Little time and 2000-2500 budget for laptop. Please help

[maX_Andrews]

15" macbook pro (should be core2duo very soon) or dell precision M65 should suit you r needs well. Both are portable, the macbook pro slightly moreso, but conversely, graphics are better on the m65.
The mid-level macbook pro 15" and a dell m65 configured to match are almost exactly the same price.

The only bummer about the quadro in the m65 is that it will kill the battery life, and it doesn't have DVI-out, which is freaking ridiculous.

Advtantages of macbook pro:
lighter (5.6 pounds)
thinner (1 inch)
much bigger trackpad
decent webcam
remote control
ability to dual boot OSX and windows
dual-link dvi-out
better battery life
single 1GB dimm makes upgrading easier

Advantages of Dell M65:
better graphics card (quadro 350M 512MB)
better support for windows
more keyboard keys
trackpoint (if you like them)
PC card slot

As far as 15" models with decent performance an d build, these are really your only options here. There may be a model from HP that's similar, but I've had no experience with any prosumer-level HP laptops. 17" models will offer more diversity, but with the exception of a few, all 17" models are around 8 pounds or over, which really isn't portable.

[Siefer7]

Thank you, that is a good help. It gives me somewhere to start. Say if portability wasnt a must, and maybe i was looking for something with more all around features, would looking into 17'' ones be a better choice, or even still be in that price range?

[maX_Andrews]

yes, you can find a lot more 17" models that will give you more choice with graphics, etc.

The Dell M90 and 17" macbook pro are both very nice, but they're a little over budget at around $2800 for models that are worth buying. Between those two, it's a similar draw between portability and graphics power, as the m90 has a quadro card but is 1.6" thick, whereas the macbook pro does not but is only 1" thick. So in either case you'll need to decide whether portability or raw graphics power is most important to you, and this holds for any two laptops you'll be comparing.

There's a few good HP models at the 17" size as well, and I tend to like the build of HP laptops better than dell laptops. Apple is still the best as far as design and battery life is concerned though IMO, but at this size you will pay a bit of a premium for it.

As far as HP goes, the nw9440 model is nice, the RB551UT configuration with quadro 1500m graphics coming to $2350:
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=435&FamilyId=1928&BaseID=19969&jumpid=re_R2515_store/smProdCat/BusinessNotebookPCs/sku_nw9440
It's a quarter of an inch thinner than the dell m90 and is cheaper too, giving a good balance of price, performance, and portability.

There's also its 15" brother, the n8440, which has a fireGL graphics card just below the performance level of the qwuadro: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/321957-64295-89315-321838-f1-1839152-1839208-3254489.html

A few things to stay away from are sony models, which are highly overpriced and have substandard graphics options, as well as acer (poor build quality, cheap parts), and I'm not a fan of the toshiba satellite series.

[whalerider]

u can get very similar HP config for half the price ($1200 after taxes) - see the dv9000t model.

[Siefer7]

Thank you all. I'm still a little unsure so any other options/comments are definitely welcome. www.aistudentstore.com has a few discounts and offer some laptops, both the macbook pro and the dell m90. but accourding to the site, for now at least, they dont seem to have core 2 duo processors. check them out and see what you guys think. I dont know if it matters much, but choose the portland school campus fromt he main page.

[Siefer7]

I was comparing dells configureation for the M90 to my student stores and here is what i noticed.

