Laptop specs for Bioinformatic analyses

Question

[Emily Wasson]

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of a new laptop. Could anyone please recommend some important specs that I should look out for when choosing one. I do have access to a HPCC, but would like to do some smaller analyses locally?

I would appreciate your advice tremendously!

Emily

[Pierre Lindenbaum]

but would like to do some smaller analyses locally

what kind of analyses ?

[Emily Wasson]

Hi Pierre. I will probably be mainly working with R on pre-calculated expression matrices that I can perform on the cluster. Although I must admit, having the option of working with raw data is tempting, even if it's just for a subset for workflow testing.

[GenoMax]

I do have access to a HPCC, but would like to do some smaller analyses locally?

This may come down more to what is your budget and lifestyle need (e.g. weight of laptop, need to be able to take it with you every day on a commute etc.). Since you can move any of the heavy lifting to HPCC at any given time, something modest may work ($600-1000). If you are in a position to splurge, then there are plenty of high end options between $1500-2500 (Dell XPS, HP Spectre, Macbook Pro, MSFT Surfacebook).

[curious]

Maybe one certified by Canonical in case you decide to dual boot: https://certification.ubuntu.com/

[Emily Wasson]

UPDATE: apparently a Raspberry Pi would suffice ;P https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1874939919300409?via%3Dihub

Answer 1

[Kevin Blighe]

My current laptops:

HP Pavillion (purchased in London in 2015; ~£550 GBP)

• 16GB RAM
• 2 TB hard-disk
• CPU is AMD A10-7300 Radeon R6, 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G (4 CPU cores + 6 GPU cores)
• 3 USB, 1 HDMI, ethernet port, SD port, WiFi, bluetooth
• 16 inch screen
• 64 bit
• Linux (Ubuntu 16.04) (was originally Windows but removed it when I purchased it)

This is quite bulky, though, and takes up half carry-on luggage weight when flying. However, I can do virtually all analyses using it, including genome assembly of bacterial species. It is also now literally falling apart and is charred from overheating in hot climates.

This laptop is not suitable for carrying around - it is literally bulky and heavy, but powerful.

Lenovo ideapad 330S (purchased in Brazil in 2019; ~US$600)

• 1 TB hard-disk
• 8GB RAM
• CPU is Intel i5
• 2 USB, 1 HDMI, SD port, WiFi
• 64 bit
• Windows 10

This is lightweight and used for, e.g., teleconferences, MS Office, working while traveling, and permits most level of work via R. For example, I could easily process raw data on the bulky laptop (above) and then export an Rdata object for working on this. The battery lasts 5 hours when the screen is dimmed.

Kevin

[Emily Wasson]

Thank you for the excellent feedback Kevin! Much appreciated. I will probably be mainly working with R on pre-calculated expression matrices that I can perform on the cluster. So I guess in that case I am looking more towards the lighter option. Although I must admit, having the option of working with raw data is tempting, even if it's just for a subset for workflow testing.

Answer 2

[JC]

You need to find a good balance of:

• battery
• size
• weight
• cost

In terms of components, look for at least 8GB in RAM, 4+ cores, SSD.

[Emily Wasson]

Thanks for the tip JC!