Dell's are pieces of crap - if you are gonna buy a PC - ewww - go with an alien ware. At least with a powerbook, you know you'll have it for 5 years. Mine's still going strong.

I am so glad we use OSX and Vectorworks/Maya... I HATE working with PCs.

hmm. you're feeding the fire you realize? I won't take much convincing in this direction.
how much RAM did you need to run Vectorworks & Maya?
i looked at the alienware site, and they're so hideous-- i just couldn't live with myself as a designer if i ever supported such tasteless garbage.

i have a dell, not a M70
but i paid under 1100 for it... ive had it for 1 1/2 years and take good care of it.. pretty much just use it for studio stuff... and it does anything i need it too...

powerbooks are overrated

can you run maya on your m70?

alien ware has good components but they make such ugly cases.

just wanted to show that all PCs need not be ugly (i know it's a desktop but at least there's SOME hope...)




maybe this just means some designers should just team up with a manufacterer. all the components in computers use standardized dimensions.

oh... and maybe look at the Sony VAIO A series? still not as pretty as a powerbook but better than the alienware stuff.

acer laptops are really kick-ass too...of course they dont look as good as the pbooks, but they have an interesting aesthetic...and are quite light.... i love the keyboards which the slight (5 degree) curves too.

regular acer

if you like carbon fiber and are feeling adventurous

are acers pretty solid machines? and by solid I mean: good, dependable, decent support?

kitty, i have yet to own an acer machine, but we just bought one for a friend and i have to say it rocks - very good battery life, very light, do not run very hot (the carbon fiber one has an AMD turion chip which is relatively new, but has got very good reviews, i will try and post the review down here).
Another friend has an older 1.5 ghz amd and it has not had a single problem in the last 15 months - he used to run maya, max etc on it all the time.
People say the acer customer support is not very very good, but its pretty dependable. But i would suggest that one should get the in-store replacement plan for any laptop that you buy.

review of AMD Turion processor

if you want to drop 3000 on a laptop, this is one way to do it.

dont' do it. in the next year and half all things mac will be turning over to pentium chips. which is good for using windows components on a os platform and, god forbid, maybe a very reliable way to run cad on a mac, but, by then the shit that's in your mac is going to be outdated and impossible to keep running with all the new mutations of future apple computers because of their jump to pentium chips. basically, it will be for people who love the look of apple computers but with the programs of a pc. weeeeh. damn microsoft.

however, if i had 3,000 bucks and i had to buy a computer with that exact amount of money, i'd buy a mac, just because i'm mac junky. i have a "boobmac" and it's my favorite and damn near my only possession. and it's always worked. so if you will have another 3000 bucks to spend in three years, go for it.

Very simply if I had the $3,000 I'd drop them in an M70 in a split second. Go for it!

all is vanity you fancy graphic lovers

what the hell is that? all is vanity? here's one for ya "thy words are poo"

eccliastes 1:2

Go for the powerbook. The more architects who move over to mac platforms the better chance we have that the Autodesk programmers will start writing a Mac code. I went from a Dell to a Mac about three years ago and have no regrets. Imagine never having to deal with drivers, virus's, direct x video conflicts, boot sequences... I do miss Acad but fuck it, it's just a drawing program.

just do it. the shiny aluminium is nice to stroke.

and don't believe the idea that just because apple are going intel, you shouldn't buy a powerbook now. whatever you buy will be obsolete in 5 years anyhow.

wow, i don't know whether to be impressed with the literary reference or the the mispelling of ecclesiastes. don't forget to floss.

Dell - get the 9300 or XGen 2 (which looks good, just keep the lights off!). You don't get the Quadro in the M70, but you get a 17" screen. Quadros are overrated (I've got two of them).

Macs - forget Macs until the Intel deal is solidified and worked out. Right now you'd be buying obsolete technology.
They are pretty, but you can't run acad or Max on them. Wait and see what the Intel deal has in store and if they'll run windows (not that I like windows, but from my use of a dual G5, OSX isn't any better and it's terribly ugly).

oh, yeah, the boxxtech's rock too, but they ain't cheap.

Dell just had a 40% off laptop deal, including spec'd out high end ones. Keep an eye out, you could get a machine for waaaay less than any other manufacturer.

