13" screen + express card?

[DeeJay-Mo]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a new laptop as my current one only takes 2GB RAM and I need at least 4GB (running VMs). I've been looking at thinkpads but have not been able to find all the information I need. There was also a Samsung that looked fairly good, but again, not enough info easily available.

These are my requirements:

screen: small - pref 12" or 13" with either 1280x800 or 1366x768 resolution
Express card slot - essential for driving multiple displays
CPU: dual core with at least 4MB cache - pref C2D
RAM: Must take at least 4GB - pref 8GB - not necessarily maxed out
SD Card slot - need to have one of these nowadays
GPU - discreet graphics pref NVIDIA 9400 128MB or similar
Battery - as decent as possible - something in the same ballpark as Thinkpads / macbooks would be good

BUDGET ~£1000 - or as near to that as possible

Please can I have your recommendations.

 

[madman045]

I will be interested to see if what you are after exists, as there are not many laptops that take 8GB and to get it to that amount costs £540 extra

The Dell Studio XPS 13 covers most of your requirements, however if you wanted it factory fitted 8GB, its £800 upgrade on its own

I have a D630 with a 320GB WD Black, 4GB and Vista Business 64bit and a T7400 cpu and I can run 2-3 VMs at the most, the bottle neck isnt memory, its disk IO

Only way I could make it quicker would be an SSD, however thats around £450 for the hdd

Good luck in your search

 

[DeeJay-Mo]

Mmmmm ... that Dell is niiiiiiiiiiice ..... good call.

Could drop a sdhc card in there and a CF card in the express slot and run two VMs each on their own storage device without even touching the esata port.

I notice there is an SLI version available too ... now here's a wacky idea ... I wonder if it is possible to somehow run the thing in non-sli mode and make use of the video port AND the hdmi, in order to get three independent displays without using the express card or a usb slot ... if that was possible, then that laptop might possibly be the meanest piece of kit to be brought to my attention for some time.

 

[Andy100]

I've got the Dell Studio XPS 13, it's a great little machine.

Having backlit keys makes working at night a joy.

The only downside is that when you play games the main fan exhaust is blocked by the open screen which gets pretty hot.

 

[ninja2000]

Andy, I am considering the sxps 13 but my main concern is the heat. When in power mode and running on just the 9400m how hot does it get? Is it cool enough to run on your lap?

Also have you got the LED or CCFL screen? I have seen some good deals with the ccfl but I am worried about its quality