Laptop help plz! looking for labtop for 3d modeling/photoshop

[olson]

That's expensive for the hardware you get but they might be asking the students to get a system with a workstation graphics card for a reason. Any laptop with a Quadro is going to be just as expensive or more. So first thing to do is find out if they really need the Quadro graphics card or if its just what some Dell representative said and they rolled with it.

[redpandafire]

I actually have the Lenovo Y560 (~$735 CAD). Runs 3Ds Max, ZBrush, and Photoshop flawlessly. I don't use Maya, so I wouldn't know about its performance. I also used it to play assasins creed, which ran perfectly as well.

I don't know much about mobile Quadros, but if shes going to be mainly using Maya, its probably a decent idea. Let us know if its Maya or Max.

If its Max, this should work: http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=cabsdt1&l=en&OC=NB_V3700_F3_E

Or this link. (http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/business/Laptops/vostro-3700/pd.aspx?refid=vostro-3700&s=bsd&cs=cabsdt1)

That laptop will also run Maya, but probably not with as high framerates in the viewport as you would get on the Quadro. I'm not an expert on these sorts of things, I just know that Maya's viewport has higher framerates on Quadros than it does GeForces. That does not mean it won't run well on Geforce.

[Platinumheart]

She will being max and Maya more than likey max more becuse she's working towards game design, do is there any out there that have somthing as good as the quadro?

[redpandafire]

Geforces are as good as Quadros when using 3Ds max. If shes doing game design, then I'm confident in recommending a Geforce. I remember Quadros really only shining in Maya and Lightwave. Whereas 3DS Max and Cinema4D were not picky. Sometimes the equivalent Geforce outperforms the Quadro in those two apps. Just get her a good gaming laptop with a nice screen that does at least 900p. Would recommend 1080p for more work space.

[Platinumheart]

well i was board so i decided to costumize a alienware to the amount of money the school would have charged her, im pleased to say it beat it all around hands down, now i was talking about it with her and i could actually bring that price down a bit by going to a graphics card on the same level as the quadro and making it a 900p
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-240M.17654.0.html
heres the specs for that
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Quadro-FX-2700M.15218.0.html
and heres the quadro
now its pritty close i gotta say, but the only real diffrence i see is the geforce memory bus width is 128 where as the quadro is 256, would that really make a big diffrence?
but if i did those 2 things it would bring the price down to 1.800 now she was actually earlier looking at a referbished model of the one the school was selling, but that was still 1,700,
here are the specs on the 1800 one

Intel® Core™ i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache)
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 240M
15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
4GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 2GB DDR3)
250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
3 Year Basic Warranty

opinions? anyone got a better idea, i would love your suggestions.

[Bullit]

Too expensive. Only thing that appears better than competition is the 3 years warranty. I don't know how 1600x900 plays in a 15.6.

With 1000-1100$ you can get a comparable HP DV6 but with 1366x768 and i think 1-2? year warranty .

[redpandafire]

The one I linked earlier is $800 USD...


New 2010 Intel® CoreTM i5-450M Processor (2.4GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.66GHz, Dual Core/4T, 3MB/L3)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 32-bit, English
3GB DDR3 Shared Dual Channel at 1066MHZ, 2 DIMM
Nvidia® Geforce™ GT 330M, 1GB Graphics
320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability, Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™ DX 8.1
Wireless Network Card 802.11 b/g/n
Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth 2.1 Module
Fingerprint Reader with DigitalPersona software
Backlit Keyboard with Gesture Touchpad
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery


1 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Year NBD Onsite Service
Aberdeen Silver Display Back
17.3 inch High Definition LED Display (1600 x 900) with Anti-Glare
Integrated 2.0MP Webcam and Digital Mic with Windows Live Messenger Video Chat Software


Buy an extended warranty if you feel it will put your mind to ease.

I did game art on a lesser laptop and it worked fine. Save the remainder of the money to buy a desktop display that can do a resolution of 1080p. Its a very nice setup for students. She has a mobile laptop work on-the-go and take notes in class. When she goes back home, she simply connects it through a DVI cable into a desktop monitor thats sitting on her desk so she can work long hours doing term projects without the eye strain from a laptop screen, or simply so she can have a dual-display setup for a larger workspace.

If I didnt have my own desktop, I would swear by this setup.

