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laptop decision!

J_AFlores

hey guys. well i guess its that time when most of us( when we are in school) have to make a hard decision about which laptop is worthed on spending our money. i have 3 options and if someone has a better option im open to hear from all of you.

here the specs for the studio 15(15 inch screen): $2300
-NEW 2010 Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
-8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
-500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
-ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470, 1GB

here the studio 17(17 inch): $1900
-NEW 2010 Intel® Core™ i5-520M 2.40GHz (2.93Ghz Turbo Mode, 3M cache)
-8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
-500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
-ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 , 1GB

here mac pro 17": $2900
-2.66GHz Intel Core i7
-4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X2GB
-500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
and about the graphic card i couldnt find the one that the new mac pro come with it.

so what do you guys think it would be my best option? i meant worth investing my money on?

 
May 26, 10 4:27 pm
svensven

wow, apple really reams you, 3k?

May 26, 10 5:04 pm  · 
 · 
LITS4FormZ

If you have the money go for the Mac, I have a MB Pro 17inch and love it. I first converted to apple laptops in '05 and I can't imagine going back to a windows laptop.

For 1000 less, the studio 17 inch should be more than adequate to do most of your work in studio. You could also spend that money you saved from buying the PC and get a sweet tablet and a nice pair of headphones with money to spare.

As far as investing in a computer if you want to invest in technology that will really benefit you in school build a desktop and continue to upgrade it over time.

May 26, 10 6:37 pm  · 
 · 
trace™

why didn't you spec them out identically, then you could really compare the pricing

May 26, 10 10:35 pm  · 
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poop876

I spend 800 on a laptop that got me through graduate school. I'm sure it was slower than some of the fancy computers...but I got all my work done on time, even faster than some of the people with fast computers.

I just think it's not a good investment to spend a lot of money on laptops for simple rendering and cad drawings.

Are you required to have on of those computers or can you go with your own?

May 26, 10 10:56 pm  · 
 · 
J_AFlores

trace
idk about computers so i just add what ppl said i needed such RAM, hard drive and a good graphics card..

poop876
no im just picked this computers cause i seen how my friends couldn't handle cad and form z renderings last semester so i was just thinking of getting something that isnt that slow

May 26, 10 11:30 pm  · 
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poop876

I ran formz and cad on 512 and never had any problems. Renderings took a little bit longer but it was fine.

Where do they still use formz?

Good luck!

May 26, 10 11:34 pm  · 
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J_AFlores

good question poop876. i just got my AA degree from a community College in MD. my studio prof. graduated from University of Maryland and it seems that he used it back in the days and he still uses it at his firm ( but he uses archicad as well.. hes a mac guy). so he told us to look into the program and we took a chance to work in our final studio project in formZ... we spent a lot allnighters just learning form Z. it was fun.

May 26, 10 11:40 pm  · 
 · 
Distant Unicorn

If you're at that price range already, consider a lenovo mobile workstation!

And if you're loaded, you can get a mobile workstation with 16 gigs memory, dual solid state hard drives, 1 gb video card... and... and a inteol core i7 extreme processor!

Intel Core i7-920XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.00 GHz) {I think it maxs out at 3.66 ghz).
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
17" WUXGA RGB-LED-BL
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated)
16 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (4 DIMM)
Ultranav + Number Pad + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer w/ Stylus
Dual 128GB RAID Enabled Solid State Hard Drives, Serial ATA4
Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm)
9 cell Li-Ion Battery60
Bluetooth w/ antenna
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 625010

A PANTONE SENSOR. YOU CAN USE THIS THING TO MIX PAINT WITH.

Subtotal: $7,573.66
Sale Price: $7,058.86

And if you use coupon code "USPLENOVO527" (15% off i think) right now, You'll save close to a thousand dollars.

Grand total with warranty and lo-jack? $6,078.91

Just don't operate this computer near yourself or anything flammable.

May 26, 10 11:41 pm  · 
 · 
J_AFlores

unicorn

im speechless lol.. lenovo.. first time i hear about it.. google it!

May 26, 10 11:44 pm  · 
 · 
poop876

Oh there are tons of firms usinf formz but I just didn't know what schools offered classes or had student discounts! I like formz!

May 26, 10 11:56 pm  · 
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J_AFlores

yes poop876. well as a student we had to fil out a form sent in pay 75 bucks and we get formz for 14 months.

May 27, 10 12:03 am  · 
 · 
trace™

I still love FormZ for a design tool (although we use Max for rendering).


sivarch - imho, you need to know enough about the specs to know the differences before you shell out cash. You are comparing apples to oranges, really, and no one can tell you which is the better deal for you.

It's like saying "should I buy Ferrari or a Mustang?" One costs a butt load more, one goes around a track a tad faster with an expert driver, but most of us couldn't make one go faster than the other in the real world (or even on a track).


