>Hi all, I'm in the market for a new development laptop and would welcome any recommendations, usual requirements must run VS and SS at a reasonable pace , loads of RAM etc etc..., I always end up buying a Dell but am willing to change

I am using laptops for all my development, and taking them everywhere to clients and home they tend to fall apart after two or three years. The first time I am really happy with my machine is with a Dell Precision (4400) that I bought over one year ago, with 8GB Ram and intel Core Duo 3.06GHz, and NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M, and 256 GB SSD. Even when it's already over 1 year old it feels like I just bought it yesterday. Previously with some less expensive hardware I felt after one year usually the urgent need to upgrade, but this one is the perfect compromise between portable and powerful and I have no problems running one or two extra VM sessions. Only disadvantages: the laptop can get quite hot and the battery lasts only two hours, when I use all the hardware resources (which I usually do), so I carry a second battery pack with me. But the battery lifetime is not an issue that I have a problem with, unless I am traveling, which I don't very often. But if you need to travel a lot that is something to consider seriously.