What kind of Dell Laptop?

So I am looking to get a laptop. I will be using it for programming (Visual Basic) and CAD 3D rendering (Maya, etc.), also using it for Adobe Flash, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.

So I need something with alot of RAM 4gb+, high processor speed. I've been looking at Dell's M64, M65, and M90 (out of work). I currently have a Dell 9400/E1705 and liked it alot.

Also not sure about switching from XP to 7 (most run this). Just because I have custom programs that open up software and run it, and concerned it may cause problems.

Boy you must some major traveling concerns or else you wouldn't be thinking about a laptop for all of that. I will say though that Dell's make the best desktop replacement..I've owned an inspiron for a few years now and it's been ok. Depending on your budget, check out Studio XPS

I wouldn't get a dell if it were me. They're not known for being the best in my experience. Get an ASUS or Toshiba

Dell are the best. Get yourself an Alienware... I drooled when I saw the specs on that beauty

Dell is far from the best

i prefer to develop on desktops only. developing on laptops kills them quickly. they're not really set up for handling the heat associated with flogging your processor day in and day out.

my advice is to build yourself a nice beefy desktop from newegg or tiger direct. for the price of a reasonable laptop you can put together a pretty beastly desktop.

and personally i wouldn't get a new computer with any less than 6GB of RAM. visual studio 2010 eats up an easy 1GB just by itself.

as far as windows 7 i've been using it for a bit now and haven't really had any major compatibility issues. i've experienced more issues going to an x64 architecture than switching OS's. my work horse desktop is still running XP though, mainly because i don't have the luxury of taking it down for a day or two while i do an upgrade, although i have started to build a new HDD running windows server 2008 for it that i will eventually cut over to.

if you're dead set on a brand though i have had good experience with HP laptops. my previous and current laptops were all HP. i killed the previous one by using hauling it all over the east coast and doing heavy dev on it for 2 years, but for what i paid for it i was very pleased with how it put up with the abuse. i've been much nicer to my current one and it has held up considerably better. generally i only use it for light dev and your basic web surfing/word processor type functions. i also run an HP EliteBook laptop for when i need to do work travel. 6GB RAM with a core i5 processor. i've only been using it for about 3 months now and do a good bit of medium intensity development on it (not by choice), so far it seems to be holding up ok but it does get quite warm after a couple hours and dogs it more than i would like when i have multiple programs going at the same. by multiple programs i'm talking 1 windows VM running VS.NET, photoshop on the host OS as well as you normal smattering of things like outlook, firefox, aim, etc...

Not a Dell, but: I've been using a HP Pavilion dv7 for a while now. It's awesome! And I had few other laptops before and can't top this one. Was about 1k$ in my country and it has 4GB of ram and a decend graphic card. I suggest you take a look