Spec them all the same:

1. High end (what you'd like)
2. Mid
3. Low


Compare. You'll see big differences in value and cost. Look at sites like www.techbargains.com to find great deals on Dells (and others).


If I were you, I'd get a mid range machine. You aren't going to be doing production level graphics, but you want it fast enough that it doesn't slow you down too much.


May 27, 10 8:40 am  · 
 · 
svensven

Ferrari wins with the balanced weight distribution, so you wouldn't be as apt to overcome the coefficient of friction in your rear tires, therefore maintaining higher exit speeds after apexing turns. A Mustang would spin out a lot easier.

I think you should just buy the ferrari, but don't wreck it and only drive it twice a month.

But seriously, if you are rendering a lot you won't be using a laptop anyway. get a cheapie laptop and use the savings to build your own tower, and be the envy of all your friends.

May 27, 10 9:18 am  · 
 · 
not_here

i'm still a fan of using a cheap notebook for papers, notes and all that babble that can't be done in your studio chair, and then having a desktop at the center your workspace.

paying 3000 dollars for something that cost me 900 dollars 2 years ago is saddening at best.

May 27, 10 9:43 am  · 
 · 
trace™

Ferrari 430 Scuderia 2:54.6
Shelby Mustang Cobra GT500 2:58.48
Ford Mustang GT 3:20.9


Ferrari 430 Scuderia $200,000
Shelby Mustang Cobra GT500 $45,000
Ford Mustang GT $28,000


Is it worth it?


Yes, if you have it.




(Personally, I'll take a Lambo or 911 ;-) ! ).....or even a new M3 or S5 would be nice.

May 27, 10 12:17 pm  · 
 · 
J_AFlores

I would take the Audi R8 or a RS4..

May 27, 10 12:24 pm  · 
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J_AFlores

i read a review about the studio 17and they said that the graphic card isnt very good and its the downpart of the machine.. on the other hand if i get a lenovo w510 for a 2300 its a good deal cause the graphic card its some how built to deal with 3d renderings and cad and not too much for video games. i dnt play video games in computers thats why i have my old ps2..

May 27, 10 12:29 pm  · 
 · 
svensven

So basically you should get a used honda civic as your daily driver (cheap laptop), and use the savings to buy a suped-up mustang for when you really need the power (custom computer tower), and avoid the insane pricetag of the ferrari, even though it would hold its value better and get you lai... nevermind.

May 27, 10 12:36 pm  · 
 · 
not_here

yeah, lol@computers retaining value. if anything a laptop depreciates faster because it is not as upgradable as a desktop.

so that makes your analogy; a horrible one.
please try again.

and yeah, getting a Quadro card is just asking for trouble. It's essentially a crippled GT card with streamlined optimizations for high performance apps. But noting what gamers are asking for; which is way more than what average architects us, these cards are not even good anymore. most architects aren't using a GPU for crazy performance calcs; in fact, in three years of grad school, i'm pretty sure i was the only one person at michigan who had any idea of how to use hardware rendering and even still, that's child's play compared to what you can do with any up to date card.

get a GT-based card or a good ATI, stay away from anything Quadro-based.

May 27, 10 1:27 pm  · 
 · 
not_here

also, any built-in chip can run rhino and cad. unless you're going off the hook with complex forms that need to be hardware rendered on the spot (stuff that would generally crash rhino anyways), you're gonna be good with most gfx cards. quadros are just a waste of money.

/endrant

May 27, 10 1:29 pm  · 
 · 
svensven

fluxbound, i was jokin around bud... it'll be ok.

my actual response was steering the guy away from spending a lot of money on a laptop, i.e. getting a cheap laptop and building a tower.




May 27, 10 1:39 pm  · 
 · 
trace™

I'd skip the money on a Quadro too. I've had a few, both workstation and laptop and always think "ok, so why did this card cost as much as a computer?"


And again, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. I haven't spec'd a Studio17, but I'd put a lot of money on Dell offering numerous options, so make sure you know what the testers had in their machine (all too often the tests are based on what was sent to them, not on what was offered).

As flux points out, any card these days will do you fine. Shit, I was using a 16mb Geforce in grad school and survived!

May 27, 10 1:42 pm  · 
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Distant Unicorn

Why is the quadro card trouble? Because it can't run some archaic game from 1998 you desperately love?

May 27, 10 1:48 pm  · 
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J_AFlores

ok now it looks some like quattro cards some others like ATI but what kind of graphics cards does mac use? couple of classmates used either the Mac pro 15 or 17, yet im not a MAc follower unlees you talk about Ipods and itunes.

May 27, 10 4:50 pm  · 
 · 
not_here

no, the quadro card is trouble cause you have no idea how to use it.

May 27, 10 9:33 pm  · 
 · 

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