I'm kind of actually eyeing the ThinkPad P70 now instead http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/p-series/p70/ http://www.ebay.com/itm/291709330929?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 Processor, up to 3.70Ghz 64GB DDR4 memory 512GB SSD 17.3" IPS 4K (3840x2160) Display NVIDIA Quadro M5000M 8GB Graphics $3,700 it's most likely definitely overkill and extreme -- but it's confidence-inspiring. and a pride and joy knowing you have the best.
If a debatable "best" for you is worth the extra $, lowered battery life, and jet-engine-class fan noise, then all the power to you. But in my experience of owning two "workstation class laptops", it's not somewhere one should go unless your work really requires it. As earlier posters pointed out, Xeon is a marketing term -- to ascribe prestige to it could lead you in a fruitless direction. The various Xeon lines are vastly different from one another; the Xeon E3-1200 series has more in common with the desktip Core-i7 than it does with the Xeon E5-2600 series, for example.
If there is a need to run an automated system on a laptop, then a workstation class one like the p-50 is worthwhile. I used to run an automated system on a notebook. In the first two years it was fine but it eventually become too slow and crashed too often so I had to switch to a workstation desktop. After the switch the system is more stable and faster, and crashes much less.
Seriously doubt one needs a "workstation class" laptop for automated trading unless you're computing genome sequences and dna helixes as part of your strategy. Modern CPUs have an immense amount of computational power and you should profile your automation first.
My argument for a "workstation class laptop/desktop" is for quality and compatibility of components, reliability, and longevity.... not strictly for computing power and speed. I've bought a few workstations new when on discount. Otherwise, I've bought them 2-3 years old and used them for several more years.
Actually my automated system is neither low-latency nor like running a large portfolio of securities. Still it took me a while to realize the 2-year old notebook was no longer suitable. A workstation is maybe an overkill, but still provides more reliability. How does one profile automation?
I do not use it personally but I have heard many many good words about it and really do want to buy something used for my PC not laptop from something like AliExpress, they really started to cost less and less and will be good for long time for office.