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General discussion

Need help to choose a laptop for programming using LAMP

Jun 24, 2009 12:55AM PDT

Hi All,

I need a laptop with a good configuration for purely programming purposes using LAMP (LINUX, APACHE, MYSQL, PHP) technologies. I will be installing a "virtual machine" to work with on this machine, apart from running some other programs on the local machine simultaneously.

I'm looking for a configuration as below:

4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB HDD, Intel Core 2 duo 2 GHz clock, 2MB L2 cache
along with a good battery life. No much constraint on weight of laptop.

Please suggest me among DELL and HP laptops. My budget is 50,000 +/- 5000 rupees (INR).

Thanks in advance.

Best Wishes,
Srinivas

Discussion is locked

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A couple suggestions:
Jun 24, 2009 4:59AM PDT

I did a quick search for systems that matched your specifications using this new tool from Microsoft called Laptop Scout (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-laptop-scout/default.aspx) and found a few laptops that I think might meet what you're looking for. At the site, you can filter through a search of laptops based on things like features, price, and even brand.

Keep in mind that as of today, 50,000 Rupees works out to about 1,032.32 U.S. Dollars, so if you check out the site, keep the budget filter set at around that number.

I did a search filtering by the system specs you listed, and looking only at HP and Dell models one good match might be the Dell XPS 1530 (1099 USD, or 53,225 INR), which I think meets your specs and is close to your budget.

There's a few other options these, particularly if you're willing to branch out and compare models from other brands. Take a look around and see if you find anything that works. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll also be glad to help in any way I can.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Cody
Windows Outreach Team

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Thanks cody ......
Jun 24, 2009 1:47PM PDT

U hav provided good info to me. I've checked XPS 1530 at dell.com and the config nearly fits my requirement (except the glossy screen which may not be favorable for long working hrs)
This model too comes with vista pre-installed. Do u suggest to uninstall vista and load linux, if so, can i get the required drivers. Pls suggest.

A slightly deviated question:
Another option, if possible, i would like to look at is, to keep the base OS vista on the machine and create a virtual machine with linux loaded into it along with other s/w required for programming. Is this feasible, if so, is this a good option to work with... pls suggest.

Best Wishes,
Srinivas

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Virtual's are ok but
Jun 24, 2009 10:42PM PDT

they have issues with drivers such as sound and video. I've used Sun's VMX Virtualbox and microsoft's virtual PC 2007. I even had issues with the wireless cards using Microsoft but did get it to work.