Man, I gotta stop sounding like a Dell ad.

you don't sound like a dell ad. macs have always been overpriced, and dells are currently the best bang for your buck.

Take a look at Boxx with a quadro to go graphics card. The minimum ram that is usefull with Maya is 1 gig. More is allways usefull.

don't get the power book. you'll go through hell trying to find people that have macs, and software for it . And no, pc's don't have to be ugly. It seems like nobody here really looks into custom laptops (except for the mention of the Boxx systems). The products of HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba... are what you would get at Best Buy. In other words, if you don't know any better you get one of those brand names. In this profession, you have be in tune with the tools you use. Why settle for a product that little Johnny will be using during his freshman year of college ? (little Johnny has a $3000 laptop and is majoring in Business). You have do a little research. Custom systems are good, because you know them inside out. And in most cases, the companies that manufacture the core parts, manufacture parts for the aforementioned brands (Yes, DELL doesn't really "make" computers). You can configure a system to your exact specifications. Try www.powernotebooks.com Dont be fooled by their cheezy frontpage.

(don't worry, you CAN take those stickers off)

I looked at voodoo laptops. They do this automotive paintojob on their machines . . . they look pretty tight. My friend just ordered an HP nw8240. It had most of what he wanted for around $2500. I have to say that it looks like an impressive machine!
I am still not convinced. Powerbooks just work for me. I have never had ANY issues finding software for os x. Sure, things will change with intel, but as many mac folks know, you never get the first edition . . . always wait for the 2nd or third run to buy into a mac product. So with that mindset, a "good" "mactel" powerbook (2nd or 3rd revision) will be seen perhaps early-mid 2007.
The current line of powerbooks is on it's 8th revision if you count the titanium versions. as far as aluminum goes, it is the 3rd revision. If you want to get really technical, the average update cycle of the powerbook line is 189 days, we are on day 185. While I am anxious to buy, I might wait until the end of the month to see if there is a price drop or some slight enhancements. if not, I will buy in early September.
As far as using this thing, I made my entire portfolio for grad school applications on this. 2D work is definitely different than 3D work. But I have been using it lately for Maya and formZ. Unfortunately I only have 512mb of RAM. It is very usable, but when I buy my next one, I will buy the 15" with one stick of 1GB ram.

behold.

pretty good price, but give me a 7200rpm drive! I did not know this, but seagate has a 100GB 7200rpm 2.5" drive! Looks like a nice machine . . . by dual format DVD, do they mean dual layer?

my notebook's case and motherboard is Asus. looks good, and very high build quality.

Anyone have an opinion about IBM thinkpads???? Was looking at one but I never hear to much about them on here

You guys who are afraid of macs are really really funny. "No one has software" - hahah - ok


Have fun replacing your hardware bit by bit over the next few months....

Macs are solid - PCs are made to be disposible - Microsoft Windows is UNSTABLE - cooling fans blow -

Sorry but buy the powerbook.

I have a thinkpad, and I love it. It is tough as hell. Best keyboard on a laptop hands down. IBM has great support.

another vote for the powerbook, or ibook for that matter. mac support is outstanding, although ive personally never needed to use it. be sure to get the apple care and youre set. i bought my powerbook 2 years ago, and run a lot of vectorworks and indesign on it with no problems. compatibility can sometimes be an issue (our router is not the best of friends with osx)but ive never had trouble finding software, and it did come loaded with some pretty good basic programs for all that other stuff (safari, itunes, iphoto, imovie, etc.) if youre using it for graphic stuff, lots of images, etc, macs are it. if all you need is drafting, maybe save your $ and get a dell. but honestly, ive never had a crash, virus, corrupted file, fatal error, pop-up problem. and i have an ever-so-sexy back-lit keyboard.

I had a 15" PB for a year, I run vectorworks, form Z, Maya; with the exception of slow render times it's been a good investment. I had the machine custom built with the memory slot open, for future memory.
Not to mention Final Cut, photoshop and illustrator.
I need a better copy of word mine keeps crashing.
I do recommend applecare, i've had 2 HD replacements and a fan replaced. all fo' free because of applecare. and the mac genuises gave me tiger.

i'm having tiger removed this week

if you can't do a powerbook (because it's too cool for school, or because you need to run windows-only software), get an IBM Thinkpad. Straight-up looks, excellent build quality.

