Looking for laptop that can handle remote desktop

J

Jerry8989

New Member
Hello,

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and I'm confused on what the best brand, model, specs, etc I will need.
The main reason I'm buying it is that I'm going to be out of town and need to remote into my work computer and work. I'm not sure what is the most important piece of hardware should be. Is it a lot of RAM, good processor, SSD, or video card?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to spend around $1,500.

Thank you,
Jerry
 
Just to remote into your work computer? You don't need much on that, basically depends on your internet connection. Quad core around 3ghz, 8gb of ram. You can probably spend about $500 or less for what you need.
 
Hardware isn't that critical but make sure sure the computers you plan to remote into are running Pro or Enterprise versions of Windows (if they are running Windows).
 
Thanks guys. Yes the main computer I'm remote into is running windows 7 Enterprise. Will I need a decent video card? I don't want it to be choppy or have the mouse drag when I'm working.
 
Choppiness while remoting in will be due to the internet connection. As long as you have decent high speed internet at both places, you shouldn't have an issue.
 
Awesome thanks John. I'm looking for something that will last 4-6 years. Is it better to spend $1500 now and have it last longer or get something under $1,000 and have it last 2-4 years? I'm planning to do 12 months same as cash so I figure $100 a month is doable. Thanks again everyone really appreciate it.
 
So you think spending more money means it will last longer? Thats not true. As long as you take care of it, a $500 laptop should last the 4-6 years you are wanting. I have clients that are still using Windows XP laptops, they are probably over 15 years old. There is no sense in wasting money thats not needed. Do you have any stores in your area that sell laptops? Give me some names and location and I'll see what they have available.
 
Hi John,

I'm sorry I don't think I explained my thought process correctly. I was thinking if I spent extra on specific parts like processor, more memory or video that the requirements for software in the future would be covered by the more expensive hardware.

I was looking at dell or hp. I have a best buy close to me. I live outside of Detroit, Michigan.

Here are some links to some I've been looking at. I know some are over kill but I wanted to see what you thought. I want to make sure the screen is at least 15" and I was hoping for a SSD.

Lenovo Ideapad 530S 15"
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptop...-530S-15-Intel/p/81EV000KUS#tab-currentmodels

Dell G5
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-G5-...33346004151301878216&affillinktype=10&veh=aff

Aspire 5 Laptop - A517-51G-54GK
https://us-store.acer.com/laptops/classic/aspire-5-laptop-a517-51g-54gk

The link is giving me a hard time by going to their home page and not the model page. The model is Aspire 5 Laptop - A517-51G-54GK.

I updated the link to point to another model.

Any other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
 
Last edited:
Any of those would work fine. As john35 said back in his first reply, a run of the mill $500 laptop would be more than adequate.

When working remotely, the remote machine is doing all the work such as processing and handling graphics. The only thing the local machine does is update the screen to reflect what the remote machine is outputting and then sending your input (keyboard and mouse) to the remote machine. As has been stated before, your internet connection has more to do with the overall performance than the local machine's ability.

I've worked remotely for quite a few years now and started out with a dual-core laptop with 4GB RAM and a .5Mbps connection which allowed me to do development work remotely as well as do video conferencing and such.
 
Jerry8989 said:
I don't want it to be choppy or have the mouse drag when I'm working.
Click to expand...
That highly depends on your upload speeds at home and download speeds on your laptop. Typically the built in remote desktop on Windows lowers the resolution quality (blurry) when it tries to refresh, but your Internet connection is saturated. I've seen upwards of 150-200mbps spikes when a large portion of the screen is changing to display something else.

I don't think you can get away with having no blurry effect. Latency and Internet bandwidth will be your nemesis on that one.
 
Thank you everyone for all the help. I'm focusing on the laptops around $500. I have 1GB internet at home so that should be good. Thanks for saving me money everyone.
 
Thank you so much Darren. That is the type of advice I really need. I'll keep checking.
I'm going to check costco and sam's club and see what they have. From what I remember their return policy and warranty deals were pretty good.
 
Jerry8989 said:
Thank you so much Darren. That is the type of advice I really need. I'll keep checking.
I'm going to check costco and sam's club and see what they have. From what I remember their return policy and warranty deals were pretty good.
Click to expand...
Also just so you're aware there are a lot of models with "SSHD" in them. This is a hybrid drive that uses an SSD cache on a regular mech HDD. They're faster than 5400 RPM HDD but still you'll want a full fledged SSD, likely a 250GB or 500GB. For just remote desktop a 250 is probably enough.
 
The 0% financing from Dell can be a bit of a bait. I'd read the fine print on that. They usually make the financing longer than 1 year and the interest after the first year could be quite high.
 
Jerry8989 said:
Thanks Darren. I did see the hybrid drives and was wondering if they are worth it. I would rather have the SSD and pay a bit more.
I was looking at this one.
https://deals.dell.com/mpp/productdetail/1b86

I think it's a bit more then I need, but I can finance it for 0% for a year if you guys think I'm getting a good deal. Thanks
Click to expand...
That's a pretty good price and those Inspirons are nice, used to repair laptops and those were well made. I'd swing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top