Making A Decision - Small Server, Laptop or Desktop
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So I'm really close to shopping for a new system to replace my beast Acer 8930 Win 7 Pro behemoth (in size, not umph) and, with a little change now in the pocket, am torn. Should I make the investment in a HP micro server or get a good enough notebook / desktop to do some virtualization. You might recall that a few months back, I thought I had a deal worked out with HP to do a review of a server, getting to keep the server after the review was completed. Well, that deal appears to have vanished into thin air. My current rig cannot support real virtualization, already has a HDD going bad, and has a puny centrino CPU. I'm very hardware poor right now. Even my router running DD-WRT is getting long in the tooth.
What I'm looking to do is setup a virtual lab environment souly for the purpose of helping me bang out at least one MS Exam this year and hone in some VMware skill.
Should I just say screw it, get a decent affordable laptop (HP or a Chromebook) and rely on the online labs from Microsoft (or the VMware ones at a future date) saving my money for exam costs and learning material or should I fork over the money for a micro server / build my own? I'm trying to avoid making an emotional, irrational decision.
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Get what I got. HP Probook 6570b.
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/hpremarketing/daily.asp?jumpid=in_r2910_bizoutlet/remarketing/smbclearance&a=a#SMB1The HP Business Outlet has amazing prices on the stuff that normally costs anywhere from 50%-200% more than what you'll pay. Mine is i7 at 3.3GHz quad-core, 12GB RAM (16GB max), docking station capable (and using), 15.6" matte screen, full keyboard with numberpad, 1GB DDR5 RAM on an AMD Radeon HD 7570M. Some models have the biometrics. Mine doesn't. Mine actually doesn't have a webcam oddly enough. However, it's smoking fast. It has a console port, so you can do Cisco work via console should you desire. Five USB ports, including 1xeSATA, 2xUSB3.0 and 2xUSB2.0. If you have any questions, let me know. But seriously, check out the Business Outlet.
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@ajstringham Now that you mention that I remember you had told me about this once before. Not sure why I didn't remember that earlier. Thanks!
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@ajstringham Now that you mention that I remember you had told me about this once before. Not sure why I didn't remember that earlier. Thanks!
I can get you Priscilla's contact info, should you want to talk to her (Priscilla@HP).
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you can get a cheap server off of ebay for your virtualization jollies, and get a good business laptop for your work/etc. I like having a nice laptop with a small zippy SSD. but that's me, you could be very different/
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@Hubtech said:
you can get a cheap server off of ebay for your virtualization jollies, and get a good business laptop for your work/etc. I like having a nice laptop with a small zippy SSD. but that's me, you could be very different/
I actually found a nice HP laptop & desktop at Sam's Club today while I was getting a couple of new tires installed that actually fit my budget really well and allowed for future upgrades. I also found a ASUS laptop that had a SSD that was also nicely equipped. All the CPU's supported visualization and had minimums of 8GB RAM (one laptop had 12GB, as did one desktop that came with a monitor. Standalone desktop was the cheapest, supported up to 32 GB RAM.)
I don't know why I thought this but I had thought you couldn't use PowerShell ISE on the home version of Windows 8.1, and that it was only a pro tool.
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IMO it's more of a build quality issue going with a home laptop. cheaper chassis, hinges, etc. personally, I go for several devices that are "good" at what they do, instead of a swiss army knife
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I tend to agree Hubtech, I don't like to have everything running on my laptop/desktop unless I have no other options (which perhaps you don't).
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@Dashrender said:
I tend to agree Hubtech, I don't like to have everything running on my laptop/desktop unless I have no other options (which perhaps you don't).
I would normally do the same thing, but $$$ is the issue right now, and I have to make due with whatever I can get a hold of.
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@Dashrender said:
I tend to agree Hubtech, I don't like to have everything running on my laptop/desktop unless I have no other options (which perhaps you don't).
I would normally do the same thing, but $$$ is the issue right now, and I have to make due with whatever I can get a hold of.
/plug
@Bill-Kindle ServerMonkey has (new) i-series laptops well under $1k and barebones (refurb) servers start under $100 on our boneyard page, depending on what type of virtualization you're looking to do. If you wanted to work something out we're always looking for good word-of-mouth!
/endplug -
@Bill-Kindle said:
Should I just say screw it, get a decent affordable laptop (HP or a Chromebook) and rely on the online labs from Microsoft (or the VMware ones at a future date) saving my money for exam costs and learning material or should I fork over the money for a micro server / build my own? I'm trying to avoid making an emotional, irrational decision.
I love our Chromebook. It's really nice. And was like $199.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Bill-Kindle said:
Should I just say screw it, get a decent affordable laptop (HP or a Chromebook) and rely on the online labs from Microsoft (or the VMware ones at a future date) saving my money for exam costs and learning material or should I fork over the money for a micro server / build my own? I'm trying to avoid making an emotional, irrational decision.
I love our Chromebook. It's really nice. And was like $199.
I have been eyeballing the HP 14" model pretty hard. It's $299 at a box store I won't shop at and comes with 200MB free mobile internet a month for 2 years through T-Mobile.
Pretty hard to pass that up considering I'm pretty heavy in the Google ecosphere now. The only thing that stops me is my wanting to do virtualization and continue using PowerShell ISE.
