The ideal laptop for the programmer

    For what?


    I drive to work and back home. A day, I spend 3-4 hours in public transport (depending on traffic jams). Far away, isn't it? In order not to be bored, I needed a working stallion, which I would create on the road.

    A number of qualities


    For myself, I have identified a number of qualities that are necessary to do programming.

    15 '' seemed to me too big to hold him on his knees in transport. Therefore, I chose 13 '' - the best screen for programming (I use NetBeans). Looking ahead I will say - 13.3 '' turned out to be even a bit too big for transport.

    After weighing my friends' laptops, I came to the conclusion that I want a weight below 2.5 kg - optimal for carrying with me (and holding 1.5 kg EEE - I generally experienced a puppy delight from its lightness).

    Particular attention was paid to the layout and keyboard. The keys should be large enough, and the arrows should be comfortable. Page UP / DOWN must not be in the ass of the world .

    I don't need internet on the go. In a way, it is distracting. Therefore, I did not particularly focus on the G4 models (with WiMax).

    But cutting down with friends in multiplayer is not bad. In order for the laptop to allow this, the processor would be more interesting than Celeron, and the video card would be more powerful.

    And necessarily (with which I began the story), the laptop must live. And to do this for quite a long time - at least 4 hours.

    Under my gigantic inquiries - Yandex.market found 3 laptops suitable for me (actually more, but many models did not fit after reading the reviews).
    • HP ProBook 4310
    • Acer Timeline / TravelTime 3810
    • ASUS UL30VT

    All laptops cost about 30k rubles.
    I think you will guess what I chose.
    A laptop
    Weight
    Video
    Working hours
    CPU
    Keyboard
    HP ProBook 4310
    2kg
    HD 4330
    4 hours
    C2D 2Ghz - 2.5Ghz
    Small arrows
    Acer Timeline 3810
    1.65kg
    HD 4330
    8 ocloc'k
    C2D 1.4Ghz
    Small arrows
    ASUS UL30VT
    1.5kg
    Gf 210
    8 ocloc'k
    C2D 1.3Ghz (1.7Ghz)

    Applicant for departure number 1: weight, the HD4330 graphics card is 1.5 times slower, the processor - nothing.
    Challenger for relegation number 2: a bit heavier, HD4330 graphics card.

    More about ...


    The keyboard is comfortable, has a distance between the keys. Arrows of the correct sizes. However, due to this, it was necessary to sacrifice the Right Shift size, which is not usual. I hit the up arrow several times, trying to press Shift + Enter. Used to the day.

    Page Up / Page Down / Home / End are close with arrows - that's why it’s convenient to control the cursor on a document. Thanks for the full-sized arrows.

    The case is beautiful, metal. The dirt on it does not linger.

    The screen is fashionably glossy. The reflection is clearly visible - checked on the bus. True, he didn’t spit on the screen (and in his reflection). It is programmed perfectly under the sun - I noticed my reflection only when I remembered that the sun should bother me, looking for reflection in a split second. As soon as I was immersed in programming, there was only the text of the program, without glare on the screen. The brain filters text very well from the background (hello, captcha).

    But movies and pictures are difficult to watch - glare greatly interferes even at maximum brightness. A reflection of the clear sky appeared - everything, no films.

    Fans of the mat - correction of any under-screens for 460 rubles 41 kopecks (brightness and contrast of the LED screen - allows).

    And so


    First news: on this laptop there are 2 video cards at once.
    • Intel GMA 4500
    • nVidia Geforce 210

    Switching between them is done by pressing a single key. Switching itself shuts down applications a bit (I have 1 external monitor connected) and takes about 8 seconds of waiting in the dark realm.
    Despite the low-end Geforce 210 - you can play on it. In many games - even at High settings.

    By speed, Geforce 210:
    • 1.5 times faster than GF8600 / GF105 / HD4330
    • 1 to 1 with GF9500 / GF310 / HD4570 / HD5470
    • 1.5 times slower than GF9600 / GF220 / HD3670
    * Only Mobile video card options are considered here.

    The second video card, Intel GMA 4500 - is 5 times slower in speed than GF210. A great option for programming, the Internet and watching movies.

    And here


    Second news: the processor speed can be changed by simple means.

    ASUS delivered a weak Core 2 Duo 1.3 Ghz processor and added a simple (one-button for single-celled) interface for overclocking!

    In normal mode, the processor operates at a bus frequency of 200 Mhz and a multiplier of 6.5. That gives 1.3 Ghz. After pressing one button (and rebooting), ASUS accelerates the bus to 266 Mhz, getting 1.73 Ghz (and an increased memory frequency from 800Mhz to 1 Ghz, wow!).

    And for energy saving, you can reduce the multiplier from 6.5 to 4 (60% of the performance in the power settings) by getting 1 Ghz on the 266th (or 800 Mhz on the 200th) bus.
    X4.0 multiplier (energy saving)
    X6.5 multiplier
    Bus frequency 200
    0.8 ghz
    1.3 Ghz
    Bus frequency 266 (turbo)
    1 ghz
    1.73 Ghz

    Super pi
    1 ghz1.3 Ghz1.73 Ghz
    46.2 sec36.6 sec28.7 sec

    For me, this is quite an interesting and important point. I don’t care at all - the script is executed in 100 ms or in 180 ms - I evaluate the results of work for several seconds. Thus, I work freely with maximum energy saving.

    And what does it give me?


    Having a battery (namely, I have it) of 5600 mAh - you can work 10-11 hours (with WiFi turned off, on the GMA 4500, a turbocharged processor and max power saving mode. Opera + Apache + NetBeans). If you choose a GF210 video card, but continue to mess around (program or read) - 8 hours of work on the road. Turning on WiFi reduces these numbers by 1 hour.

    In maximum performance mode, on the GF210, playing an online 3D game on the Internet via WiFi and communicating via Skype - I got a little more than 2 hours of work on one battery.

    Watching movies on the go, 720p showed about 5-6 hours of work.

    Very quiet - you can sleep peacefully. Under load - no noise. The fan, of course, is audible - but only at night when you listen.

    And the most amazing thing is that happiness weighs only 1.5 kg. True, he feels heavier than any 10 '' - 11 '' brothers. That's because it is longer than them (remember physics and the moment of force). In short, it is still difficult to hold it by the edge with one hand. With two hands, he holds on like any other 2 - 2.5 kg laptop.

    True, there are drawbacks to such a large (13.3``) laptop. Not every bus fits. In some buses, the seats are so close that the screen can be opened maximum - perpendicularly. That is the problem. The matrix is ​​on the TN laptop, and the laptop itself lies on its knees, so the image on top is very poorly visible (liquid crystals, well, turn to me with a peled, huh? Well, come on!). And on your knees (top view) - you can work if the screen is opened 110 degrees.

    In the metro - it’s better to sit on the very side of the seat so that you can stick your hand in the hole (and always opposite the exit - I myself saw cases of robbery sitting next to the exit). In other places of sitting you will certainly be pressed out from the left and right flanks, so any path to retreat is what you need for convenient work.

    I will end with the most important difference - the stickers on the case are glued very evenly - this underlines the quality of ASUS products very well.

    ps appeared ASUS U30Jc - Core i3 2.26 Ghz, 2.1 kg, DVD and a little thicker than UL30VT.
    Soon to appear Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820T

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