I currently trade with my home built desktop with 4 monitors. I built it myself and it's very powerful with quad extreme processor. My parents are getting old and I have to visit them often. My laptop and an extra monitor that I keep at my parents just isn't enough as my visits there get longer. I see Sony has a new Z series laptop. It's small and light, so easy to carry around. The 13.3" screen has a resolution of 1900x1080 which is ideal for loading up charts. Through an external small box (called power media dock), which comes with the laptop, you can hook up an additional 3 monitors. The laptop has a 1gig video processor and the media doc adds another 1 gig, so there is plenty of power for up to 3 monitors (and no other adapters or tricks required). The processor is available in an i7. The total cost of the i7, 128Gig SSD, 6 gigs RAM, and the upgraded 1920x1080 13" display is about $2,500. The price also includes an extra sheet layer battery that plugs in the bottom. The nice thing is that I can put 3 monitors at my home, and 3 monitors at my parents. Same laptop plugs into both so configuration of my platform never has to change. And when on the road, I can use the great real estate of the 1920x1080 built in monitor. Really sounds like an ideal laptop for my purposes. Price is steep at $2,500, but it can do what no other laptop can accomplish in such a small portable package. Does anyone here have any experience with the new Sony Z series? Anything out there I should consider? Any opinions are welcomed.
In addition to laptop back-up I just bought a customized ThinkPad X220 convertible: It's ultralight and the best performance notebook out there on the market and its convertible to a tablet and comes with a 3 year warranty. 12.5" HD screen Highlights Fast Intel Core i5 processor featuring 4-way Hyper-Threading and Intel Turbo Boost Screen size/resolution: 12.5" HD (1366 x 768 resolution) Weight: 3.67 lbs; Battery life: 8.8 hours Ultimate performance: optional industry-best 80GB - 250GB Intel solid-state drive (SSD) Multi-monitor docking options: drive up to six monitors! Detailed Features Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M 2.5 - 3.2 GHz (Turbo Boost) Memory: 4GB fast DDR3 memory, expandable to 8GB Operating system: 64-bit Windows 7 Professional System drive: 320GB 7200RPM hard drive (upgradable) Optical drive: Optional Wireless networking: 802.11 a/b/g/n (Intel 6205), Bluetooth 3.0, optional WWAN wireless broadband (Gobi 2000, supporting AT&T or Verizon) Graphics: Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics Unique features: 720p camera, fingerprint reader Ports: 3 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 External monitor ports: DisplayPort (optional DVI adapter), VGA port; DisplayPort on UltraBase dock, with optional DVI adapter Card slots: ExpressCard/54, 3-in-1 card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC) Optional UltraBase dock: DVD±RW drive, port replicator Dimensions: 12" (W) x 9" (D) x 1.1-1.23" (H) Warranty: 3-year parts/labor (1yr battery) international warranty; depot service; optional onsite, extended warranties Product code: TP-X220T-4296W
As customized it comes in at $3200 with 4 ÃDVI monitor dock station, 8gig ram & 160G Solid State Drive, 64bit Windows Ultimate 7 but if you want a cheap bare-bones basic system it will knock off $1600 from your trading profits.
Shagi, thanks for the recommendation. As much as I love the tablet and touch screen functionality, I don't like the resolution. Currently I have an older Sony TZ series laptop that has the same resolution and I always wished it was higher. But that's a really nice laptop. And it better be at a $3,200 price tag! Damn, I thought Sony was expensive!
If you want better resolution then go for ThinkPad W520 workstation: 15.6" screen, 2nd generation Intel Core i7 CPU, triple-screen graphics. This is a proper laptop so a bit heavy than the netbook above. Screen size/resolution: 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080 resolution) Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM 2.2 - 3.3 GHz (Turbo Boost) Memory: 8GB fast DDR3 memory, expandable to 16GB Graphics: NVIDIA Optimus: NVIDIA Quadro 1000M + Intel HD 3000 graphics (auto-switching); supports 2 external monitors + independent laptop LCD Weight: 5.75 lbs; Battery life: 10.8 hours Dimensions: 14.68" (W) x 9.65" (D) x 1.29" (H) Quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 8-way Hyper-Threading, Intel Turbo Boost 2nd Generation Core i7 processor, now 125% faster than prior generation Graphics: NVIDIA Optimus: NVIDIA Quadro 1000M + Intel HD 3000 graphics (auto-switching) Supports 2 external monitors + independent laptop LCD Memory: up to 16GB fast DDR3-1333 Weight: from 5.75 lbs; Battery life: up to 10.8 hours Operating system: 64-bit Windows 7 Professional Ultimate performance: optional industry-best 80GB - 250GB Intel solid-state drive (SSD) Ports: 4 USB 2.0 ports (2 SuperSpeed USB 3.0/2.0 ports), eSATA, 4-pin 1394a FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45, V.92 modem External monitor ports: DisplayPort (optional DVI adapter), VGA port Multi-monitor docking options: drive up to six monitors! Its a blazing machine - proper desktop standby capability. I had a Toshiba Satellite for 4 years no probs but its now too old so relegated to kids gaming machine. Customized can knock off $1600 to $5000 depending on options.
After lots of research, I pulled the plug and bought the Sony Z. I've been using it for the last month and a half and love it. I think it's a great PC for trading due to it's high resolution and 3 monitor capability in a very small package. It's as thick as the Mac Air and weighs less. I made a YouTube video about this laptop which is great for trading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcKskEr9FPw Hope it can help someone who's looking for a great laptop for trading.