Laptop for SU

tomasz · 8 Feb 2009, 16:23

Hi,
I am looking for a laptop suitable for SU. I presume that any with a good Nvidia card and 16" screen would be fine. I don't think processor really matters. 3GB+ with Vista should also work.

Has anyone bought a laptop recently which did cost around 800 euro (1000 USD) and was a good purchase?

I am considering:
Samsung R610 http://www.pcrush.com/product/Laptops-and-Notebooks/235221/Samsung-R610-64G-Notebook
Or HP laptops with similar configuration.

Any hints are welcome.

Tomasz

remus · 8 Feb 2009, 17:41

The main thing to look out for is a decent graphics card. A lot of laptops dont come with proper graphics card and so will struggle with running SU. The other thing to look out for is a high clocked processor, something in the region of 2.6Ghz+ should do it.

tomasz · 8 Feb 2009, 18:00

Remus,
The model I posted has GeForce 9200M GS 512MB on board which seems to be reasonable. It was long time ago a hardware wan no mystery for me. At the moment I have to guess and obviously check some reviews.

Samsung is equipped with 2.0MHz Dual Core (Model: T5800). It is not a 2.6+, but I will not find a laptop with such a clock in the desired price range.

Tomasz

remus · 8 Feb 2009, 18:05

Sorry, was a bit hasty in replying so i didnt read the link.

Looks like a nicely speced machine for the money and would probably run SU without too much hassle, it's definetly worth doing some research in to the graphics card though, just to make sure it does have decent openGL support.

chango70 · 8 Feb 2009, 22:02

I think the 9200M GS is a little underpowered. I only found information for 9300MGS from http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=581&card2=597. Going by NVidia's naming concension i'd say the 9200M GS is even less powerful. The 9600M GS should be a reference of a decent mobile card for SU. However that might be outside your price range..

solo · 8 Feb 2009, 23:01

Tomasz

The nVidia GeForce 9600M GS is an integrated chip, I would advise against this as the performance will not be what you need, I suggest finding a machine with a dedicated video card even if it's only 256mb it will be more powerful for what you need.

tomasz · 9 Feb 2009, 08:42

Pete and Chango, I will check more powerful configs in terms of GC.
Does it have to say 'dedicated Graphic Card' or there is a different way to recognise Nvidia chips?
9600 M GS.. will check it.

Thanks

Tomasz

sketch3d.de · 18 Feb 2009, 10:38

@unknownuser said:

...more powerful configs...

http://www.dell.com > Notebooks > Precision series > Quadro FX > Win XP Pro = max. SU performance

thanks,
Norbert

chango70 · 18 Feb 2009, 12:41

@unknownuser said:

Pete and Chango, I will check more powerful configs in terms of GC.
Does it have to say 'dedicated Graphic Card' or there is a different way to recognise Nvidia chips?
9600 M GS.. will check it.

Thanks

Tomasz

The laptop I use has 9600M GT. Works very well, noticeably better than my 8600M GT laptop (that one died on me). I'd say this is the most 'affordable' options for mobile graphics card that suppor openGL as the next one up has a large price hike. You can get one from http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk for under a £1000 (less if you spec a slower CPU), which is a bargain considering regular branded ones with 512mb 9600M GT are marketed as gaming machines and go for £1500 upwards.

chango70 · 18 Feb 2009, 12:46

@solo said:

Tomasz

The nVidia GeForce 9600M GS is an integrated chip, I would advise against this as the performance will not be what you need, I suggest finding a machine with a dedicated video card even if it's only 256mb it will be more powerful for what you need.

My GF bought the unibody macbook with integrated 9400M GT graphics card. It works noticeably better than the old integrated Intel graphics card. NVdia are claiming up to 5 times better performance however that is really for games. It is a decent performer. If you can't afford discrete I think 9400M GT is another way to go.