Desktop replacement laptop

[MobileTechie]

I don't do a huge amount of workshop repair these days and I'm thinking of reclaiming some space by ditching my desktop and using a large laptop. However I'd still like the option to image drives and store plenty of data. So I think I need one with an eSata port (for an HDD dock/crade) and twin hard drives for storage.

It doesn't need amazing graphics as I'm no gamer but would like a decent CPU.

Anyone got any recommendations?

 

[MobileTechie]

I discovered that eSata on laptops is a dying technology in the face of USB3 etc, and even rarer in a 17" format. But Dell still do it on their workstation laptops.

So now the proud owner of what has been touted in the PC press as "the world's most powerful laptop?" the Dell Precision M6800. It's a beast both physically and performance-wise.

 

[Larry Sabo]

One problem with using USB 3.0 instead of eSATA, is if you use an older version of Acronis (and maybe other imaging programs), it doesn't include drivers for USB 3.0, so when you go to restore an image from your external drive, you're stuck (unless you update to the latest version, I suppose). This only applies for restores that require rebooting and running Acronis in PE mode.

I guess you could always add an eSATA PCI card, but I'm not sure it would be effective in PE mode either.

 

[MobileTechie]

Yes that and other drive imaging problems (like the "wrong sector size" one in Macrium when trying to restore to some disks) are the reason I've got one with eSATA

 

[coffee]

Dont bother with hooking up drives to usb and smart tests either.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

IMO, need a "tower" there so you can use ports to work on HDDs...swapping all the time.
Reclaim space by putting monitor up on VESA wall mount...and even the tower, leaving open side towards work space to swap SATA drives.

 

[gikstar]

We have a couple of the Precision M4800's with the i7-4810MQ (super fast) cpu, 256Gb msata ssd and it has a standard hard drive slot. If you want to add another hard drive you can remove the rom drive and use the hard drive holder accessory that fits into the rom drive slot and then boot the system with an external usb rom drive (if needed). So, we can do this if we need to but we have the space on our tech benches or under them to use regular desktops with their sides off and two sata connectors and an ide connector ready to receive drives for cloning, running virus scans or testing.

 

[Markverhyden]

I agree with the issue of using USB, etc. Many data recovery, testing, etc will not work properly with bridges like USB to SATA. Nothing beats the native interfaces.

 

[coffee]

We have a couple of the Precision M4800's with the i7-4810MQ (super fast) cpu, 256Gb msata ssd and it has a standard hard drive slot. If you want to add another hard drive you can remove the rom drive and use the hard drive holder accessory that fits into the rom drive slot and then boot the system with an external usb rom drive (if needed). So, we can do this if we need to but we have the space on our tech benches or under them to use regular desktops with their sides off and two sata connectors and an ide connector ready to receive drives for cloning, running virus scans or testing.

Just recently got 7 Dell towers in with dual core processors, 4 gigs ram. I will retro fit 2 of them with hot swap bays (2 each) and load linux mint. This kind of arrangement works great. Cloning, Smart tests, Drive backups, Partition work... Makes a good workhorse for the shop.

 

[MobileTechie]

The amount of disk cloning and imaging I do here now is pretty minimal but I'll keep a tower available in case of any difficult jobs but so far imaging and restoring via eSata docks is working fine. At the end of the day eSata is merely a socket interface to the sata bus so it's the thing as connecting via a Sata cable - well it is on a desktop anyway since an eSata card has no electronics on it and plugs straining into a SATA port - I assume it's same for laptops since using that port seems to overcome all the USB problems.