laptop help

I'm not really an expert at these things, but I think that for fast number-crunching in general you want a top notch processor and enough RAM. Once you have enough RAM adding more will not help at all.

Have you checked how much RAM your computer is using when you run the solver? You can do that with the "Task Manager". If it isn't using all your RAM, then adding more wouldn't help. But if it is using all your RAM then more RAM would be extremely helpful.

There is also a cap on how much RAM older 32-bit versions of Excel can use (2 or 4 Gb?).

I imagine that the speed of your RAM also could make a little difference, but almost all new latops have 1333 MHz DDR3 memory.

Hth

I just did some research (from a similar perspective to yours), so I'll share

1 - If you run a 32bit OS you can only address 4GB of ram, a 64bit OS has no realistic limitation
2 - Apparently 64bit excel does not offer much improvement save the limit of 65536 (?) rows and however many columns (I went for using 32bit excel in 64bit windows because it offers greater compatability, and I *think* things like solver will be able to access all my ram)
3 - I went for an Intel i5-2500K processor - lots of reviews say its a value-performance sweetspot.
4 - The P&L downloads from BF won't work in Excel on a 64bit system (they look really weird - use open office to recognise them).
5 - You might be able to make use of SATAIII if your disk is busy a lot, or even a Solid State drive (these are much faster than HDs).

Agree with Mr anderson that you should check your ram / cpu use for your current tasks.  And check Solver is able to use multiple cores (and if you already have a dual core make sure it is using both).

Many of the problems associated with using excel with very large and slow workbooks is down to
an inherent memory limitation in many contemporary versions of excel.

If your using Excel 2003 then getting a faster laptop with more memory wont solve the problem as you can only use 1 gigabyte of memory for each running instance of excel, using 2010 gives you 2 gigabytes but at the expense of double the amount of memory required!

The real solution is to cut down if possible the  workbook size and perhaps run several instances of excel at the same time as these will not slow down the laptop as much as trying to load all workbooks into one running excel.

Its also possible to make data pass from one excel workbook to another using a link to a stored on hard drive buffer file so to speak and although not a perfect situation it will deliver a better application performance and thus a faster laptop experience.

Thanks guys.

Are toshibas reliable?

Re this:
1 - If you run a 32bit OS you can only address 4GB of ram, a 64bit OS has no realistic limitation
This is true, except its' actually AFAIK  3GB in reality for 32bit Windows due to design. So only 64 bit gets the extra GB if you've 4GB installed.

But you can run 32bit software on 64bit Windows (unless it's got some wierd driver) so go 64bit if it's same cost, "it's the future". Windows 7 likes memory and makes use of memory it isn't using to store files in memory for quicker access.

Toshibas certainly used to have a good reputation. I just had a quick search and a widely cited 2009 survey puts them top reliability with ASUS, so I think that still holds.

Your excel scripting might of course be the issue? :) What they say above about task manager is bang on, but remember if you upgrade to a faster processor but same memory, with a newer Windows and Excel etc you might then hit a memory limitation.

I've had a toshiba for a year or so now, no problems whatsoever

Don't buy a sony. Vastly overpriced junk and dire customer service. I once bought 3 different sony models, one for me, one for my daughter and one for my niece. All 3 had to be sent back during the warranty period for different faults. Mine had several faults and they took weeks to return it and replaced the hard drive without returning the old one to me. I also got charged £1 a minute when I phoned their helpline outwith the warranty period despite the laptop being returned to them during the warranty period.

I'm looking at a Toshiba or HP with Intel core I7 2700+, 6 or 8GB and 750GB.

Can anyone put me off?

I have/had several laptops and the one I will never buy again is a toshiba. The machine had a massive problems and the technical support/ assistant was terrible.
I had to send the laptop during the warranty period twice and the second time, after five weeks, yes five weeks, they told me that my warranty period was over and they asked £ 500.00 plus vat to fix it.
I did not let them to repair the machine and cancelled the toshiba word from my terminology. £ 1,300.00 laptop + 140.00 double delivery.
Toshiba will not see my money anymore.
I do not if this will help you ts but I would not buy it.

go to the Dell site, type in 'Refurb', and get yourself a perfect 64 bit Win7  pc or laptop for about £300 ...

i've had 4 Dells (2 laptops, 2 pcs) over the last 10 years, and they're indestructible ... the only reason i bought the latest one  was because, for commercial reasons, i needed to have Windows 7, rather than good old WinXP, and it was cheaper and easier  to buy the Dell with Win7 pre-installed than to fanny about trying to install the (hideous) Win7 on one of my older boxes

3yr old Dell here, no probs.

Get a Dell,i've got a Dell e4300 its about 5 yrs old,but the dogs,320gb hard drive, dual processor,8gb DDR3 memory,that was up graded btw,runs like a dream,look on ebay,plenty of them about,screen is only 13 inch though,they are made to last and not like the flimsy ones around at the moment.Good luck.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3211350/dell-latitude-e4300-review/