Zorgoth
November 3rd, 2014, 08:39 PM
So, my laptop broke recently (I still have a desktop, but I certainly don't appreciate sitting in my room all day). My advisor said that the discretionary funds in my research grant could be used on a new one, and said not so spend more than $2,000 including a three year warranty (the funds can also be used for conferences, so cost is still relevant, sadly, but having a budget that is twice what I've ever spent before is pretty amazing).
The only brands I'm allowed to get are Lenovo, Dell, and Apple. I am not impressed with the hardware per unit cost on Apples, and my experience with the build quality of Dells has been terrible. I would be interested in their Precision mobile workstations anyway, except that they take two weeks to ship.
I want to get something reasonably well-built, so I'm thinking Thinkpad. I run Ubuntu LTS and do not use Windows, so Ubuntu support is important, although that hasn't ever been a major issue for me apart from Optimus (why NVIDIA? WHY?).
These are the choices I'm looking at right now:
Lenovo Thinkpad W - better processor, memory and graphics than the T, better everything than the E - $1750 on Lenovo website w/3 year accidental damage protection warranty
- Intel Core i7-4800MQ
- 16GB RAM (four sticks in four memory slots)
- NVIDIA Quadro K1100m w/2GB memory - sadly, this is an Optimus card.
- Has a 16GB mini SSD
Lenovo Thinkpad T - faster processor than E, but no mini SSD - $1500 on website w/same warranty
- Intel Core i7-4700MQ
- 8GB RAM (one SODIMM, two slots)
- Intel HD graphics 4600
- Does not have a 16GB mini SSD
Lenovo Thinkpad E - $1250 on website w/same warranty
- Intel Core i7-4702MQ - a perfectly capable quad core processor
- 8GB RAM in one SODIMM (for $50 less I could get it in two, but this way it would be cheaper to upgrade it in the future if we find that 8GB is not enough)
- Intel HD graphics 4600
- Has a 16GB mini SSD
The other features are not that different between the computers.
Many internet reviews say that the T is a better built machine than lower-end Thinkpads like the E.
Here are my biggest questions:
1. Does anyone have a clear idea what the difference in build quality is likely to be between the W, the T, and the E? I'm hoping to keep this computer for at least three years.
2. Are Quadro cards better supported than standard gaming cards for GPU computing? The only evidence of this that I found is the MATLAB thing saying that Quadro and Tesla cards are good for the parallel computing toolbox.
3. How big of a difference will the 16GB mini SSD make in a) boot time and b) speed of the computer outside of boot time?
4. Any Ubuntu compatibility issues (besides Optimus)?
The only brands I'm allowed to get are Lenovo, Dell, and Apple. I am not impressed with the hardware per unit cost on Apples, and my experience with the build quality of Dells has been terrible. I would be interested in their Precision mobile workstations anyway, except that they take two weeks to ship.
I want to get something reasonably well-built, so I'm thinking Thinkpad. I run Ubuntu LTS and do not use Windows, so Ubuntu support is important, although that hasn't ever been a major issue for me apart from Optimus (why NVIDIA? WHY?).
These are the choices I'm looking at right now:
Lenovo Thinkpad W - better processor, memory and graphics than the T, better everything than the E - $1750 on Lenovo website w/3 year accidental damage protection warranty
- Intel Core i7-4800MQ
- 16GB RAM (four sticks in four memory slots)
- NVIDIA Quadro K1100m w/2GB memory - sadly, this is an Optimus card.
- Has a 16GB mini SSD
Lenovo Thinkpad T - faster processor than E, but no mini SSD - $1500 on website w/same warranty
- Intel Core i7-4700MQ
- 8GB RAM (one SODIMM, two slots)
- Intel HD graphics 4600
- Does not have a 16GB mini SSD
Lenovo Thinkpad E - $1250 on website w/same warranty
- Intel Core i7-4702MQ - a perfectly capable quad core processor
- 8GB RAM in one SODIMM (for $50 less I could get it in two, but this way it would be cheaper to upgrade it in the future if we find that 8GB is not enough)
- Intel HD graphics 4600
- Has a 16GB mini SSD
The other features are not that different between the computers.
Many internet reviews say that the T is a better built machine than lower-end Thinkpads like the E.
Here are my biggest questions:
1. Does anyone have a clear idea what the difference in build quality is likely to be between the W, the T, and the E? I'm hoping to keep this computer for at least three years.
2. Are Quadro cards better supported than standard gaming cards for GPU computing? The only evidence of this that I found is the MATLAB thing saying that Quadro and Tesla cards are good for the parallel computing toolbox.
3. How big of a difference will the 16GB mini SSD make in a) boot time and b) speed of the computer outside of boot time?
4. Any Ubuntu compatibility issues (besides Optimus)?