Complicated laptop setup

[Mike Charlie]

Hi guys,

Wondering if anybody can help me, need a new laptop for work use and need to discuss a bit about it.

First of the laptop will need to be a multiboot system, one boot will have windows 7 and two will have Linux openSuse on them. One of the openSuse will require a virtual machine on it. The virtual machine will have 3 subsystems on it, all openSuse again.

The virtual machine system is for a test bases for something the company I work for needs and the other Linux is for programming and of course the windows is for the office stuff, I would also like to do some gaming, nothing ridiculous but would like to be able to play and Java games I create and also some sandbox games

I am not even sure if it is possible to do what I want, is it?

Also I need to know what spec laptop I need, I am imagining it will need to be powerful, due to the fact that I will be programming it will be best to have a large screen. Also due to the professional nature of the business It is probably best to have a unibody chassis or at least a good looking normal casing. Things like backlit keyboards are nice but not a necessity.

Any suggestions on the laptop or method to do what I want?

Thanks in advance

 

[~Darkseeker~]

Well for virtual machines, all you really need is a decent amount of memory (to delegate to the VMs while they are running).

As for triple-boot, you'll need reasonable storage space, this will also be a requirement for programming/developing and gaming since they all take up space.

Decent CPU and GPU (or maybe APU) will be required for gaming and sandboxing.

these aren't that high of requirements, about the same kind of requirement a CAD user would have, or a content producer who needs rendering horsepower.

since you're in England, I'm going to recommend one of my favourite companies in terms of custom laptops, since you get a lot more for your money and aren't paying for the name stamped on the back (ahem, Dell.)

take a look at these, it just comes down to your budget now. What is the budget?

Gaming laptop, home laptop, office laptop - 3XS

 

[Mike Charlie]

Forgot to mention the boot with the virtual machines only needs minimum disk space no more than 60gb.

As for the RAM would 12gb be good enough, the 3 virtual machines are not too demanding, one is based on a system that only has 1 gb of a ram but has a very basic Linux version that was written just for one piece of software to sit on it. The other two are very low level servers that will only require 3 gb each and imagine that virtual machines are pretty much the same.

They seem ok from a first glance will need to have further look though, what is the build quality like?

The budget is very varying, work is paying for it and therefore there is not a definite amount, also depends on whether a large contract is got.

 

[cb600fshornet]

Most laptops come with at least 500GB HDD space now, so that's no prob

CPU - depends if you want to do a lot of processing on each VM at the same time, if only one is really utilising the CPU at a time then it only has to be something like an i3/i5, if you want a quad core with hyperthreading then you'll need to go for an i7 I believe, but you only really need these if all the VMs are utilising the CPU at the same time.

Graphics side, Intel HD graphics sound up to the task of what you're trying to do if I'm honest, the HD4600 is as good as a Geforce 825M (negligible), so the only real upgrade worth having is the Geforce 840M or higher.

With RAM, it's easy to add more, but 12-16GB is probably a decent ballpark figure to aim for (you can always add some afterwards).


In terms of budget, you get a lot for your money, I recently bought a laptop with an i5 4210M, Geforce 825M, 6GB RAM, 1TB HDD and it cost me £330, the only downside is that it's a Medion, but it's been fine so far (touch wood lol)

 

[BK_123]

Because you will be running VM's I'd recommend at laptop with at least an i5 & 8GB ram. At school the machines that are standard across the whole Education Dept we use are expected run VM's on have an i3 3240 @ 3.4GHz, 4GB ram and 500GB HDD, The VM's we run are Linux based such as IPFire & CentOS so you'll want more power.

 

[~Darkseeker~]

Forgot to mention the boot with the virtual machines only needs minimum disk space no more than 60gb.

As for the RAM would 12gb be good enough, the 3 virtual machines are not too demanding, one is based on a system that only has 1 gb of a ram but has a very basic Linux version that was written just for one piece of software to sit on it. The other two are very low level servers that will only require 3 gb each and imagine that virtual machines are pretty much the same.

They seem ok from a first glance will need to have further look though, what is the build quality like?

The budget is very varying, work is paying for it and therefore there is not a definite amount, also depends on whether a large contract is got.

Scan 3XS are some of the best built laptops I've worked with - the chassis are ordered in pre-machined from a custom firm, but all the components are inserted by hand and the OS installed (if you select an OS, complete customizability is another plus) here on British soil (in Bolton).

Obviously their customer service dept and warranty team are UK based and very snappy in terms of turn around, you can extend the warranty as many times as you like for about the same price it would cost to do it with Dell or HP.

Pretty much any laptop on the 3XS custom laptops page will cut it, anything with an i5/i7, a decent GPU (almost all of them have at least a GTX 960M, some go up to 980M) and a good amount of RAM. 12-16GB is going to be waay more than enough

 

[Mike Charlie]

Do have to admit that the 3xs laptops do look amazing, seem very powerful as well, only problem I can possibly see is the price, hoping they will be in budget though, if not what do you guys think of this

17.3" Multimedia Laptop PC | Lenovo Z70 | Lenovo UK

Seems like it can be a lower end version if needed to go down the cheaper route, only £700

Next problem is tackling the multi lot, anybody ever set up a triple boot and got advice, only ever dual booted with things like windows and Ubuntu never done complete from scratch.

Not to mention making it so the systems can share files.

 

[Mike Charlie]

only downside is that it's a Medion, but it's been fine so far (touch wood lol)

Been on off them laptops when I had one with a design flaw where the screen casing snapped whilst in use for more than a couple hours. They replaced it which was good but the replacement did the same thing. Got my money back eventually but not a good experience.

 

[~Darkseeker~]

haha oh wow Medion, haven't even seen a Medion since probably around 2004-5.

They were pretty pants I have to say...


Apparently they are sold at Aldi in the USA and most budget stores in the UK (Somerfield, Aldi, Woolworths online).

Sounds like they're the new eMachines...

 

[cb600fshornet]

The new ones seem to be better quality than the old ones fortunately, I wouldn't have touched the old ones!