CGTalk - 17" laptops

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imashination

03-09-2006, 02:34 PM

Has anyone had a look round some new laptops recently? Im looking to get something quite chunky. Currently the ones that have caught my eye are

Dell XPS M170
2.26ghz centrino
2 gigs ram
100gig 7200rpm harddrive
geforce 7800gtx 256meg
17" 1920x1200 screen

and the almost identical Dell inspiron 9400 (called the e1705 in the states) which is the same as above, except it has the slower gefoce 7800 Go, but a potentially faster intel core duo 2.1ghz, plus all the tacky gamer logos and leds have been removed.

Theres a very similar HP/Compaq nx9420 which has the same specs as the dell 9400 but has the slightly less ideal radeon x1600 in there. All of these run at about £1800 with vat and delivery and seem a reasonable 8-9 pounds in weight each, compared to the 12lb lumps offered by boxx/alienware/sager, aving such a thick laptop, which is full of space for potential harddrive raid arrays, extra batteries, tv tuners and multiple optical drives would be a pain.

Any suggestions? Im currently considering between the first two, wondering if i want a better gfx card, or 2 (slightly slower) cores.

motoxpress

03-09-2006, 03:16 PM

I have used the 9300 on several occasions and it seems to be a very solid platform. My only hesitation was the size but I am personalyl more wierd abotu laptop size than most.

As far as the XPS -vs- the Inspiron, I personally can't stand the guadiness of the XPS...just too much for me. I am also hearing that the 7800GTX will go into the 9400 so you may want to consider that as an option.

-gl

knellotron

03-09-2006, 10:51 PM

I think you should go dual-core. Here's one I just found (http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cluster?q=intel+core+duo+-apple+17%22&pid=4903037263851442503&oid=1245376255815153762&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=mrd) on froogle. However, there's lots of cool processor advancements on the horizon again, though... it's always good to wait. :)

tecton3d

03-10-2006, 02:14 AM

I'm assuming you already have a decent workstation, I'd go for the Dell XPS M170, forget about dual cores and enjoy the GTX and the speedy single core.

. . . but see if there's a machine out there (dell or other) that doesn't have all the case fluff that's so fuggin ugly!

lots

03-10-2006, 02:41 PM

There's always those Clevo D900K based notebooks... 15lbs of back aching glory :P

alanmac

03-10-2006, 03:32 PM

Evesham may have something. Worth looking at and they have a few stores dotted about the country.

This one if you feeling like spending more
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/83666/evesham-quest-a620.html

from the same review batch
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/83664/rock-xtreme-64.html

Alan

imashination

03-10-2006, 08:12 PM

There's always those Clevo D900K based notebooks... 15lbs of back aching glory :P

Yeah, screw that for a giggle -_-

The 9400 = XPS but with a more subtle case and different spec options (worse gfx card, better cpu.

See the other thing which is making me wonder, is that if i get this, it will be faster than my desktop (gf 6800gt, x2 4400) so im wondering if id use it totally as a replacement, especially as i could hook up the 24" dell to it via dvi.

enape

03-10-2006, 11:10 PM

I have the Inspiron 9400, with a T2600 Core Duo and 2Gb Ram.
Rendering in Maya with Mental Ray is as fast as the Athlon X2 4400.

The Viewport performance with the Geforce is pretty good (I didn't have any problems in Maya yet), and you really have enough space on the 17", it is a great screen.

Overall I think it is a great Laptop.
A few weeks ago there were great offers (Germany), dunno how much it costs now.

I wouldn't take the XPS...

DreamQuest

03-11-2006, 11:29 AM

Greetings

I just wanted to point out that the more powerful noteboks and laptops have a short life without the powercord plugged into the wall-socket, often just over 1h and in some cases below one hour depending on what you are doing with it. So dont count on being able to sit on the beach doing gfx work ;-)

regards
T.

puch

03-29-2006, 09:42 PM

motoxpress

03-29-2006, 09:48 PM

The 9400 is not on the Dell site anymore! What it seems to be the replacement, the Inspiron E1705, doesn't have the GForce anymore but an ATI card...

That sucks!

The rumor is that this is due to either a) shortage of 7800 gpus or b) the impending availability of a 7900 series mobile GPU.

