New Laptop

[tct70]

Hi,

I know this question is asked time and time again, but the current spec of a laptop could be obsolete by the time I finish posting this thread.

So, I'm in the market for a laptop to run AutoCAD, Viz, Vray and Photoshop.

Happy to go with a macbook pro if that's the way forward, or an HP as that is what we usually buy on the PC front.

I will be keeping my desktop which will be doing most of the production rendering while continuing to work on the lap top. This means I will not be using xp64 or vista, but xp32 instead.

Any pointers will be much appreciated.


Trev

[Blitterswitch]

The macbook pros are the best laptops generally I feel, but they cost an absolute fortune.

I am more than happy with the dell inspiron 9400 that I am currently using. 2.0ghz c2d, 2gb 667mhz ddr2 ram, 256mb nvidia 7900gs, 17" (1920x1200) screen. I only paid £935 for it, I know the range has changed now and the top spec dx9 card in mine has been replaced with a mid range dx10 card which is a downgrade in many respects.

Just look for a good balance between the cpu and gpu. Dont get less than 1.86ghz c2d and nvidia 7600/ati x1600

Make sure you get the 'full fat' c2d and not the pentium dual core which is popping up around the place - it has half the cache of the full c2d.

Minimum 2gb ram.

Good luck!

[alkis]

hp nw9440 with a quadro fx 1500
cant really go wrong with that
only downside is that it comes with vista.
installing xp as dual boot though was a breeze
the graphics card is by far the best for our type of work
regards

[Bathyscaph]

Hey Trev,

I just went through the exact same thing and the feedback from this group was really helpful. Here were some of my considerations:

Screen Size:
I definitely wanted 17" at 1680x1050. That makes the image on screen about 90% of what it would be on a desktop display. For me, a higher-res screen then that is too small to work on comfortably.

Video Card:
Quadro is ideal but any high-end DX9 or DX10 card might suit you. Definitely get the best you can because it'll probably be the first thing to become obsolete on your laptop.

RAM:
I got a laptop with 4GB of RAM so I can work in max, maya and ZBrush with ease.

OS:
Some vendors will install XP for you. Almost all of the pre-built packages I found were Vista. I guess installing a dual-boot with XP isn't a problem. I opted not to mess with that this time around.

For what it's worth, I got my system at ibuypower.com. It's almost everything I wanted for just under $2000. If I could have, I would have gotten a better video card but I didn't have the option.

[pailhead]

I'm buying a sager 5790 next week, and i'll be selling my 5720. I find that sager offers the best bang for the buck. When i was in the market for my first laptop, i was looking at a 12lbs desktop replacement. Alienware and boxx both offered the exact same thing as sager did, but their prices were 30-40% higher than sager's. Boxx basically had the exact same thing with a different logo pinned to the screen, and alienware had their neat lid, but that was the only thing different about them.

The thing that i found odd though, is the fact that the same laptop was available all over the world as a custom brand - like, computer shops would buy it, stick their own logo on it and sell it, although with cheaper components. The reason being is that boxx, alienware, sager, voodoo and a whole bunch of other brands out there, are actually rebranding CLEVO laptops, but while they're doing it with high end components, there are yahoo computer shops all over the world doing the same thing but with really low end components.

That being said, i did not really end up with a laptop that was rich with features, or much of a looker when compared to the macs or alienware. The touchpad has a scroll area and a couple of other features that never really worked. There's also a navigation button which never ever worked. The thing is basically a laptop with a keyboard and a screen, nothing more nothing less, except for the things inside.

A macbook is a definite eye candy, and i'm sure that it's a much more of a quality product, but it costs a lot more, and it even lacks some options that are available with other brands.


Umm... to cut a long story short, i'm happy with my laptop. I've maxed out a system for $2800 two years ago and it has served me well ever since. The 7800gtx ran games flawlessly even at a 1920x1200 resolution. I was comfortable with 2gigs of ram, and a 2.26 pentium m, and the weight of the thing wasn't so bad either. The only thing that was lacking was that feeling that you have when you own a macbook... it's a mac, it flashy, it's catchy, it's trendy, and there are no crap alternatives that look exactly like it. Mine would still beat any macbook by price and performance because macs didn't have these powerful video cards, but if you were to place a $1000 low end, rebranded CLEVO, and a $3000 high end sager, no one would be able to tell a difference.



The whole reason why im saying this is because macs were mentioned. They're good, but they're expensive. You can get much more bang for the buck and the only thing that you have to sacrifice is the image...

My next rig will be a 2.2ghz, 4gb ram, 7950gtx, 200gb 7200 hdd and a wuxga xcreen.