Laptop for LabVIEW?

[embedded1988]

Hello Everybody!

I need actually some advice regarding my new laptop, I am working on LabVIEW FPGA and Real-Time modules(cRIO-9012) and I want to buy a new laptop for my project, can you guys please guide me in this regard that which laptop I should buy, I am actually working on a power electronic application including 2 dc-dc converters and current sensing in range of tens of amperes. 

I thank you all in advance!

Best Regards,

azy

[Sam_Sharp]

Be aware that only LabVIEW 2012 with SP1 and LabVIEW 2013 are compatible with Windows 8 and since most/all laptops are supplied with Windows 8 you may need to bear this in mind if you have an older version of LabVIEW (on my Win 8 desktop at home I run LabVIEW in a Win7 virtual machine).

In terms of specifications of the laptop - I would recommend an i5 with at least 4Gb RAM and at least 250Gb of hard disk space (FPGA Zilinx tools take up approximately 20Gb of space!). You may want to have one with an ethernet port if you want to do direct communications with the cRIO (many ultrabooks don't have them) and enough USB ports if you use (or are going to use) any USB DAQ devices (or USB serial adapters etc.)

Obviously, the better the specification (more CPU, more RAM, an SSD) of your laptop then the software (especially FPGA) compile times will decrease but for a reasonable development/running experience what I have suggested above should be sufficient.

I also suggest an external/larger monitor and a mouse for when you're working at your desk!

[stockson]

From my experience, an SSD drive is a very convenient thing to have.

If you plan to make a lot of FPGA comilations, buy a lot of RAM and a decent processor (I would rather choose i7 than i5). Remember, that you can always buy a less powerful laptop, and use the remote compilation service.

[Bob_Schor]

Don't even think about doing "touch"!  If you don't plan to use a portable mouse or trackball, be sure that the touch-pad on your laptop "feels good" when you use it (this pretty much means you need to do a Test Drive).  My wife recently got a very-highly-rated new laptop, but didn't realize (nor did I) that "left-clicking" the touch pad took a great deal of pressure.  Within a day or two of use, she developed pain in her thumb.  We "solved" the problem with a Logitech trackball, but it took about a week for the discomfort and pain to go away.