Good laptop

[robster970]

As I am lazy and can't be bothered to trawl through loads of reviews on The Register, am looking for a recommendation for a good laptop.

Laptop will be running X-Trader and X-Study. Usually (but not always) connected to another 21'' monitor but would ideally like to drive 2 monitors from it as well as it's own screen.

Usual browsing for news and the occasional lulz. Should last 2-3 year.

What do you reckon boys and girls?

 

[YouAreNotFree]

I recently bought a used quad screen set up for a steal of a price which included everything but a pc to run it. I've only ever used two for my poker.

I'm not especially familiar with computers at all so it was news to me that a standard computer will only run 2 monitors, and to run more screens you need more video cards. My laptop had an integrated graphics card and no spare pce slots or whatever they are called so I was going to need to buy something else.

What I ended up doing was buying a refurbed tower with good spec for a super cheap £50 on ebay, paid 10 quid for an extra video card and £20 for a keyboard+ mouse etc. Now I have a very nice little dedicated setup which cost me next to nothing, runs A1 and of course keeps my laptop free for everything else but trading and poker.

 

[DionysusToast]

I'm currently using a Fujitsu NH751 - 8gb RAM, 17" screen (1920x1080), intel i7 processor. I run Win 7 64bit on it. It's wasn't the cheapest laptop on the planet - about $3k out here in Thailand but it's a great machine.

I prefer laptops to desktops personally. I run this with 3 additional monitors. So 4 screens total.

1 - Laptop screen
2 - External LCD via VGA port
3 - External LCD via Display Link USB to DVI
4 - External LCD via old PC through ethernet port using MaxiVista software

I will move to a desktop soon, I've been putting it off for a couple of years as I love laptops.

 

[robster970]

Thanks DT - very useful - will take a look.

 

[Brock Landers]

On a related note, I have a question about laptops and external monitors... if anyone knows the answer I would be grateful:

Let's say I have a (new) middle spec laptop, and I want to hook up a larger monitor (or even TV) to it. What kind of resolution can I get on the bigger screen? Will it just be the laptop screen blown up? Do I actually gain any screen real estate..??

And, on a related note, anyone got any experience of external multi-screen graphics cards?

 

[DionysusToast]

Brock - look @ MaxiVista & USB to DVI - be aware though that I am giving up on USB to DVI after 2 years of use because it's like a fkin woman.

Maxivista is cool though - but needs an extra PC.

On the TV thing - it's all down to the pixels on the telly, that's what impacts the resolution, not the PC it's linked to.