Serious 64-bit laptop
- by Daniel Gehriger
For the past couple of years, I have been using an IBM Thinkpad T60p for daily work (software development, desktop & embedded).
I am extremely satisfied with this machine, due to its robustness. It also has a few features I depend on:
a high resolution display: 15.0" TFT FlexView display with 1600x1200 (UXGA);
excellent keyboard;
decent graphics and CPU performance.
Some of the software I develop benefits from larger amounts of RAM, and 3GB (Windows 7 32-bit) or 4GB (Windows 7 64-bit on T60p) are no longer sufficient. My customers run desktop computers with 20GB and more, and I need to have at least 8GB to at least be able to run reasonable test cases.
So I'm shopping around for a new laptop, but I'm struggling to find anything that matches my requirements:
must run Windows 7 64-bit Pro or higher;
must support at least 8GB of RAM (more is better)
high screen resolution! While I prefer 4:3 I can live with wide screen. But I really hope to find something with a vertical screen resolution similar to what I have now...
portable, so < 16" but = 14"
I realize that FlexView isn't available anymore, but I'd like to avoid a glossy screen if possible.
decent (not more) graphics performance, ideally hybrid (I'm doing a lot of CAD, never games).
good keyboard
reasonable CPU -- but I'm still fine with my current Core 2 Duo, so that shouldn't be too complicated.
The T60p fits all those requirements, except the 8GB of RAM. Can you help me find a current notebook that would match most of them? I don't mind changing brand.
Thanks!