My XPS fried my SSD. Tougher laptop recommendations for sustained use?

[Echoes in the Attic]

I was already having problems with the xps 15 2-in-1 due to the latency caused stuttering at times but it looks like the battery just went nuts and fried my SSD, also it has been warping the chassis. I think this thing is too slim and fragile for sustained use. I used to use MacBooks for long periods of time and never had this problem. But I’m using this for work and music production and regular use, which means it ps been on almost all the time.

So I think I’ll move to something a little more durable. I still want a laptop for it to be somewhat portable but it can be a bit of a tank. 15 inch, don’t care about touch screen since I use an external monitor in the office/studio.

Wh@t are some laptops with good cooling that can handle working hard for long periods of time and won’t get fried?

Ideal would be two slots for ssds and 2 ram slots. Or can handle 32 gb ram. I’d like to get six core or even 8 but if there is significant cost savings I’d consider quad core.
Oh and thunderbolt (right side) so I can keep using my dell thunderbolt dock.

Thanks

[thecontrolcentre]

SCAN 3XS laptops are tough ... mine has 3 SSDs and never skipped a beat in 5 years.

[jdnz]

HP Zbook 15/17 (conventional form=factor and 'portable workstations' so rated for sustained high loads)

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations- ... index.html

I'd avoid the slimmer/lighter studio and convertible models

[Echoes in the Attic]

Thanks guys. I've had my eye on the zbooks for some time. I like the 2-in-1 version, but perhaps that's not the best idea, maybe best to go with the full laptop? Not sure if it's thicker or not. I've heard good things about the zbooks in terms of heavy use, so I might go that way. Also I like how it has two ram slots and 2 ssd slots. That's huge.

[Echoes in the Attic]

HP Zbook 15/17 (conventional form=factor and 'portable workstations' so rated for sustained high loads)

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations- ... index.html

I'd avoid the slimmer/lighter studio and convertible models

Oh I didn't realize the studio was different from another zbook. Zbook workstation it's called?

[jdnz]

HP Zbook 15/17 (conventional form=factor and 'portable workstations' so rated for sustained high loads)

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations- ... index.html

I'd avoid the slimmer/lighter studio and convertible models

Oh I didn't realize the studio was different from another zbook. Zbook workstation it's called?

studio has marginally better cpu choices than the zbook 15/17 (can get a xeon in the studio) but worse graphics (quadro vs rtx) - so a lot of it comes down to exactly what you prioritise - compare the specs, either should be good but I've only got direct experience with the 15/17 (as the apps we run need as much cuda grunt as we can get)

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocume ... 7-5427ENUC

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocume ... 7-2494ENUC

[Echoes in the Attic]

HP Zbook 15/17 (conventional form=factor and 'portable workstations' so rated for sustained high loads)

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations- ... index.html

I'd avoid the slimmer/lighter studio and convertible models

Oh I didn't realize the studio was different from another zbook. Zbook workstation it's called?

studio has marginally better cpu choices than the zbook 15/17 (can get a xeon in the studio) but worse graphics (quadro vs rtx) - so a lot of it comes down to exactly what you prioritise - compare the specs, either should be good but I've only got direct experience with the 15/17 (as the apps we run need as much cuda grunt as we can get)

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocume ... 7-5427ENUC

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocume ... 7-2494ENUC

I can’t say that I care about graphics much as it’s mainly for audio stuff. Having used the xps for a while and seeing how hot it gets and the issues that caused, I am skeptical of any of these super slim ones now.

[Haptix]

"Wh@t are some laptops with good cooling that can handle working hard for long periods of time and won’t get fried?"

Atleast you will not find any on the Apple camp They have notoriously week cooling design. I would go for gaming laptops.

[Pictus]

I am skeptical of any of these super slim ones now.

You are right, slim = crap
More rugged and heavy laptop will have better heat dissipation.
I did not tested, but Eurocom has some interesting models...

I would check the specialized forums/sites to be sure:
http://www.notebookcheck.net
http://www.mobiletechreview.com
http://laptopmedia.com/category/reviews/
http://www.anandtech.com/tag/laptops
http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/

[Steve Bolivar]

I've never used them, but I've seen some here recommend the Dell Precision series. As others have said, workstations and gaming laptops are designed for sustained heavy loads.
I use a Dell G3, entry level gaming laptop. The only problem I have is occasional DPC latency drops that I'm pretty sure are from the Nvidia 1050Ti graphics. When it's on my lap I always use a tray to keep the vents from being blocked.

[Pictus]

I've never used them, but I've seen some here recommend the Dell Precision series. As others have said, workstations and gaming laptops are designed for sustained heavy loads.
I use a Dell G3, entry level gaming laptop. The only problem I have is occasional DPC latency drops that I'm pretty sure are from the Nvidia 1050Ti graphics. When it's on my lap I always use a tray to keep the vents from being blocked.

This will fix viewtopic.php?p=7624448#p7624448

[jdnz]

the other thing is to ask yourself 'do I absolutely have to have a laptop' - as cramming a high performance machine into a laptop will always be a struggle in terms of thermal management. There's lots of options for 'compact' high performance machines now ( HP Z2 mini, i9-9900 powered all-in-ones, custom built mini-ITX machines) - it's no longer a case of 'laptop or full size tower' - wheras in the past I knew heaps of people who had laptops that never left their desks, it's just they didn't want a 'big bulky' computer

[Mister Natural]

I've never used them, but I've seen some here recommend the Dell Precision series...

DellPrecision user here - It's held up nicely but has an ancient 2760 chip running at 2.4ghz w/500gb ssd, 8gb ram
I do love the titanium case but this thing is big(18" screen) and as heavy as a 1950s era SiFi film
the main & only complaint is that it swallows battery life like Godzilla swallows whole cities
peace

[metamorphosis]

So I think I’ll move to something a little more durable. I still want a laptop for it to be somewhat portable but it can be a bit of a tank. 15 inch, don’t care about touch screen since I use an external monitor in the office/studio.

I recommend getting a UPS for the studio. Filters the power, and protects against spikes etc. You get a minor amount of protection from the built-in battery switching on a laptop, but not as much as you'd get from a good desktop PSU.

Generally I don't recommend laptops for stability.

[ozonepaul]

SCAN 3XS laptops are tough ... mine has 3 SSDs and never skipped a beat in 5 years.

+1 for Scan, reliable audio optimized products, and great service.