Laptop Thread 2015-2016

[amraj]

We have had these on Quantnet in the past and they have been very useful for many users, especially those about to start an MFE programme. It's getting late now and nobodies started one, so I thought I'd start it.

Feel free to discuss the laptop you are currently using and what you would recommend to somebody looking to upgrade.

I'm personally using at 2011 MacBook Pro 17", but since it is not very mobile, I will be looking for something more compact

 

[IntoDarkness]

i need that 4k or 3k 17''. high-res 15'' is killing my eyes.

 

[Levi McClenny]

I have a 2014 macbook Air with an SSD and that helps me a lot. XCode is decent for C/C++ and it runs all the R stuff really well. If your program is focused on C/C++ then you MIGHT be better with a windows computer since visual studio seems to be the industry standard. I'll likely be sticking to my mac for a while though since most of my work is in R. My advice would be to get an SSD in whatever you decide to buy, windows or mac, since it makes a world of difference in your load times and whatnot. Way more dependable as well.

EDIT: parallels is good on mac too, but you need the RAM for it. If you want a mac just to run parallels for visual studio you're better off with a windows system because parallels slows down your computer so much. Unless, of course, you want to drop $4000 on a mac pro so you can have the RAM for it. I'd stick to a windows in that case.

 

[Eric Lim]

If you are looking for a desktop replacement that lasts for 1-2 years in MFE program, few months of internship and few years of fulltime job mostly away from home, you will want a gaming ultrabook that's not too flashy and has enough horse power to do anything you want. I had such a bad experience with Macbook during my undergrad, I wouldn't suggest it... I hated putting extra effort to find software that's compatible with Mac and its design gets old pretty fast so you want spec over fancy design. Also, 13 inch will be too small for you so go for 15 or 17 that's thin and light. My personal choice was MSI GS60. It's less expansive than Macbook pro but has one of the best specs in the market. Just my two cents...

 

[IntoDarkness]

i just checked out msi gs60... it is awesome!

 

[amraj]

I have a 2014 macbook Air with an SSD and that helps me a lot. XCode is decent for C/C++ and it runs all the R stuff really well. If your program is focused on C/C++ then you MIGHT be better with a windows computer since visual studio seems to be the industry standard. I'll likely be sticking to my mac for a while though since most of my work is in R. My advice would be to get an SSD in whatever you decide to buy, windows or mac, since it makes a world of difference in your load times and whatnot. Way more dependable as well.

EDIT: parallels is good on mac too, but you need the RAM for it. If you want a mac just to run parallels for visual studio you're better off with a windows system because parallels slows down your computer so much. Unless, of course, you want to drop $4000 on a mac pro so you can have the RAM for it. I'd stick to a windows in that case.

Thanks for the info. My course is based on C++ so for that reason I should stick to windows really. But because I have used a macbook for so long, im not used to the other keyboards and touchpads.

Also a friend mentioned yoi can use windows on an a macbook pro by switching a setting when you want. Is this a good idea? To switch over to windows for C++?

 

[amraj]

If you are looking for a desktop replacement that lasts for 1-2 years in MFE program, few months of internship and few years of fulltime job mostly away from home, you will want a gaming ultrabook that's not too flashy and has enough horse power to do anything you want. I had such a bad experience with Macbook during my undergrad, I wouldn't suggest it... I hated putting extra effort to find software that's compatible with Mac and its design gets old pretty fast so you want spec over fancy design. Also, 13 inch will be too small for you so go for 15 or 17 that's thin and light. My personal choice was MSI GS60. It's less expansive than Macbook pro but has one of the best specs in the market. Just my two cents...

Im after a laptop and Ill be cycling/walking to uni so not too heavy preferably. I dont play computer games on laptops so although msi gs60 looks good, i think id be paying for bonus features i wouldnt make use of. I used a thinkpad on my internship and didnt think it was user friendly at all. Any otjwe recomendations?

 

[ExSan]

what about TOSHIBA Kirabook, what are the pros/cons ?

