Recommendation for a laptop with VT support

Question

Does anyone have any recommendations for a (ideally cheap) laptop with dual-core and support for VT? (I'd like to be able to run a bunch of VMs with minimal performance penalty).

The problem is that not only does the CPU have to support VT, but BIOS needs VT support also. And, many laptops with VT-capable CPUs apparently have VT disabled in BIOS (with no way to turn it on).

I know Dell have some, but good luck getting a straight answer from them. (I spent a half-hour chatting with one of their techs, and got a bunch of conflicting answers).

TIA...

Answer 1

Buy a Mac. Apple doesn't cripple VT in the firmware. If the processor supports it (virtually all new processors do), you can use it right out of the box.

Having seen plenty of Sony laptops, I have yet to see one with VT enabled out of the box. However, I've successfully enabled VT (and I'm currently using it) on my VAIO Z with this EFI application. I had done a similar thing and on my VAIO SZ using a BIOS hack. Various methods exist to enable VT on most Sony machines if the processor supports VT.

Answer 2

I have a Dell D830, and I can absolutely confirm that it has VT and you can turn it on easily from within the BIOS. I run 64-bit VMs on my laptop, and they run swimmingly. I use VMWare and Virtualbox daily.

That said, you might want to look into the latest latitude line. Surely the latest stuff isn't worse than the earlier lines.

Answer 3

Fujitsu-siemens Amilo series (I have Xi 2428). VT works out of the box, no hacking. Pretty cheap also.

I don't get it. Why vendors disable VT?

Answer 4

Intel disables VT on their cheapest CPUs, so you have to make sure your CPU supports it. Otherwise find one with an 64bit AMD cPU

Answer 5

Avoid Sony like the plague: they disable VT in all their models, including high end.

AMD has virtualization enabled in all its processors except the Semprom products. I'm not aware of actual usage in notebooks though.

Answer 6

Try the Dell Laptop Outlet. They have some VT-capable CPUs in a number of their systems. For example, a Turion X2 RM-74 for $519 I don't know for sure that they didn't disable it, but I'd be surprised if they did.

Answer 7

I have a Dell Latitude E6500 that supports VT. I generally run VirtualBox and enable the extensions for the nice performance boost. Runs VMs like a champ with Win7x64 as the host.

Answer 8

Buy a laptop with AMD Dual Core Processor.Most of Intel processors do not have VT support,but almost all AMD processor have VT support enabled.My processor is AMD Turion 64 X2 and VT is enabled.

Answer 9

What I've done at this point is go to my local Staples, where they have a bunch of laptops setup w/WiFi access, and download and run the Securable app from Gibson (http://www.grc.com/securable.htm).

The Toshiba Satellite (w/AMD Turion X2) checks out, as does the Dell Vostro 1520 (contrary to what Dell told me).

None of the Compaq and HP's suported VT, and in most cases I was able to power-cycle into BIOS to confirm.

At this point I'm probably going for the Toshiba -- it goes on sale tmow, and Staples actually has a decent return policy (no restocking fee), unlike most retailers.