Laptops That Play Well With Trainerroad

I have a Lenovo Legion 730 computer that has been a POS PITA from the day I bought it. Continually drops WiFi connections and I need to reset the adapter, has dropped connections in the middle of a workout, and fails to reliably connect my Bluetooth devices (Cycleops Hammer, Quarq Dzero, Wahoo TICKR).

Today was the last effing straw. It flat out wouldn’t connect to any of my bluetooth devices no matter what and no amount of troubleshooting could fix it.

I was getting ready to ride Mary Austin, which takes a bit of psyching up and mental build up and them my computer just refused to cooperate.

So it’s time to relegate this turd with keys to the bin.

Please reply if you have a Windows laptop you recommend that works reliably with TR. My requirements are pretty simple as it’s a home computer and I don’t do any heavy number crunching. I prefer a SSD (only need 256 MB) and would like a graphics card (nothing high end, more low to mid entry-level).

Thanks!

Very reliably used my Lenovo T480 with zero issues for a long time. :slight_smile:

TR doesn’t need a dedicated GPU, but if you want one, Wirecutter usually has solid recommendations:

Alternatively, Reddit:

You say you want a GPU? What are you planning that will require a dedicated GPU?

MacBook Pro

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Ive never had a drop out in my flat with my ancient Acer laptop but TR takes a while to load and I’m the only person looking for Wifi, so at most my phone is streaming at the same time as Im doing a TR workout (I am also right by the router). Over Christmas I visited my parents though and I was competing for wifi and was in a garage 15x or more away from the router) and it dropped a few times mid workout. TR was good enough that I could do the work out off line (it would some times take a while to upload though). I suspect rather than your laptop quality (mine certainly isn’t) its the quality of your wifi. Given this is a May thread though I suspect you have worked something out :joy:

Any current laptop should do for just TR. Even Zwift works ok on most integrated GPU’s. The only complain i have with my HP Elitebook 1030 G3 is the Bluetooth/Wifi card. Wifi works no problem but i’ve had frequent dropouts with my Kickr Core connection. I now use TR on my Samsung S20 phone over Ant+. That works way better.

MacBook Pros work well with TR (and Z)