I would say this for you. Your level of computer knowledge is minimal at most. Welcome to the 21st Century, where heat and laptops is not something consumers consider. Not to mention the ASUS has the best cooling of any laptop... furthermore, CPU's do NOT contribute to the mass of heat, GPU's do. Learn, and don't kibosh great engineering for a bargain because of your "$0.02"...
That's the caution I am offering. The risk of heat and laptops are something consumers are not aware of because they are not IT professionals. The consumer who consults with others on forums like this one should be better educated than the average purchaser. Even if you are not an engineer, common sense should tell you that high temperature impacts reliability of computer components. ASUS is one of the better brands, but that does not mean I would favor every model they sell. I already explained my concerns about the model proposed earlier in this thread. Good, another factor to consider. Actually, rotational hard drives are also a major source of heat, but I'm not going to expand the scope of discussion at this point. Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Gekko. I admire your passion on this topic.
I bought a cheap ASUS as a back-up for my desktop last year and I would not trade on it even if someone held a gun against my head. It even freezes and lags when I`m only running Spotify on it. I`m sure ASUS got decent models and is a good brand (which was my impression back then), but I`m saying it to prove the point that not any laptop would do the job. Honestly, I did not expect it to perform that poorly as it was not their bottom shelf model at the time either. Anyways, I`m now looking to get myself a powerful lap-top that can replace my desktop when traveling. I will be looking into the one`s by Dell and Lenovo. What about the MacBook Pro? I see Gordon mentioning it, but would anyone else recommend it? I`m sure it is a great lap-top and would probably be my first choice, but the pricing is just ridiculous. Unless one actually gets what one pays for? Regards, LF
Need more information: Does your trading software have any platform restrictions that would limit it to MS Windows? Do you enter your orders manually, or is your trading system automated?
I am an intra-day, day trader. For your type of trading and holding periods, anything will work that your eyes (screen size) are happy with.
Dirt cheap refurb Dell Laptop has been no problem at all here. Memory-wise, this setup has 6gigs and has been above 70% mem usage a few times, so thinking above 4gigs has not been a bad thing. Tech support has been outstanding, however I must admit that I have resorted to treating them like human beings. Can't report how they respond to browbeating.
I`m a discretionary day trader entering orders manually, but currently delving into automation although that will be a work in progress. Currently using Ninjatrader (not MAC compatible) as a front end for IB (MAC compatible). I`m considering switching to IRT which is MAC compatible, but as I understand it there is no problems with installing Windows on the MAC and running NT from there. It seems like the price remains the biggest issue, although they have some attractive payment plans. An alternative would be to increase my bet size for a short period of time.
I would place the greater importance on your trading software which provides the features and ease of use that makes your trading profitable. The computer hardware should conform to support your software, not the other way around. If you later decide to install new trading software, you will find most of today's trading software runs on Windows, so that's a better choice for future flexibility. Mac's are superior for other applications (e.g., graphic design). I would not run Windows or a Windows emulator on a Mac, that just adds another level of complexity. I know it can be done, but you are going to achieve higher reliability and better vendor support with a standard configuration. Sorry you had a bad experience with your current PC, but there are plenty of reliable Windows computers available for you to purchase. You may even look again at your current PC to determine if you have a software/virus issue that is making it run slowly (it's not always the hardware). This post reflects how I would approach this decision. Take it as input to your decision, not a firm answer.