Laptop required for Data Science Master

[Mikealongo]

Hi to Everyone, Im going to start a Master in Data Science and they told me that I will need a laptop with some minimum specs. 

Im very used to computer hardware and I just would love to be able to bring my desktop to the clases xD but its impossible xDD.

 

The minimum they said are I7 (no more info...), 12 - 16 GB of RAM, 0.5 to 1 TB on SSD...

 

I just know about laptops what LTT shows in their videos (and not even that much, because im a desktop guy), but two of the names that came in mind are Dell XPS (13) and HP Specter...

 

I Would love to have suggestions keeping in mind the budget... Im in the 1800 € maximum.

I would love too to know wich are the line names for the competition, Asus, MSI, LG ... And good contenders.

 

And lastly if you have experience as data analyst or scientist, know if ther will be eneugh with the requieements that they provide (wich i guess that yes becaus are kind of the tops specs... but maybe 32 GB of RAM like mi desktop will be more powerfull¿? I dont know if the aplications will be cpu or RAM intensive.

 

TY

[randomhkkid]

Hi, I'm currently a Data Scientist and did my Masters a few years ago on a Surface Pro 4 i7 (2 cores, 16GB RAM).

 

Those minimum requirements sound really vague to me, I can think of many cases where an i5 would outperform an i7 due to the different types of laptop processor (TDP and thermals). I would also say that AMD Ryzen mobile processors are just as good if not better than the intel equivalents.

 

At university I would expect there to be a computer lab that you could physically use or VNC into if you need power. As a student I would always recommend you get a laptop that is portable as well as having good battery life.

 

With 1800EUR I would go for something like a Dell XPS 13 or a HP Spectre x360 14 then get a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse for your room. Get something with at least 16GB of RAM to handle all the chrome tabs and Jupyter kernels you'll be using. If it was me I would also get an AMD Ryzen based laptop due to it providing more cores (6+) in similar form factors as intel machines having 4 cores.

[Akira Shimazu]

im no coding guy. but ever consider macbook?. M1 macbook is really speedy and have amazing battery even the 999$ base model. i recommend pro 13 perhaps. im windows guys but for high-end i prefer apple

 

 

[Darkseth]

On that note with the M1, maybe that helps: https://towardsdatascience.com/m1-macbook-pro-vs-intel-i9-macbook-pro-ultimate-data-science-comparison-dde8fc32b5df

 

It won't look much different on Windows machines with 8-Core x86 chips (well, a bit better, 11th Gen and Ryzen 5000 are better than Intel's 9th Gen, but in the Macbook, it's allowed to draw quite alot of Power.

 

The sickest part is, if's faster while consuming SO much less Battery.. No other Laptop will come close to this efficiency.

Quote

The M1 chip is nothing short of revolutionary. I’ve done the benchmarks you’ve seen in the article, written and edited this entire piece, and streamed 40 minutes of Netflix — and still have 83% battery left!

 

But make sure, all the stuff you need to run, does run under MacOS and with the M1 - With Rosetta or Native.

[Mikealongo]

4 hours ago, randomhkkid said:

Hi, I'm currently a Data Scientist and did my Masters a few years ago on a Surface Pro 4 i7 (2 cores, 16GB RAM).

 

Those minimum requirements sound really vague to me, I can think of many cases where an i5 would outperform an i7 due to the different types of laptop processor (TDP and thermals). I would also say that AMD Ryzen mobile processors are just as good if not better than the intel equivalents.

 

At university I would expect there to be a computer lab that you could physically use or VNC into if you need power. As a student I would always recommend you get a laptop that is portable as well as having good battery life.

 

With 1800EUR I would go for something like a Dell XPS 13 or a HP Spectre x360 14 then get a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse for your room. Get something with at least 16GB of RAM to handle all the chrome tabs and Jupyter kernels you'll be using. If it was me I would also get an AMD Ryzen based laptop due to it providing more cores (6+) in similar form factors as intel machines having 4 cores.

