Re: Semi-OT: Recommendation for laptop/workstation replacment to run VMs ?

Jared Still <jkstill_at_gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 12:30 PM, <Christopher.Taylor2_at_parallon.net> wrote:
> I was looking at the Dell Precision m6700 but I'm not sure I want to pull
> the pin on that badboy right now so I was curious if any of you guys have a
> good workstation replacement you use to run test VMs (think: RAC upgrade
> testing (CRS, ASM etc) - basic database upgrades to flush out issues).
> I had a desktop at one point that I had setup a DNS server on and a vlan
> for the VMs which worked pretty well at the time but I'd like to have
> something portable. Definitely needs 16GB ram if not 32gb I think.
>
> Anyone have any favorites or recommendations (or tips on how to write off
> a m6700 on my taxes! LOL )
>
>

Sorry, no tax advice.

But I did just get a new dell laptop for the purposes you are stating.

Dell XPS 15, 128G mSata SSD, 1 TB disk, 16G of RAM 4 Core i7-3632QM CPU
Windows 8

Virtualization works just fine on this machine, and I am overall quite pleased with it so far.

The only thing is it lacking is a VGA port. I purchased and HDMI to VGA adapter, but have not
yet tried it, so we'll see if I am still completely happy when I get around to that.

There are a number of reviews on the XPS 15, and those that appear at the top of the google
review search are all pretty accurate as far as I can tell.

Some pluses for this machine:
* gorgeous display - I think it was the CNET reviewer that claimed this was the nicest display
he had ever seen on a PC laptop - I would agree. * wonderful keyboard - so much better than the usual fare I've experienced on quite a few Dell laptops

So far I've had 3 linux VM's running at once with no issues 2 Oracle 6.1 running oracle 11.2 with 6G of RAM between them 1 Debian 6 with 2G of RAM

Caveat: the default setting is for the 128G SSD to be used as a caching device.
I reinstalled windows and used the SSD as the OS/App drive - boot times are quite livable. :)

I was considering the Dell 4700, but the XPS was several hundred $$ less for about the same capability.
Really the only thing I am missing is VGA port The M4700/6700 can be upgraded to 32G, and the XPS is maxed out at 16G. 32G would be nice, but I can live with 16G.

I would have very seriously considered a MacBook Pro had not the new line topped out at 8G of RAM.
They can be unofficially upgraded to 16G, but Apple doesn't support it.

HTH,
Jared

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