Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

the i7 is only 4 core, but hyperthreaded to act like 8, tho amd is comin out with 6-core processors

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

For a cheap programming laptop, a single cored cpu would fit the bill better, for compiling code a multi cored processor just eats the battery faster I imagine.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

I use this search term:

dell laptop dvd wifi xp -broken -damaged

Set your selections in the check boxes that will display on the left hand side to further refine it. I always put in 150-250 as a price range.

No matter who you use, make sure they've sold a ton of product and have a good rating. If you're careful, you'll end up with a latop bag and may even get a docking station out of the deal since many of these are corporate leases and they're just trying to get rid of them.

Always make sure that they state it comes with an AC adapter and battery before you order - buyer beware of course. I just installed the new Beta Labview for FIRST 2011 on my 1.6, and it runs just fine.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

alienware has 1 that lasts 6.5 hrs

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

I can't get both "cheap programming laptop" and "alienware" to come into focus at the same time.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

it's not that bad... i think it's like 1k
edit: yeah, the m11x, $800, and powerful at that

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Ok I will tell you this: I am running a PC thats 7 years old right now, running fine, its probably not even worth $10 right now. It has 693 mb of Ram with an AMD Semprom processor LOL. It can compile just fine. I think the computers I posted are more than enough for compiling.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Does the school have any old laptops that aren't being used? If the robotics team is tied to the school, you might find a great deal.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

option 1) go to www.slickdeals.net and search for "laptop" or "notebook"
for example, this looks somewhat promising
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthr...id=0&t=2284203

option 2) the classified sections of online tech forums are usually good places to get used computers e.g. notebookreview. Although they usually impose a min post count limit to access their classified sections to avoid fraud so you kind of need to already be a member/know someone who is.

option 3) the lenevo budget laptop lines are typically decent and are cheap, especially if you can get them on sale. About a year ago, I got my sister a 15" G530 with a core duo cpu for like $270 (I miss Bing cash back :p). Slickdeals.net is a good place to be notified of said sales.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Compaq Presario cq62
$300 at Best Buy new
2.2 ghz amd v120 single core
2 gigs ram
What more can you ask for?
This is my personal laptop, so I haven't done much FIRST related programming on it, but this is my main computer. I do all my personal programming on it, mostly C# with XNA. If you're used to dual core, you might be a little annoyed going back to single, but it really does everything you would ever need to do for FIRST. Full sized keyboard for easy typing.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Alienware are also big, heavy, awkward and slippery. My experience is with the larger model. I hate it. YMMV.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

well... an alienware is probably a little overpowered for this...

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Alienware is overkill, even at $800. A good used $200 something-or-the-other will suffice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're not talking rendering videos or 3D models here.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

well... you do want an all-purpose laptop, but yeah, alienware is a bit of overkill
-just a bit :D

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Just to add a low performance option: I was using a 7 year old XP compaq, with 512 MB RAM and 2.4Ghz processor. It worked, but it sure tried my patience. You can really use whatever you want it seems, but it might be worth your while to pay for speed so you are not waiting forever to compile everytime you update your robot code.