 

4 hours ago, Wolfycapt said:

im no coding guy. but ever consider macbook?. M1 macbook is really speedy and have amazing battery even the 999$ base model. i recommend pro 13 perhaps. im windows guys but for high-end i prefer apple

 

3 hours ago, Darkseth said:

On that note with the M1, maybe that helps: https://towardsdatascience.com/m1-macbook-pro-vs-intel-i9-macbook-pro-ultimate-data-science-comparison-dde8fc32b5df

 

It won't look much different on Windows machines with 8-Core x86 chips (well, a bit better, 11th Gen and Ryzen 5000 are better than Intel's 9th Gen, but in the Macbook, it's allowed to draw quite alot of Power.

 

The sickest part is, if's faster while consuming SO much less Battery.. No other Laptop will come close to this efficiency.

 

But make sure, all the stuff you need to run, does run under MacOS and with the M1 - With Rosetta or Native.

thank you for your response,

Now, I'm considering these options:

-ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325UA-KG083T): Ryzen 7 5700 U, 16 GB RAM, 512 NVMe ROM, 1080 p display. 1099,00 €

- Dell XPS 13: i7-1185G7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB NvMe ROM, 1200 p display (no touch). 1399,00 € (512 GB is 1.348,99 € so i dont even consider it)

- Dell XPS 13: i7-1185G7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB NvMe ROM, 2400 p touch display. 1499,00 €

- Dell XPS 13: i7-1185G7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB NvMe ROM, 2400 p touch display. 1598,99 €

 

Im not a big fan (even almos a heater) of apple... so i dont consider it a option neither.

 

The HP Specter is to expensive and dont even know why, one feature that i think will be usefull is the charging via usb C wich the hp doesnt have

 

Do you think that ther is a better otion in ASUS, Lenovo, MSI...?

 

I really apreciate your help, thank you

[Darkseth]

I think, 16:10 Display does have advantages over 16:9, since you'll see more lines of code and more content. So Dell XPS is quite a a good option.

 

I really don't know if the 4k variant would be the better choice, as it WILL reduce battery life significantly. 2560x1600 would be the best sweetspot.
Unless you need the sharpest image you've ever seen, you should be fine with the 1200p Panel, which is also very good.

Or if you don't mind the Price, and don't need the battery Life.

Dell XPS is a very good allrounder, but not known for the best Performance (thin, smaller cooling, less performance under full Load)

 

But at that Price, there are some nice Thinkpad alternatives too, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9, of the X1 Nano, or X1 Yoga. Some models come with 16:10 too.

See: 

 

[Mikealongo]

32 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

I think, 16:10 Display does have advantages over 16:9, since you'll see more lines of code and more content. So Dell XPS is quite a a good option.

 

I really don't know if the 4k variant would be the better choice, as it WILL reduce battery life significantly. 2560x1600 would be the best sweetspot.
Unless you need the sharpest image you've ever seen, you should be fine with the 1200p Panel, which is also very good.

Or if you don't mind the Price, and don't need the battery Life.

Dell XPS is a very good allrounder, but not known for the best Performance (thin, smaller cooling, less performance under full Load)

 

But at that Price, there are some nice Thinkpad alternatives too, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9, of the X1 Nano, or X1 Yoga. Some models come with 16:10 too.

See: 

 

I have 3 more contenders and some, as you said are gone due to the fact that i don't need the 4k res.

-ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325UA-KG083T): Ryzen 7 5700 U, 16 GB RAM, 512 NVMe ROM, 1080 p display. 1099,00 € 

thoughts: 8 Cores 16 threads, I dont know if more threads will be beneficial for the tasks that data science or analys will use, but more is better right? xD

 

-ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED UX325EA-KG245T: 17 1165G7, 16 GB RAM, 512 PCI ROM, 1080 p display. 1199 €

thoughts: I dont really know why this model is 100 € more than the Ryzen one, more boost i guess¿? PCI memory is the same as NvME? I think yes but now i have the doubt

 

-ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 UX535LI-BN010T: i7 10750H, 16 GB RAM, 512 PCI ROM + 1 TB Mechanic, 1080 p, GTX 1650 Ti. 1499 €

thoughts: Bigger 15.6", gpu, numeric pad, 10 th gen cpu, maybe better thermals? charge via CC

 

-ASUS ZenBook S UX393EA-HK003T: i7-1165G7, 16 GB RAM, 512 NVMe ROM, 3300x2200 display. 

thoughts: gorgeous, a ress that i dont even know wich aspect ratio is ¿? 3:2?. 