Dell.com for $2,843:

Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2300E (1.66GHz/667Mhz)
17 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD Panel
1GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMM
NVIDIA® Quadro FX 1500M, 256MB (dedicated), OpenGL
80GB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
24X max/10X min CD-ROM Drive
Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Dual-band Mini-Card

Then http://beta.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?itmNo=90118553&pres_view=specs for $1,799

ell Precision M90, Intel CoreDuo T2500, 2.00GHz 667Mhz 2MB L2 Cache, Dual Core 17 Inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD for Dell Precision M90
1GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMM for Dell Precision M90
Internal English Keyboard for Dell Precision M90
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M 256MB OpenGL, Dell Precision M90
80GB Hard Drive 9.5MM, 7200RPMfor Dell Precision M90 Factory install
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive with CyberLink PowerDVD, No Media, Dell Precision M90
Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 2YR Extended

From what i know, it appears that the second option would be a much better choice.Neither are core 2, but if i can configure the one from the student discount site i would like to go for a core 2 duo, and also a WUXGA LCD since i heard that the standard ones had a low res for the 17' models. And maybe another gig of RAM.

If i went with the second one would that be a good choice? I think i like the M90. Would this be a good for being able to upgrade later, for maybe a core 2 later if i cant do it through configuration before i buy it?

This may also soudn stupid, but ive been out of the loop with technology for several months and things have changed alot heh. if anyone had any place i could try and catch up on all of these things i would love to know.

[maX_Andrews]

Yes, that is a very good deal on the M90. It's a good computer, it's just not a good laptop, if you get what I mean. You're not going to want to carry it with you all the time, and it will likely spend 90% of its time on your desk, but you can easily move it from place to place if need be. And yes, get the wuxga and the extra stick of RAM. The reall bummer about the m90 is the screen choices. wuxga is too fine, and you'll have trouble reading some smaller text. Wxga+ is too pixellated, and it will look corny. The ideal resolution for a 17" laptop screen is 1680x1050, but the m90 does not offer this as an option.

The speed increase from coreduo to core2duo is not a lot. In fact, between a 2ghz coreduo and a 2ghz core2duo, there's only about a 10% speed improvement. However, you should be able to get an M90 with a core2duo, as they have been out for a while now...

The macbook pro should be updated with core2duo by the end of this month.

[Siefer7]

Id make this post longer but im almost late for class. Would a M65 with 2 gigs and a wuxga do me well? I was thinking and ill probably mostly be diong modeling and just test rendering, and photoshop and zbrush. would that fit my needs well enough? Sorry for allt he questions, i just only have one chance to get this right :). (parents help paying this time hehe)

[Siefer7]

Anybody?

uh oh, im afraid i was too repetative and confusing. heh

[yann22]

You'll be just fine, I'm still on an M60 with one Gig and while I wish it was faster, it's works well for almost all tasks. Just be aware that WUXGA on 15.4 can put a strain on your eyes after a while, that laptop data throughput will always be slower and that it's not for heavy duty rendering. So if you can get an external monitor and build yourself a cheap, fast workstation eventually, you're sorted. Also, if you're using a lot of Maya, stay away from the MacBook, since the Radeon drivers seem to cause issues.

[Siefer7]

Thank you. So would it be a better idea to go with wxga+ instead? And im sorry, but im not completely sure of the last part of what you said. But it sounds like a m65 would be the way to go.

[bitBrain]

Yeah, I'd go with a Dell over an HP any day. All the Dells I've had have performed beautifully, and my friend Johan got a Core 2 Duo Dell laptop for CG and he's bragging about it :)

Yes, screen ergonomics is important. I've never had to go over 1280 for Maya work anyway.

I'd buy 2G RAM though. From experience, Dell memory upgrades can be very expensive, but that was a couple years ago. Maybe they've improved :)

[Siefer7]

I think its m65 it is then. Youre right about the mem upgrades. Itl cost me a lil over 200 on their configuration site to go up to 2 gigs. Would it be better to just buy it with 1, then buy my another stick on my own maybe?

[yann22]

for memory have a look here

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Precision%20M65

as far as the screen is concerned, it depends on your usage and budget:
I'd always suggest an external monitor for long hours in front of the computer -
if you can buy one, then I'd go for wuxga, if not wxga will probably be easier on your eyes

the point about the MacBook was, that it has a Radeon graphics card and that there have been known issues with the drivers for this brand and Maya - maybe this has been resolved,
I'm not sure

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