Hi, I want to share my story so other people knows what they can do:
I needed to use a laptop for
Blue Iris because I wanted something really compact and with the benefit of an integrated screen. (plus it has its own battery for power outage and I have my cameras connected to UPS)
I already had a Dell Latitud Core i5-2520m, and wanted to buy a core i7 for BI purposes, but I was recommended not to do it. So I started to look for a desktop, but I'm a stubborn guy who needs to prove things by myself, so, I decided to install BI in the core i5 laptop I had and it worked well, it was able to managed 10 ip cameras (3 1080p and 7 720p). Processor went up to 70% without any performance adjustment with demo version. 70% peaks are pretty high for 24/7 use, but at least I knew the core i5-2520m was able to manage motion detection and clip recording very well. Then my thinking was : a core i7 laptop with a quad core processor (mine is dual core) will handle BI with lower processor usage, long story short, I found on eBay an used Dell latitud 6430 with a core i7-3740mq processor, 8gb ram and 256gb Ssd for $264 and it's running 11 cameras now at 14%-15% of processor usage. I did the performance adjustments described in another post, and it's working like a charm, it gives me (according to my calculations) about 25 to 30 days of motion detection clips. I don't need more than that.
Something I noticed, was a reduction of processors usage when introduced the license code, I guess it was because of the demo watermark.
So, if anyone has the same needs I had regarding space, battery and screen convenience for home use, this laptop model (or any core i7 quad core laptop 3rd gen and up ) will work (eBay has used options for budgets around $250-$300)
With that load, the laptop generates low heat emissions, but I like to take extra precautions, so, a couple of days ago I've installed a cooler fan platform below (just to help with the airflow).
Hope this experience can help others with their set up.
Cheers.