I bought my laptop in 2009. Way back then I was fairly happy with Apple’s spec of a gorgeous 17″ MacBook Pro laptop with 4+ hour of battery life running with 8GB RAM and a 500MB HDD – although I was a bit disappointed with the 500GB HDD.
In fact, it is probably the lack of HDD space that is driving me to look for a new laptop now.
But now it it 2012. And this is what I expect from a 2012 powerful laptop now. And I’m afraid Apple doesn’t come close. Unfortunately, nor does anyone else. Dell’s Ailienware M18X monster gets the grunt, but not the portability.
In rough order of importance:
- 1TB SSD. Forget spinning disks, I want speed and battery life. I’d really like 2TB, but it seems the SSD technology hasn’t been able to keep up with Moore’s Law, so I’ll compromise here.
- 16GB RAM. I’ll take 24 or 32 if its an option
- 6 Hrs+ battery life
- 17″ Retina Display. About 3200×2000 pixels should do it. Will take larger if it doesn’t compromise the weight and slimness factor.
- Silence. Whisper quiet fans only when required.
- No thicker than 25mm
- No heavier than 3.0Kg
- No DVD drive – don’t want to waste space or weight with a useless accessory.
- 3G Wireless. I need internet ALL the time. Counties I travel to don’t have 4G yet.
- 802.11n Dual Band (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
- 3xUSB 3.0 (minimum)
- Full keyboard (including Home/End/PgUP/PgDn)
- Support for multiple external monitors
- DVI or VGA or HDMI port. I’m sick of having to use additional plugs for Apple’s mini DP.
Does anyone know of a laptop that will fit my spec, or come close?
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