 

[amraj]

what about TOSHIBA Kirabook, what are the pros/cons ?

After a quick search it appears that the major drawback is the price, which is around $1600.00. You can put a little more in and go for a Macbook? But I have never used one so it could be worth it.

 

[Levi McClenny]

Also a friend mentioned yoi can use windows on an a macbook pro by switching a setting when you want. Is this a good idea? To switch over to windows for C++?

You can dual boot but you're essentially splitting your hard drive in half and using half for windows and half for OSX. Its been done by a lot of people. Some people like it but I don't have much experience with it. They wont interact though, so you can't create a file on the mac side and access it on the windows side. Essentially you'll have 2 different computers inside one case. This is a feasible option if you really want a mac but also want visual studio to keep up with the MFE program.

Info:
How To Dual Boot from a Mac into Windows

Also, if you don't wanna worry about any of that, there's a new release of visual studio called "visual studio code" that is multi-platform and free. Might be worth checking out.

https://code.visualstudio.com/Download

 

[mhy]

Also, if you don't wanna worry about any of that, there's a new release of visual studio called "visual studio code" that is multi-platform and free. Might be worth checking out.

https://code.visualstudio.com/Download

That doesn't support C++ so would be pointless for anyone in a quant program.

 

[Levi McClenny]

That doesn't support C++ so would be pointless for anyone in a quant program.

https://code.visualstudio.com/Docs/languages/overview

Its obviously not as thorough as the real VS but its something for the mac users out there besides XCode.

 

[pingu]

Thanks for the info. My course is based on C++ so for that reason I should stick to windows really. But because I have used a macbook for so long, im not used to the other keyboards and touchpads.

Also a friend mentioned yoi can use windows on an a macbook pro by switching a setting when you want. Is this a good idea? To switch over to windows for C++?

WHAT? OSX comes with a way better C++ compiler (LLVM) than the standard C++ compiler on Windows (Visual C++).

if you don't like XCode, that's a different story. XCode is still very good. I discovered this new IDE. Don't know if it's any good (but I like jetbrains):

CLion: A power tool for a power language

 

[Levi McClenny]

WHAT? OSX comes with a way better C++ compiler (LLVM) than the standard C++ compiler on Windows (Visual C++).

if you don't like XCode, that's a different story. XCode is still very good.

I agree I'm fairly partial to XCode but I've been programming in Obj-C for a while now so I'm fairly familiar with the interface. Depends on whether the program requires or teaches out of VS. If the course work has walkthroughs in VS then it might behoove you to use it. Otherwise I'd stick to a mac. Personal preference though.

 

[mhy]

https://code.visualstudio.com/Docs/languages/overview

Its obviously not as thorough as the real VS but its something for the mac users out there besides XCode.

Ah, my bad.

CLion looks promising. I've used IntelliJ and PyCharm in the past, and I'm a fan of JetBrains' approach to IDEs.

 

[Eric Lim]

Also a friend mentioned yoi can use windows on an a macbook pro by switching a setting when you want. Is this a good idea?

Nope... you will end up using Windows on Macbook all the time like I did. You already start seeing long discussion around what to run on Mac which was a big headache for me. Try getting a Windows ultrabook from like Asus, Samsung or Lenovo.

 

[IntoDarkness]

op believes mac deserves a premium over pc. so if the pc costs close to a mac, he will go for a mac. otherwise, he wants things cheap

 

[Yike Lu]

The reason to use Windows is not VC++, but Excel. I personally avoid doing real work on Windows.

 

[amraj]

The reason to use Windows is not VC++, but Excel. I personally avoid doing real work on Windows.

Thanks for the reply. So what would your recommendation be? What do you use atm? Are you happy with it?

 

[Yike Lu]

I'm no longer a student. I like my MacBook Air, but I recommend getting your hands on Win7 + Office somehow, for Excel, as a practical matter, as it's widely used. Fortunately, Windows is unnecessary at my current job.