Laptop Recommendations?

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Fatwah on Western Digital
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They are having trouble sourcing one or more of the components and they're feeding in logistics number from their suppliers. They're not going to go months without shipping any product.
 

LunarMist

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I did not order any unusal options, just the fingerprinter, Bluetooth, HDMI+Express card vs. the default Smartcard+Displaypoort, and high capacity battery.
 

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Fatwah on Western Digital
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For all you know, they could be having trouble getting battery cells or the specific LCD panel they use. Stuff happens.
 

LunarMist

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The sores indicate HD4000 graphics in this laptop. Is that on the motherboard or on the CPU? I assume it is very weak, but can I use an external 1920*1200 monitor with good results through the HDMI port?
 

LunarMist

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CPU. If you only do 2D, 1080p should be a problem.

Why is 1080 a problem for 2D? I'm not sure that I use 3D unless videos need it. However, I want 1200 pixels high to match the monitor. Does HDMI not support 1200 pixels?
 

ddrueding

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HD4000 in on CPU and it isn't bad at all. If you aren't gaming and don't care about GPU acceleration in newer versions of Photoshop, it will do fine.
 

LunarMist

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It will quite easily.

The only problem I have playing video from my 7D is that the format isn't compatible with my favorite video playback software (Media Player Classic Home Cinema)

I don't know the format of the D800, but I think all the Nikons are the same. I see the clueless people showing rotten videos from the D5100 etc., so it cannot be that difficult.
 

ddrueding

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It isn't, you just need to run some conversion software. It is still stupid; even my phone supports the standard encoding formats.
 

LunarMist

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Does the expressedcard USB 3 adapter provide enough power for the 2.5" external drive?
 

LunarMist

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I don't know which one to guy, but which works for you? I think the flush type would be best to leave in.
 

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Fatwah on Western Digital
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I just bought a pair of Elitebook 8560w machines. 1920x1080 display, i5 CPUs, three year parts warranty, for $830 each. I can upgrade them to 16GB RAM for $75 or so and those will be pretty sweet machines for the money.
 

LunarMist

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I don't have any of them, I was just checking the specs.

I bought a retail SIIG single port card that fits flush with the slot. It hedgehogs power for a USB cardreader, but not a mechanical hard drive. That is fine fOr my needs, although all three USB 3 Ports are then crammed together on the left side.
 

ddrueding

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Just another reason to take your external hard drives SSD ;)

I forget which SSD it was, but I had a few that had a mini-USB port right on the side next to the SATA port. Very small and portable.
 

LunarMist

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Damn. The Expresscard USB 3.0 uses about 33% of the CPU for no reason. It does not return to 0% when removed, only after a rebot. There went an hour or so of my life figuring that out. :cursin:
 

LunarMist

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Sounds like a really crappy driver.

I tried several NEC/Restasis drivers to no avail. All the adapters seem to have the same chipsets, so I don't have much hope that another brand of card would be better. :(
 

LunarMist

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It depends on the configuration. Download speed is only 20MB/sec. if the reader is on USB 2.0 and there are three copies being made (internal drive and two external USB 3.0 drives). Downlo#d speed is 30MB/sec. if the configuration is that one of the externals is on USB 2.0 and the reader is on USB 3.0. Download speed is 55MB/sec. if all three ports are USB 3.0.
 

CougTek

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I just bought a pair of Elitebook 8560w machines. 1920x1080 display, i5 CPUs, three year parts warranty, for $830 each. I can upgrade them to 16GB RAM for $75 or so and those will be pretty sweet machines for the money.
Wow, that's an awesome price. How are the displays? What about the viewing angles? Are the CPUs Sandy or Ivy Bridge?
 

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I'll update with more thoughts once I get them in my hands. They're Sandy Bridge CPUs though, so these machines were probably made sometime in 2011. Don't care. The price and features were right.
 

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Absolute first impression: HP's software loadout megasucks. What the hell is it doing that it needed a half-hour of automatic software installation on first boot?

The display is nice but not as bright as I might've hoped for.
 

LunarMist

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If they are 12V and have enough power for the current drain, then it should be fine Laszlo.
 

LunarMist

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The board didn't eat your post Mooner. You simply posted it in the wrong thread (should have been in the Hurricane Sandy thread).

:DOH: The mental confusion is setting in from disaster fatigue.
 

LunarMist

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Absolute first impression: HP's software loadout megasucks. What the hell is it doing that it needed a half-hour of automatic software installation on first boot?

The display is nice but not as bright as I might've hoped for.

Aren't you installing the standard OS image or whatever you use? Are they for business?
 

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Fatwah on Western Digital
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I made the mistake of letting the thing come on by itself and then morbid curiosity took over.

I broke out of the install, loaded the thing up in Safe Mode and looked: There's only one configured application starting up, basically rather than having a system image that includes all the HP tools crap it looks like HP has the thing connect to the internet to download and install some or all of it. I did reload Windows on it and now it's completely fine.

The keyboard isn't bad for a chiclet sort of thing, but it's off center because this model has a number pad. The speakers on this thing are downright LOUD.
 

LunarMist

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Copy speed from internal SSD to external USB SSD is only 10GB/minute. :( Is that a normal limit of USB 3.0?
 

LunarMist

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I don't normally measure transfer rates USB 3.0 at all. Maybe in jictins or milimeters?
 

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Fatwah on Western Digital
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The fastest I've ever seen over USB3 is 110MB/sec (Lexar USB3 flash drive) and it's usually more like 75MB/sec for a mechanical drive, so that's probably about right.
 
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