 

- Dell XPS 13: i7-1185G7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB NvMe ROM, 1200 p display (no touch). 1399,00 €

thoughts: I really love this aspect ratio, but the fact that you said that the performance is behind others because of thermals makes me think that wont be a good option, I guess that if they ask for this requirements is because  we will use them xD

 

Final thoughts: I love the 16:10 aspect ratio, the lenovo ones that you mentioned lacks on one or another point (9th gen, 8 GM RAM...)
Im realy new buying laptops, with pc parts is just easier xD, I want a laptop that will performe good and I will pay more if the price is justified, but somehow im seeing almost the same specs with a 300 € diference in price and dont know why

 

One more time, thank you for your pacience

[randomhkkid]

1 hour ago, Mikealongo said:

I have 3 more contenders and some, as you said are gone due to the fact that i don't need the 4k res.

-ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325UA-KG083T): Ryzen 7 5700 U, 16 GB RAM, 512 NVMe ROM, 1080 p display. 1099,00 € 

thoughts: 8 Cores 16 threads, I dont know if more threads will be beneficial for the tasks that data science or analys will use, but more is better right? xD

 

I'd personally go with this, leaves you 700EUR to go towards some nice equipment for your desk. I assume you'll want a nice big monitor to write up assignments, speakers, webcam, a second charger for the desk, keyboard, and mouse that will fit nicely into that budget.

 

As you say more threads are generally better, though I would not expect your assignments to ever really be limited by your computer. As I mentioned I did my MSc 2 years ago on effectively a tablet, your university will have a computer lab/supercomputer available.

[randomhkkid]

8 hours ago, Wolfycapt said:

im no coding guy. but ever consider macbook?. M1 macbook is really speedy and have amazing battery even the 999$ base model. i recommend pro 13 perhaps. im windows guys but for high-end i prefer apple

 

 

The M1s are great machines but still have compatibility issues, furthermore, being able to boot linux natively on machines has come in very handy for me. Any course looking at HPC or code optimisation will usually run on supercomputing clusters, these all run linux so being able to replicate that sort of setup on your own machine can help with debugging without some of the pitfalls of going through a VM.

[Mikealongo]

12 hours ago, randomhkkid said:

-ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325UA-KG083T): Ryzen 7 5700 U, 16 GB RAM, 512 NVMe ROM, 1080 p display. 1099,00 € 

thoughts: 8 Cores 16 threads, I dont know if more threads will be beneficial for the tasks that data science or analys will use, but more is better right? xD

 

I'd personally go with this, leaves you 700EUR to go towards some nice equipment for your desk. I assume you'll want a nice big monitor to write up assignments, speakers, webcam, a second charger for the desk, keyboard, and mouse that will fit nicely into that budget.

 

As you say more threads are generally better, though I would not expect your assignments to ever really be limited by your computer. As I mentioned I did my MSc 2 years ago on effectively a tablet, your university will have a computer lab/supercomputer available.

 

12 hours ago, randomhkkid said:

The M1s are great machines but still have compatibility issues, furthermore, being able to boot linux natively on machines has come in very handy for me. Any course looking at HPC or code optimisation will usually run on supercomputing clusters, these all run linux so being able to replicate that sort of setup on your own machine can help with debugging without some of the pitfalls of going through a VM.

Thank You for your message.

I forgot to answer something you have said before. I have all the "peripherals" that I need (almost), I have everything from my main computer even a 1440 p display :). For mouse I have an MX Master 3 from logitech (because of work) so budget can be exclusive to the laptop

 

Regarding the VM, they asked for something capable of running them, but even if the M1s are able to im not used to de Mac ecosistem.

 

Once again thank you

[igormp]

You already have a desktop, right? You could simply give it a ram upgrade (I highly recommend going for 64gb of ram), getting a lightweight laptop with 16gb of ram (either the XPS of Zenbook that you mentioned before), and then simply remoting into your desktop to run anything really intensive.