Try to buy a laptop with a low voltage processor

[richard mitnick]

Back in October, I purchased a new machine, Win 7 with an I7-920 processor, 4 cores and hyper-threading. The machine is a Dell Studio 9000 desktop. I wanted this machine especially for the "crunching" I do for scientific projects running BOINC software. The machine was a fabulous success. I have done more work since October than in all of the previous time spent in this activity. I have moved into the 98th percentile of all crunchers all time, all over the world.

So, now I want to add another highly capable machine. But, this time it needs to be a laptop. I want to replace my netbook in this work. I am not looking to replicate the new desktop in a laptop. Rather, I want to move this work from what is basically a gadget to a real laptop. Either a quad or hyper- threaded dual core, maybe 2.0 gigs or higher. At the same time, I want to keep the machine reasonably sized for travel, maybe 14".

In spite of the long list of ultra low voltage processors available from Intel in the i3, i5, and i7 families, it is just about impossible to find one in a laptop. It is desirable to reduce heat.

To me, this is astounding. I have talked to reps at Dell about six times. I have combed the web sites of Toshiba, Sony, even Apple.

I am not so much looking for help here, as I am raising this as a general problem. Even with processors shown as "mobile", the voltages are standard. Low voltage processors on 32nm dies and with ratings at 18 watts are out, no one is offering them.

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[iJohnE]

I believe ASUS is using the i3's in their new ultra low voltage computers. If no they're still using the Core 2 Duos.

As far as I know, ASUS is the only manufacture with a line of low power consumption, high performance laptops.

Personally, I'd say look at an Alienware laptop with the i5. That'd be great performance.

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[Don_HH2K]

The 12-inch ThinkPad X201s has a dual-core 2GHz Core i7 standard, upgradeable to 2.13GHz. Supposedly with the 9-cell battery it gets 12 hours of battery life (the X-series is the mobile/good-battery-life series).

If something that small's not your thing, the the 14-inch T410 can be upgraded to a 2.66GHz dual-core i7. I'm not sure what the battery life is like, but you can order up to a 9-cell battery for the system's main battery bay. On top of that you can also order a second 9-cell battery that hooks up to the docking port on the bottom, and a 3-cell battery that fits in the expansion bay in place of the optical drive.

There are also quad-core i7 ThinkPads, but judging by what you said they're not what you're looking for. The base model is $1600, clocked at 1.6GHz, and the smallest they run is 15.6 inches.

With older Dell Latitude laptops you used to be able to install two 8-cell batteries side by side, one in the battery bay and one in the optical bay. I'm not sure if that's the case any longer, but it might be worth a look whenever Dell releases a Core i5/i7 Latitude.

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[richard mitnick]

Hey John-

Thanks, Asus is one I missed.

Don- it's not battery life, the thing will probably never be on battery except on a plane. The question is heat and performance. I will look at Levono.

I really appreciate the suggestions.

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[Don_HH2K]

IBM's ThinkPad laptops were generally pretty good on cooling. Not sure if it's the same deal now that Lenovo is making design decisions in their stead.

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[Antony]

I have moved into the 98th percentile of all crunchers all time, all over the world.

Congratulations!

I am still doing my contribution on my PS3. My PS3 is on almost 24/7, besides using it for recording TV (PlayTV), it runs Folding @ Home rest of the time. (I haven't used it for playing games for months.)

In spite of the long list of ultra low voltage processors available from Intel in the i3, i5, and i7 families, it is just about impossible to find one in a laptop. It is desirable to reduce heat.

I believe you will need to wait for the i3, i5, i7 to be available on laptops.

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[Don_HH2K]

Richard, I did some research and found out that the stock 2GHz i7-620LM in the ThinkPad X201s is indeed a low-voltage i7, as is the 2.13GHz i7-640LM upgrade option.

On the other hand, as you said, I haven't been able to find any i7 ULV processors in production notebooks.

I believe you will need to wait for the i3, i5, i7 to be available on laptops.

The Core i3/i5/i7 are already available on many laptops. That's including name brands like Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, HP, etc.

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[richard mitnick]

O.K., dudes and dudettes-

BTW, where are all of the dudettes/ Rare to see one at S'Dog.

First, many thanks to John and Don for their contributions and to Antony for his kind words.

I did the deed, pulled the trigger. I think that I did get what I wanted, not a barn burner like my Dell Studio 9000 desktop with Win7, i7-920 processor and 6 gigs of DDR3 memory. Rather, a middle-of-the-road machine to move me away from the netbook as a crunching tool. Most of this machine is standard stock.

So, here it is, feel free to be hyper-critical:

Dell Studio 14 laptop (14" because of space in the digiteria and also because of travel)
Core i5-520M processor, 2.4 gigs, turbo to 2.93 (the turbo effect is why I wanted something in the i5 line. This processor is on a 32nm die, and rated at 35 watts. It is dual core with hyper threading, so it will crunch for work units at a time.
4 gigs DDR3 1066 MHz
500GB 7200 SATA HDD
8X DVD+/-RW dual layer optical drive
3 years "in-home" hardware warrantee

I spent US$1044 before shipping and sales tax.

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[Antony]

Congratulations on your new laptop.

In spite of the long list of ultra low voltage processors available from Intel in the i3, i5, and i7 families, it is just about impossible to find one in a laptop.

I guess you can blame Acer.

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[richard mitnick]

Hey Antony-

Thanks for this very interesting article.

>>RSM

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[iJohnE]

Very nice Richard. I hope you have better luck with your Studio than I've had with mine. Although, it seems that a lot of people have had problems specific to the model I bought rather than the line as a whole.

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[richard mitnick]

Hey John, what did you buy?


>>RSM

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[iJohnE]

I bought the Studio 1537 Laptop. I've had numerous problems with it. The MOBO has has to be replaced, the chasis, HDD, keyboard, graphics contoller, DVD drive as well as the core 2 duo chip.

Often from time to time I loose functionality of the touch sensative buttons at the top of the keyboard.

It's a shame really, since I got it for 749USD. I thought that was a great price for a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo and 4 Gigs of 866Mhz DDR2 Ram.

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