Laptops for programmers?

[et]

I need a strong sturdy speedy can-do-it-all laptop that works well for
programmers doing sql & .net. Any advice, suggestions? What to get, what
not to get?

Thanks and I am cross posting on the sqlserver.programming group for sql
programmers.

 

[Mythran]

I need a strong sturdy speedy can-do-it-all laptop that works well for
programmers doing sql & .net. Any advice, suggestions? What to get, what
not to get?

Thanks and I am cross posting on the sqlserver.programming group for sql
programmers.

Dell XPS Gen 2 Just a tad bit costly, but is good for development as
well as gaming (I upgraded the memory to 1 GB and the OS to WinXP Pro).

:0

Mythran

 

[clintonG]

There is a rumor that has yet to be substantiated but the rumor is that Dell
has built keyloggers into their laptops to assist the criminals working in
and with the US government to spy on citizens.

Rumor or not. This trend is growing. Autodesk for example now has language
in their license stating a customer must agree to allow Autodesk to "enter"
the customer's computers and networks "electronically."

Can you spell backdoor remote control?

There are some very dangerous software engineers in this world. If Autodesk
can enter electronically so can others. AutoCAD is everywhere. Imagine what
is going to happen when this police state sh!t and greedy stinking slime
like Autodesk are exploited when deployed in a nuclear or chemical plant
where AutoCAD is installed!

<%= Clinton Gallagher
METROmilwaukee (sm) "A Regional Information Service"
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://metromilwaukee.com/
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/

 

[Mythran]

There is a rumor that has yet to be substantiated but the rumor is that
Dell has built keyloggers into their laptops to assist the criminals
working in and with the US government to spy on citizens.

Rumor or not. This trend is growing. Autodesk for example now has language
in their license stating a customer must agree to allow Autodesk to
"enter" the customer's computers and networks "electronically."

Can you spell backdoor remote control?

There are some very dangerous software engineers in this world. If
Autodesk can enter electronically so can others. AutoCAD is everywhere.
Imagine what is going to happen when this police state sh!t and greedy
stinking slime like Autodesk are exploited when deployed in a nuclear or
chemical plant where AutoCAD is installed!

<%= Clinton Gallagher
METROmilwaukee (sm) "A Regional Information Service"
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://metromilwaukee.com/
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/

That would be considered a Conspiracy Theory and therefore un-justified w/o
substantial evidence that can be proven. With that said, do I believe that
the government does stuff like this? Yes. But on such a vast scale?
Maybe. Should I have to worry about it? Possibly. Do I? No. Why?
Because I know where I am going in the end. That's all I can say w/o taking
this completely off topic and start getting flamed.

Mythran

 

[Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD]]

Dells are good quality. (Stay away from Compaq!)
Get a fast processor and as much RAM as you can afford.
Larger screens are (of course) good for development too.

 

[clintonG]

Copied from a newsletter...

Are Key Loggers Being Built into New Laptops?

Several Web sites and blogs have recently discussed a mysterious
heatshrink-wrapped device that people are finding inside their new notebook
computers from Dell, HP and Gateway. Some have claimed that these appear to
be hardware key loggers - devices that capture and save everything you type
into your computer using the keyboard. We haven't run across anything like
this in our (Sony and Toshiba) notebook computers.

The pictures of the mystery device shown at http://c0x2.de/lol/lol.html do
indeed look like the internal key logger photo shown on the Anti-Spy Shot
Web site at http://www.anti-keylogger.com/keylogging_hardware.html, but the
letter purporting to be from the Department of Homeland Security doesn't
exactly ring true. And normally, you have to remove a hardware key logger in
order to retrieve the data it's recorded, so DHS would have to actually
seize your computer for it to be any good to them. So we don't buy the idea
that this is some government conspiracy, and neither does Snopes.

If key loggers are being built into new computers (and that's a big "if"),
it's more likely the device is intended to function like the "black boxes"
in cars, perhaps to be used to collect information for troubleshooting if
the computer is returned to the vendor for repairs. So far, we've heard of
no responses from the hardware vendors about this. If you've recently
purchased a new portable computer from a major vendor, you might want to
open up the case and see what's in there, just for curiosity's sake.


<%= Clinton Gallagher
METROmilwaukee (sm) "A Regional Information Service"
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://metromilwaukee.com/
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/

 

[Scott Allen]

Try to get a 7200 RPM drive or better. It's hotter and uses more
power, but makes a world of difference for heavy dev work.