Which laptop? Which dongle?

[Milzy]

looks like I’m going for the cyclops hammer.
What’s a budget laptop for connection?
Also should I use an ant+ dongle or a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle?

Thanks in advance

 

[Brusgaard]

looks like I’m going for the cyclops hammer.
What’s a budget laptop for connection?
Also should I use an ant+ dongle or a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle?

Thanks in advance

Most laptops have Bluetooth, so no need to buy a dongle. But most (if not all) fitness equipment speak ANT+, so it might be beneficial getting an ANT+ dongle.

Don’t buy a budget laptop, as these usually have poor graphics capabilities. I would rather buy a (second hand) 2 year old “gaming” laptop with discrete graphics and 8GB RAM.

If you intend to use Zwift, an Apple TV 4K would be just as good as a budget laptop. But of course not as versatile, as most other training software (like for instance Bkool Simulator) don’t have an Apple TV app.

 

[Milzy]

Most laptops have Bluetooth, so no need to buy a dongle. But most (if not all) fitness equipment speak ANT+, so it might be beneficial getting an ANT+ dongle.

Don’t buy a budget laptop, as these usually have poor graphics capabilities. I would rather buy a (second hand) 2 year old “gaming” laptop with discrete graphics and 8GB RAM.

If you intend to use Zwift, an Apple TV 4K would be just as good as a budget laptop. But of course not as versatile, as most other training software (like for instance Bkool Simulator) don’t have an Apple TV app.

I’ve been looking at 2nd hand gaming laptops. Should be sorted out between 100-200 I reckon.

 

[Brusgaard]

I’ve been looking at 2nd hand gaming laptops. Should be sorted out between 100-200 I reckon.

100 won't buy you a 2 year old gaming laptop, 200 might if you're lucky. The laptops normally sell for around 6-800 when new, so getting it for 200 will probably be hard as well…

 

[Aleman]

My Lenovo P51 was £3500, i7 with onboard Intel graphics, and a M2200 NVidia graphics card capable of 4K output.

It is serious overkill for any simulator, but work insisted

 

[Milzy]

My Lenovo P51 was £3500, i7 with onboard Intel graphics, and a M2200 NVidia graphics card capable of 4K output.

It is serious overkill for any simulator, but work insisted

LOL, that’s good.
You don’t need loads of cpu for Zwift just half decent graphics.

100 won't buy you a 2 year old gaming laptop, 200 might if you're lucky. The laptops normally sell for around 6-800 when new, so getting it for 200 will probably be hard as well…

you don’t need loads of cpu for Zwift just half decent gpu.
I bet this would do the job
https://www.gumtree.com/p/laptops/sony-vaio-triple-core-laptop./1304560782

 

[Brusgaard]

you don’t need loads of cpu for Zwift just half decent gpu.
I bet this would do the job
https://www.gumtree.com/p/laptops/sony-vaio-triple-core-laptop./1304560782

Being an 8 years old model, maybe it will suffice today and tomorrow, but what about next year? System requirements are not static you know. Personally I steered clear of all AMD based computers the last 9 years, and only now am I considering going back to AMD with their newer Ryzen (2) processors.

 

[Brusgaard]

My Lenovo P51 was £3500, i7 with onboard Intel graphics, and a M2200 NVidia graphics card capable of 4K output.

It is serious overkill for any simulator, but work insisted

Buying a laptop with Quadro graphics for gaming is a waste of money, as the GeForce ones are faster. Quadro is for professionals doing 3D/CAD etc. work where they need precision and stability. Gaming is mostly about speed.
I suspect most of the difference between the Quadro and Geforce chips lies in the drivers, as I'm pretty sure they use the same GPU architecture/silicon for both. Just another BIOS and then some "certified" drivers turns a Geforce into a Quadro. On stand alone (discrete) graphics cards, you often pay twice the price for the same (or even less) perfomance, when buying a Quadro.

 

[Milzy]

My Lenovo P51 was £3500, i7 with onboard Intel graphics, and a M2200 NVidia graphics card capable of 4K output.

It is serious overkill for any simulator, but work insisted

LOL, that’s good.
You don’t need loads of cpu for Zwift just half decent graphics.

Being an 8 years old model, maybe it will suffice today and tomorrow, but what about next year? System requirements are not static you know. Personally I steered clear of all AMD based computers the last 9 years, and only now am I considering going back to AMD with their newer Ryzen (2) processors.

or an old gaming desktop pc would Zwift me up for around £200.

 

[Brusgaard]

or an old gaming desktop pc would Zwift me up for around £200.

Yes, and you have the benefit of being able to add a better GPU and/or CPU, if it gets too slow in a year or two.

I use a 6 year old Shuttle XPC with a Core i5-3570 processor, 16 GB RAM, a Geforce GTX 1050 and a nice SSD. It connects to a 32 inch 1080p TV. Plenty of power for Zwift and Bkool, today, tomorrow, and next year.

Of course a bit more expensive than £200, but considering the time I spend on the turbo, I think it is worth it.

 

[Milzy]

Yes, and you have the benefit of being able to add a better GPU and/or CPU, if it gets too slow in a year or two.

I use a 6 year old Shuttle XPC with a Core i5-3570 processor, 16 GB RAM, a Geforce GTX 1050 and a nice SSD. It connects to a 32 inch 1080p TV. Plenty of power for Zwift and Bkool, today, tomorrow, and next year.

Of course a bit more expensive than £200, but considering the time I spend on the turbo, I think it is worth it.

This is totally my plan now.
I could even bring my gaming pc down from upstairs and replace upstairs machine with a normal business pc.
So many options, it’s getting exiting.

 

[Aleman]

Buying a laptop with Quadro graphics for gaming is a waste of money, as the GeForce ones are faster. Quadro is for professionals doing 3D/CAD etc. work where they need precision and stability.

That's why work didn't complain .... Too Much

 

[lazyfatgit]

Ive got a cyclops magnus. You need to use bluetooth for firmware updates. I did this through their Rouvy app on an ipad.

For normal zwift use ive got an ANT+ dongle on my laptop so i can connect to garmin sensors too.

 

[Milzy]

Ive got a cyclops magnus. You need to use bluetooth for firmware updates. I did this through their Rouvy app on an ipad.

For normal zwift use ive got an ANT+ dongle on my laptop so i can connect to garmin sensors too.

My chromebook has Bluetooth so should be all ok. Cyclops are amazing.