any recommendation for laptop with flex 6700?

elan

any recommendation for laptop with flex 6700?
vy 73 elan g0uut

Jon_KF2E

I would go with a MacBook Pro. New ones are due out very soon(this month). You can then either use DogPark or run VMware/Parallels and Windows. Mac hardware is the best I have ever used.

Jon...kf2e

elan

hello Jon 
yes it is great info i do have the mac
pro but i wonder how much this software will cost ?
73 elan g0uut     thank you 

Anthony Cafarella

just be aware that you might be limiting yourself with a MAC laptop. While the hardware is OUTSTANDING (imho) I personally have found fewer overall options for software relating to ham activities. I have both mac and pc. Why limit youself right? Just my two cents

elan

great answer however what lap top will work nice with the 6700 then ?
73 ep

Dan -- KC4GO

Looking for something light and portable I purchased a DELL XPS-13 (i7, 16 Gig Ram, 512 Gig SSHD)  Runs SSDR just fine and using OpenVPN into my NightHawk Router with no problem.
Running latest version Windows 10 Pro

EA4GLI

Another option is some of the laptops that were premium a couple of technology cycles ago. For example this one for $399

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-14-1-Inch-Professional-Refurbished/dp/B01LY2YCQB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=...

It is refurbished, but, it comes with some nice features, including Windows 7 64Bit.
Core i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD drive... so no slouch, but the screen resolution is not HD at 1366 x 768.
You can easily connect it to an external monitor for great resolution and it comes with gigabit ethernet.

It is heavier (8lbs) and bulkier than new offerings, but it gives you and idea of what you can get for less than $400.

DH2ID

I use a VAIO i7 QuadCore notebook here, wich controls 2 analogue TRX and my Flex6k5. 
CPU runs at abt. 10% with 7 programs open and an extra monitor. GPU is a NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M.
As SmartSDR does need much CPU power, GPU power is everything, so I am slowly switching over to a Macbook Pro 15" Retina i7 Intel Core which is a lot quieter (my VAIO's sounds like
a vaccum cleaner)

Ria

I am a mac person and a unix person and I would not recommend a mac primarily for Flex use. The point of using a Mac is MacOS (formerly OSX) and if you have to run SmartSDR in a VM you're not using the full capability of the hardware. Or worse, you run dual boot with bootcamp so you run Windows on a mac... not why I wanted a mac in the first place. dogParkSDR, while a noble attempt is simply not a full replacement for SmartSDR. Maybe that will change in the future but as it stands right now it is not. It is also one more piece of software to buy.

I am evaluating right now and I may end up with a Windows laptop. Yes, I use Mac a lot but I believe that Windows 10 has gotten to the point where it is good enough for everyday use. It certainly isn't Windows of the past. Yes I still have a mac for dev purposes, no choice there due to licensing.

My considerations in a laptop are for portability. I have a desktop computer at home. So they are in this order:

Battery life - most important. 
Maximizing screen real estate, but not necessarily a big screen.
Good enough performance for SmartSDR and other use (eg WSJT, photoshop)
Lightweight 
Durable

So my choices come down to these. Yes, my bias is for ultrabooks. For me, a laptop is all about portability. 

Dell XPS 13. This is a sweet machine. Really nice display. Light and portable. 18 hour battery life.

HP Elitebook folio. Decent specs. Portable. Aluminum. Almost like a mac. Downside? I don't like HP. But they are decent these days.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. I have a soft spot for thinkpads. I had a Thinkpad T40 in college and it got me through many last minute projects. One of the best I've owned. Promises to be strong and light with carbon fiber. 

Honorable mention: Surface Pro 4. I have been flirting with the idea of one of these instead of a regular laptop. It would run SmartSDR and be extremely portable. 

So these are my picks, strictly my opinion. Asking for an opinion about which computer to buy is like asking which car or radio to buy. You'll get a different answer depending on who you ask. 

Bill W2PKY

I have the Surface Pro i5, runs my 6700 with 8 slices open just fine.

elan

thank you all for the great info and support very kind thank you as well for your time 
have a great weekend 
73 elan g0uut

Michael Coslo

The Mac is capabe of runing all Mac software, and all Windows software, which makes it much more versatile than a Windows laptop. You would need the Mac, then either bootcamp or Parallels or the like to run a Windows partition. At that point you would have not only the option of running SmartSDR on the Windows side, or DogPark SDR on the Mac side. This is the most versatile option out there. 

Michael Coslo

By the way - I forgot to add, IMO you should run Windows 7 in any event. Much more reliable.

elan

Michael 
you are correct i do have mac air high spec mackbook pro and i mac  some pc 
the Apple have solid hardware so i may invest for macbook this software yes I7 64 
solid sys thank you 

Norm - W7CK

I have a 10 year old Dell XPS M1330 that runs 8 slices, logging, digital modes. internet browser, and remote control to my amp and tuner.  All of this runs at the same time without any problem at all.

G4NRT

I use the Microsoft Surface Book which is a hybrid between a tablet and a full laptop.  I use it only for amateur radio and it does the job well!

elan

what software is this ?

G4NRT

If you're asking me Elan, it is Windows 10.  If you're asking someone else then my apologies!

elan

hello David 
sorry i was asking you do you use macbook ?

Ria

You can run windows on them now, natively since they have intel processors. You can either dual boot or run in a virtual machine. 

However if you primarily use windows you pay a premium for Apple hardware, so it is a bit of cost savings and more **** for the buck if you get a good windows laptop versus a mac one. 

elan

hello Ria 
yes i know but good laptop in the UK cost as much as macbook  . but nice info you put on very interesting  thank you kind for this information 
vy 73 elan g0uut

Ria

Don't know what prices in the UK are like but here a macbook (not including the 11 inch air which is very small) starts at $1000 whereas a windows laptop can be had for $700-$800 or so. 

Bill W2PKY

Something to consider is a touch screen. I would not have any kind of computer without a touch screen these days. Especially running SSDR. So nice to operate the radio by touch.

elan

hello Bill for sure it is great to have however , but one guy i know use the 6700 and the R6700
have bought this ASUS Republic of Gamers GX700 17.3" Gaming Laptop mad price cost as much as new 6500 over **** laptop 

Mark_WS7M

Well I too am a developer and like many here the Mac hardware is far superior in many ways but yes you pay for it.

I also agree that running VMWare or Parallels while running Mac OS works it is certainly not a great way to interface to the 6000 series radio.  The alternative is to use DogPark and keep the Mac OS running.  Unfortunately as much as I like DogPark it is pretty rough compared to SSDR.  It will get there but right now I find it somewhat harder to use.

So a good Windows laptop choice is difficult because there are so many.  I do have a Microsoft Surface with the core i7, lots of RAM etc.  It works great.  In fact it is for sale if you are interested.