Aileron

How about those new Lenovo models? http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/10/l...d-p50-and-p70/

• Xeon Processor
• 64 GB of RAM
• 4K Display

I'm not even sure what the difference is between a Xeon and an i7 but this sounds like a very impressive machine.

Dodge DeBoulet

Yes, they were mentioned up-thread. I still think it's possible to shave some weight, but the p50 might be worth considering. Not due to be released until October, but no one else has announced anything close.

MaxBuck

My most intensive application is Adobe Acrobat Pro: creating large pdf files from PowerPoint and Word with a fair number of high-resolution photos. Size of the files can get to be 40 MB or more. My Vaio can take up to 20 minutes to make one of these, and I'm trying to find out where the delay is: processor, RAM, disk, or graphics card.

Any ideas?

pseudoswede

For those that can't wait, maybe this one will be a decent, OMGexpensive alternative?

Dodge DeBoulet

Max 16GB RAM. Even if I couldn't wait, I'd still have to.

ScottC

If you have a Vaio, chances are it is still using a rotating drive - so updating to an SSD might help.

That said - a 40MB PDF really isn't much, so if your machine chokes on that, it may be time to upgrade.

MaxBuck

I've had the Vaio for about three years, so my cycle is about up. But I need to make sure whatever I buy isn't going to present the same problems when I put together these pdfs. (My backup, a 2009 MacBook Pro also with discrete graphics, is no faster.) The SSD suggestion is a good one, and whatever new machine I end up with will have one.

Is there any way to test-drive one of these things using Acrobat? That's probably what I need to do.

ScottC

Some of it may also come down to the version of Acrobat you are using.

MaxBuck

Acrobat 9 Pro. I could easily update to XI Pro, but I've seen some unfavorable reviews of the newer Acrobat Pro DC revolving around its user interface and some instability of the cloud feature. Plus 9 really does everything I need, and does it very well - except for the occasional sludge bucket project that slows my system to a crawl.

fassy

Yes, like with Outlook. Stay away from it. The new Acrobat is horrible (as is Outlook 2013)

If you want to find out why it takes so long is really Acrobat, install FreePDF and ghostscript and print a PDF from Powerpoint there.Then you can benchmark against Acrobat.

MaxBuck

Interesting suggestion. But printing to pdf isn't what takes the time for me usually; it's compiling a massive pdf document from a variety of sources (Word, PowerPoint, pre-existing pdfs). I need the auto bookmarking and hot-link features provided by the Distiller portion of the program.

Your comment about Outlook is spot on. I'm still on Office 2007, and it works great. Have a colleague who just migrated to Office 365 and is tearing his hair out, especially WRT Outlook. I see no reason ever to "update" my Office suite.

nkedel

Missed this post earlier, but:
A) Broadwell is a dead end; wait for Skylake.
B) There are no quad-core Broadwell ultrabook processors (35/37W quad cores equivalent to the i7-4702HQ/4712HQ)-- the Broadwell quads are full-wattage 47W processors, and will be in 6+lb desktop replacements.)

Also, watch for a Skylake refresh model of that Zenbook UX501 (although the Skylake one may still top out at 16gb; a lot of that kind of thinner Ultrabook or Ultrabook-like form factor machines have copied Apple and gone to soldered memory.)

>[*]i7-5700HQ or better
See above.


>Hardware support/socketing for 32GB RAM (yes, I know selection
>for 16GB SoDIMMs is limited, but I'M Intelligent Memory seems to have
> cracked that nut so others will follow)

DDR3 16GB SO-DIMMs will never be cost-effective; if you want this, you either need a heavy 4-socket system like the Lenovo W540 (they're skipping Broadwell for the W550, and going straight to Skylake-based Xeons) or to get Skylake with DDR4. 16gb DDR4 SO-DIMMs won't be cost-effective out of the gate, but in a year or two, they will be.

See : http://www.slashgear.com/lenovo-p50-...tion-10395905/ -- not clear on whether these are a step up from the W, or whether they're replacing it.
(Already mentioned, it seems.)

I think you're much more likely to find the specs you want in a 15" model, at least if you want it in the initial batch of Skylake machines.

This should be standard on most of the machines that would meet your other requirements, although there might be a few that only had a single mSATA or NGFF/m.2 slot (or two of them.)


Reasonably common to the newer generation of machines.

BTW, with the 2TB Samsung drive out, and with 1TB 2.5" SSDs under $400 now, one big 2.5" one may be more cost effective than two smaller ones.

Lenovo T450p, if it's announced (or the successor, if they adopt a different naming scheme), will be Skylake, sometime in Sept-Oct.

The T450p, by the way, is not by any stretch of the imagination an ultrabook. It's a full-size business notebook. If you're willing to get a slightly slower (but still Skylake quad core) processor than whatever replaces the T450p, the next Dell XPS 15 (which may or may not have an M3900 clone) is likely to be right up your alley -- 15" screen in a 14" chassis with super-thin bezels, and should be basically a skylake refresh of the current XPS 15, e.g. a reduced-wattage quad core and midrange gaming GPU -- although you'll be limited to 2 DIMM slots so 32gb as of this fall will be extremely pricy.

OTOH, you're looking at a 4-dimm-slot system otherwise, and those guys are heavy.

Resale value? What are these, cars?

As for engineering, the electronics are all the same; the ergonomics are mostly terribly and a lot of that is people copying Apple. If you're making a fashion statement, well, get the Apple.

Why would you want a tablet-like device?

The T430s is a pretty nice, light laptop, and goes to 16gb. To get lighter, you'd be going to a slower, reduced-voltage CPU, even a generation newer. Haswell was not much faster -- the Dell E6440 would be marginally faster, with a sorta-similar size and weight -- so if the T430s dies, there is still a new replacement option. If you want a quad-core, the T440p is a nice machine, but a bit thicker and heavier, and still limited to 16gb.

nkedel

Also, for quite a few people in this thread, keep an eye on the teasers and polls Lenovo put out for the "retro-Thinkpad." I think it might please a number of you.

superangrypenguin

Why? Well, I want to stay on one device. I don't want to carry my Surface with me. The T430s, while small and a very powerful device, is still unsuited to being used in Y. In J, fine, but in Y, ugh...

I need the power, but it's rare I use it. I will spend an easy 12 or so hours a week on a plane. But I'll only spend 15-30 minutes in my labs in front of customers. So in reality, I'm willing to sacrifice some speed in order to have a lighter, smaller device, like a laplet.

SP4 is rumored to have 16GB of ram. I'll be picking one of those puppies up if they have one - although I'll probably get it through work to be honest. I'm due for a refresh soon

DenverBrian

Maybe consider an alternative like PowerPDF? It may just be Adobe's general bloatware.