How To Choose the Best Desktop Replacement Laptop?I've reviewed a few desktop replacement laptops in the last few months that span the entire gamut of price, performance and build quality. Desktop replacements can be extremely useful, especially for IT Pros or people who are just unwilling to banish the trusty old desktop PC from their living room, but know that sooner or later it just has to go.Let's begin by discussing the benefits of a desktop replacement laptop. These machines simply aren't about being big and powerful any more. Sure they come with full HD screen sizes of 17 inches and upwards and new Core-i7 processors that are a match for anything found in a modern desktop. Both of these are relatively new innovations and they make the desktop replacement truly compelling for the first time. Having used some though I quickly came to realise that there's so much more to it than that. Storage is critical and all the machines I'm going to talk about here come with dual hard disks; with one even having space for a solid state mini card as well.Then there is build quality. If you are going to spend workstation money on a laptop you want to guarantee that it will take a few bumps and scrapes. You want to be able to drop it, or in my case stick it under a running tap accidentally (don't ask, it still worked thankfully) and know that you can carry on working.Finally there's security and you want to feel reassured that your data will be safe and secure from prying eyes and thieves. So which of the three main contenders for this prize do I believe will come out top?The Samsung RF711 is our first contender and it's by far the budget model of the three costing only around $1,000. When you compare this to a desktop what you're getting seems quite incredible value for money. A 2GHz Core-i7 processor and 6Gb of DDR3 ram backed up with an nVidia GeForce GT540M graphics chip with it's own 1Gb of memory. It's a very pretty machine too, though in fairness all the laptops in this review are head-turners. What is lacks however is all that you need for security peace of mind. There's no TPM chip, no fingerprint reader and no smartcard reader. Finally the budget for this machine stops at a 1600 by 900 not-quite HD screen.
Moving up to the Acer 8951G at around $1,400 does give you a fingerprint reader but still no TPM but you do get a full HD 1920 by 1080 screen, a slightly faster Core-i7 processor running at 2.2GHz and more ram at 8Gb. There's an nVidia GT555M graphics chip with 2Gb of dedicated memory and the biggest screen I've ever seen on a laptop at 18.4 inches. Style is also the order of the day here with the extra $400 buying you a brushed metal case, upped from the plastic of the Samsung.
Finally, and really at the very top of the tree stands the hefty Dell Precision M6600 workstation which those of you who read my reviews regularly will know is actually my own machine. This is a monster with a 2.5GHz Core-i7 processor, 8Gb of ram and an nVidia Optimus 4000M graphics with 2Gb of GDDR5 dedicated memory, up from the DDR3 of the other machines. It's configurable to an almost comical degree too with mine sporting a TPM chip, fingerprint reader, contactless smartcard reader, GPS, SIM card slot for mobile broadband and a four-point multi-touch screen. The metal case is completely bomb proof with the most solid construction I've ever seen on a laptop. All this comes at a hefty price though of around $4,000.
All three of these machines are very well equipped and all come with Blu-Ray, USB3 and huge numbers of ports. This isn't the only place where they're similar too. Battery life on all three is remarkably similar as is performance. It really is difficult to tell these three machines apart in day to day use to see which is faster.This ultimately becomes the crux of the argument over which is best. The Dell has all the security features and the rock-solid build quality that any any IT Pro would ever need. The price premium for all this over the other two though just doesn't make it worth all the extra cash. The addition of the fingerprint reader, which is fairly useless without a TPM chip in my opinion and the brushed metal not really adding anything to overall rugedness also rules the Acer out of the running. It's just not good enough to pip the Samsung to the post.Having used all three and realised there's actually very little, if anything at all, in it in terms of performan ce differences it just has to be the Samsung that wins. Desktop replacement power, twin hard disks and powerful graphics coming in at under $1,000 is just too good not to win. My recommendation if you're looking for a desktop replacement laptop is certainly the Samsung RF711, and you can use the $3,000 you save to pay for a decent case, a good insurance policy and a foreign holiday.
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