 2410M CPU, 4GB RAM 500GB 7200rpm HDD WiFi, USB 3.0 and 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Nvidia GT 525 graphics