Recommendations for Development Laptop needed

[paradiseware.com]

Laptop Recommendation needed for development

My Dell XPS M1530 with 3gb ram is definately not enough any more! It has too many quirks, too slow, and is running Vista. It can't edit video. The emulator takes several minutes to start. The USB ports are, I don't know, sub-standard in that I can't debug on a device very well. etc. etc.
I was hoping to hold out until Win 8, touch screen laptops were mainstream. But, I don't think I can stand using this Dell much longer.

So, what would make an ideal laptop Win Phone development system? Price is not a primary concern (maybe a secondary concern.) I will review Microsoft's hardware requirements, but, that doesn't always tell the whole story. This Dell I'm using meets the hardware requirements but in the final analysis, sucks as a development system.

Anyone using a good quality laptop with touch screen that works with the Win 8 Consumer Preview and runs Visual Studio *well* ???
Thanks,
Richard

 

[TheOnlyInvictus]

Dell XPS

Hi there,
I recently purchased the new Dell XPS core i7 from the Dell website. Got the 8 gig ram, 1 GB discrete GPU, 1 USB 3.0 port, 3 USB 2.0 ports, WiDi and DLNA compliant, JBL sound and sub (built in), and I couldn't be happier.
I also upgraded the screen to full HD resolution (matte display ).
The keyboard is really good for on-the-go coding, but I added an external keyboard for when I work from home (I always do this because I have gigantic hands).
It has the usual ports (HDMI, media card reader, etc).
No touch screen, simply because I only use the simulator for developing the engine of an app and from then on I use an actual device.
Oh, and it runs Windows 7 home Professional - I was going to see whether I'd need to upgrade my OS, but I haven't had to yet.

The whole deal cost me ~$1500. Hope this helps!

 

[DanSmithKY]

Unless this has changed recently, the WP Emulator does not work at all in Windows 8. If you want to use a touchscreen device with the emulator, you'll need to run Windows 7. This will be fixed in the future, of course. Microsoft is obviously aware of the problem.