I agree it is a dark hour...even for Dell.

-gl

maX_Andrews

03-30-2006, 05:12 AM

17" macbook (soon hopefully) with winxp installed (also with working graphics drivers) :-D

erlik

03-30-2006, 05:56 AM

I've just tried a cheap notebook with Intel Duo 2500 (2 GHz). It's better than a desktop with Pentium 3.4 GHz with hyperthreading.

Which is to be expected, but still comes as a surprise in a really small package.

Unfortunately, the screen is pretty small, 13", although it has the resolution of 1280x768.

OTOH, ASUS has a 17" dual core notebook in the works, Asus W2J. Check that.

Also, if you buy a Centrino Duo notebook, it will have the Intel 945GM Express Chipset*. It may not be a top-of-the-line video card, but it's still somewhere with Nvidia 6600/GT and performs quite good.

* That's the specs needed for the Centrino Duo label - Duo Core processor, 945 graphics and the wireless controller.

daphnev

03-30-2006, 03:52 PM

Seeing the thread is already open, what do you guys think of this one! I'm helping a friend buy a laptop....Maya will be run on it and she is on a budget!

HP Pavilion DV8120CA
AMD Turion ML-37 2.0Ghz processor
128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M IGP
160GB (5400RPM)

It seems like a slower hard drive with 5400rpm but is that common on laptops?

thanks

motoxpress

03-30-2006, 05:47 PM

maX_Andrews

03-31-2006, 08:56 AM

get an 80GB 7200 rpm drive instead, as it will run faster, and you can always get an external drive if you need more space. Take the money you just saved and get a better graphics card.

BTW if anyone is around palo alto, california, the stanford book store is selling macbook for $1620...somehow...some way....

peliosis

04-21-2006, 12:53 PM

Have anyone tested the new beast from dell (M90) It seems to be the fastest thing here.
I plan to replace my desktop. Work on m90, render in rendernodes:)

fxgogo

04-21-2006, 03:17 PM

The M65 also looks like a good option, just with a smaller screen. But if you are like me, I will use it in conjunction with my 19inch to create a dual display.

I have also found the Acer 5652 to look quite good. What I am finding is that for an Extra £400-£600 I am only getting larger display, faster HD and a Quadro instead of a 7600go. So to my mind paying 50% extra for maybe 10-20% speed increase does not make sense.

d0up

04-21-2006, 08:16 PM

Hi!

I'm also looking for a laptop... and also looking in dell. I want a replacement for my computer (which currently performs really well... but as i'll be moving quite much between cities i need a laptop... ) and i was looking the inspiron series or the Mxx series. I preffer the M ones, of course, but i think that they are getting out of budget... for now i have 2 questions...

Has anyone tried this gfx card? ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400

Also, has anyone worked on a 15.4" screen? I find for myself 1280x1024 being the minimum resolution to work (i used this resolution on a 17" screen). So how does it feel to have a 1680x1050 resolution on a 15.4" screen? It's confortable to work on it?
Actually I'm running on 1600x1200 (19").

Bye! :)

ps: Can anyone give me a good benchmarks web page so i can compare specs... and i can compare with my current configuration, to see how it'll perform comparatively.
ps: Sorry the poor english... lol ;)

Hallis3d

04-21-2006, 08:39 PM

Very good is laptop hypersonic FX7 (http://secure.hypersonic-pc.com/scripts/custom_sys.aspx?sysid=Aviator_FX7), video card is FX 1400 our 7800 GTX processor Atlhon FX 60 e Dual Core X2 4800+.

deathman20

04-21-2006, 11:04 PM

Well I got a NX9420 for work, 2gigs of ram T2500 (2.0Ghz Core Duo). Its not a half bad laptop. As for laptops (since im a desktop man) its actually decent and beats out my secondary home computer.

I did run some tests really quick with it the other night.

PCMark05: 4343
3DMark05: 3502
3DMark06: 1624
SM2.0 Score: 574
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 601
PCU Score: 1618

That was with what HP/Compaq had on it + other stuff from work, also all the internet connections where open also. No idea what CAT drivers where running in it but for those scores, it amazed me as is.

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