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=cabsdt1&l=en&OC=NB_V3700_F3_E

[Bullit]

Yes but that isn't a quad core.

[redpandafire]

In that case, I think you are looking for the i7-720QM and up. The i7-620M you listed is also a dual core.

[Bullit]

You are right 2 cores. My mistake.

[3DMadness]

2 months ago I had almos the same question, ended buying an Asus G51JX-A1 at Amazon for US$1400, received it the next day after purchase. Even though it was made for gaming, its a perfect mobile workstation for work with 3dsmax, photoshop, after and etc.
The specs are core i7 720QM (quad core + 4 HT cores), 6GB DDR3, GF GTS360 1GB, 15.6 full-HD LCD, 500GB HD and an illuminated keyboard that is great for some overnight jobs. :deal:

[CKPinson]

Flavio- What type of work do you manage on that laptop (3d/2d and performance: face count and usability)?

[3DMadness]

Hey CK Pinson, I've done some archviz stuff and most of the time I've been working on a project with 3D cars, everything running great. I was checking now the car I'm working on and I've got 1.3 milion of polys in screen running smooth around 50fps, working great so far. :buttrock:

[CKPinson]

That is pretty nice- more than I expected. I'm not famil- with Archviz- I just know that Maya is picky and once I get my setup on a pc I try not to screw with it too much. I cringe when new drivers are available for my GPU.

[ThorDWilk]

Hello, I wondered if anyone has experience with laptops in the UK or Europe? The prices here are nice but being stuck in GB means you just turn that dollar sign into a pound sign :S. Is there any decent laptops for £300-600 that wont bit me in the butt later through postage? I'm a Max/Zbrush/Maya user and Im willing to use older models to ease the search but info for the Uk is a little scarce.
I had my eye on the Dell range but most seem just out of reach.
Anyone have this problem and what did you find in the end?
Hope you can help.

[redpandafire]

I usually buy in your price range because I find I like to switch to new technology much more frequently than most people here (~2 years, per new laptop). So for me, price is a concern and so I can't lay down a 4 year budget knowing I'll want a new one in 2.

That said, in this price range you will have to accept the following sacrifices (among others I may not know about, but heres my own experience anyways):


Your render time will be longer (chances are the laptops in this range are dual-core)
Your 3D performance will be mid-range (most likely an ATI Radeon 4650 / 5650 / 5730 or nVidia GT 130 / 230 / etc)
Your screen size will be limited (chances are it will bare some tiny screen resolution like 1366x768, 900p, and not much hope for a 1080p res)
Your probably going to get Windows 7 Home premium (so if Pro has features you absolutely need, it might not be in this range)
Your battery will most likely be limited to 3 hrs of use (if that) and will need to buy extra batteries for on-the-go trips


With all that said, I absolutely love my current laptop. Its got all the latest whistles and doo-dads that keep my geeky side happy, while having the power for me to model and texture in 3DS Max and Photoshop. Its super silent and for higher resolution work, I have a nice 1080p IPS screen that I simply hook it up to. I never have to worry about keeping my desk clean because I can just pick it up and work elsewhere. Its definately made my workflow THAT much easier. I also don't have to pamper it SO much knowing that in 2 years I'll be donating it to family or friends or students who will want it.

My personal recommendation is the cheapest laptop on this page: http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/studio-1747/pd.aspx?refid=studio-1747&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

What you be seeing is:
i3-330M CPU
17.3" LCD @ 1600x900 resolution
ATI Radeon 5650 1GB
3GB DDR-3 RAM
320GB Hard Drive

For a total of 679 pounds.

If that were in dollars, I'd jump at this laptop in a heartbeat (assuming I was looking for one to replace my own) =)

Happy hunting. Good luck with whatever you end up with.

Hello, I wondered if anyone has experience with laptops in the UK or Europe? The prices here are nice but being stuck in GB means you just turn that dollar sign into a pound sign :S. Is there any decent laptops for £300-600 that wont bit me in the butt later through postage? I'm a Max/Zbrush/Maya user and Im willing to use older models to ease the search but info for the Uk is a little scarce.
I had my eye on the Dell range but most seem just out of reach.
Anyone have this problem and what did you find in the end?
Hope you can help.

[Bullit]

The laptop redpandafire said is good enough to work. specially if you aren't into rendering often.

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