Laptop.. Scratch That. Ultimate Mobile Workstation is more like it
Ok, budget time is here at work and I have been tasked with the decision between a new workstation or laptop. Being a server / linux / networking guy, I am a huge fan of high performance laptops. They have always been missing one thing, Raid (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). Alienware released their first RAIDed laptop a while back and Lenovo which took over IBMs laptop division has followed. This thing is a beast! That is in features and in the wallet. The base unit of their ThinkPad W700 STARTS at $2,729.00. Specs are as follows:
- Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2)
- 17″ WUXGA 400NIT TFT
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated)
- 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
- Ultranav + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor
- 1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera
- Internal RAID – Configured by Lenovo
- Primary SATA RAID 1
- Dual 200GB, 7200rpm RAID Enabled Hard Disk Drives with Disk Encryption
- DVD Recordable 8x Max Ultrabay Enhanced (Serial ATA)
- Compact Flash + Express Card(34mm)
- Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
- Integrated UWB WPAN
Now, that is not completely configured to the max specification and its costing $3,344.00. I definitely do not need a Blue Ray reader in a laptop, but I do want raid, disk encryption, and 7200 rpm drives. Getting that to work with Linux is another thing, which would happen as soon as it was received. Now for the bad, it weighs around 8 pounds.
Almost forgot, you can get a built in digitizer with pen for digital editing or taking notes like a tablet.
http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/W700_Datasheet.pdf
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