But just to keep the pressure on... you want a powerbook.
Just get loads of ram for tiger.

If you want powerbook quality on the PC side, get an IBM T42p or t43p. (the p designates the workstation class notebooks)

laptop quality has gone way downhill over the last few years. competition is tight and everyone is cutting corners. Ibm, apple, and fujitsu are pretty much the only companies still designing durable, quality notebooks and supporting them properly.

another vote for the powerbook... aside from all the good stuff mentioned about.. who doesn't love the widgets?

Powerbooks look good. Performance wise? yes windows is unstable, but not everybody uses only windows on a pc. Besides, given that we have Vista upcoming (support for 64bit apps, AMD64), and 64bit technology... would you still get a mac? A lot of people still would. If widgets and looks are your priority (and "os stability", which is very arbitrary), get a mac.

IBM thinkpads??... has anyone ever compared system cofigurations and price ranges with those? Thinkpads are made for a different type of client: the business executive... not the architect.

One more time. Go custom.

DEV:

the ---p thinkpads are designed for workstation users. thinkpads are kinda like macs, everything just works like it's supposed to.

Sticker price is high but you can almost always get around it:

1) eduactional discounts (harvard has the best deal with IBM - nearly half off in some cases)

2) EPP discount - find someone who works for IBM and talk them into letting you use their employee # to order. (10-20%)

3) shareholder discount - find someone who owns stock in IBM. similar to EPP but not as good.

i stand corrected. I guess I don't have a real problem with macs, thinkpads... etc. My real problem is with single-source manufacturers. Proprietary parts. I'm adamant about this, because, I really don't have money. And, I wouldn't like to be subject to pricing from only one company for repairs, or parts. I like the freedom of adapting my system inside/out. Hardware and software (when is the last time you were able to change the "shell" of Mac OS? Think KDE. virtual desktops)

To some people I'm wrong. And that's alright. Those are the people that would never think of hacking their ipods to watch movies on it. And that's alright too...

obviously, it's not alright, as you've just insulted those who think you're wrong, and in one fell swoop, you've managed to raise your intelligence and ingenuity up a level for all of us to marvel. thank you mr. cox, you're too kind. wow, movies on an ipod; the screen the perfect format for garden state, and natalie's beedy little head. oh modest mr. cox....that's alright too.

Its funny how easy a comment can become an "insult" to some. The ipod comment was to prove a point: if you're the type of person that likes to have freedom in managing your technology, you stay away from restrictive, proprietary manufacturers. If you don't like to waste your time knowing your computer inside and out (like some of us do), then you're fit for proprietary manufacturers.

Its a clear difference. It doesn't make anyone a better designer, more "intelligent" or "ingenious". Knowing your technology will only save you money.

it's funny how easily some insult.

aside from all the benefits mentioned re: apple, the mention of these big DEll, Boxxtech, etc. laptops in comparison to the powerbook needs a little BUT in there: i.e. but, they weigh a friggin TON! say goodby to your shoulder if you plan on really being portable with your laptop -- check the weight....POWERBOOK more power/weight in the book...

i thought weight would be an issue, too, but i liked the toshiba pc (7.5 lbs) so much better than anything else on the market at the time (mid-'03) that i bought it.

i got over the weight thing in the first week and consider myself very portable. take the thing with me all the time.

which labtops are the lightest out there, that still manage to have power?

Steven, 7.5 lbs seems reasonable -- PBook 15" is 5.6 and 17" is 6.9 or something -- I'm talking about the 9, 10, 11lb (Boxxtech says over 11!) monsters.

Paper tiger:

not to sound like a broken record, but the IBM t serries workstation notebooks fit the bill pretty well - max out at 6 lbs (as low as 4.9 for the 14" screen), up to the fastest pentium Ms, 7200rpm drives, and firegl graphics cards.

before I got my t41p (5.3 lbs with the big battery), I had a 7.5 lb dell. the difference was certainly noticable, I found myself taking the IBM more places (and actually using it) because it was less annoying to carry around and stash when I didn't need it..