SU on Notebook

stuartb · 5 Feb 2008, 14:01

I am seriously tempted to buy a little Sony Vaio notebook. Is anyone successfully using SU on a notebook? I think they have integrated graphics so I am wondering if it works well.

Gjenio · 5 Feb 2008, 14:17

My suggestion is to go for a model with discrete graphic card. I tried a macbook 13.3' T7200 with the intel integrated graphics and I was able to orbit only small models in real time, without slowdown. So do pay a bit more for a real improvement, and of course you can choose a notebook PC

peterbnilsson · 5 Feb 2008, 15:09

I've done a good bit of SketchUp work on an older Dell laptop. It's got a ATI 9600 Mobility card and it works pretty well, so I would think that anything current would run SU very well. I would definately agree with Gjenio though, the video card is a must if you are working with even mildly complex models. That, and of coarse, a mouse...trying to control SU with the touch pad is endlessly frustrating.

stuartb · 5 Feb 2008, 16:21

I should specifically say I am not looking for Mac, and not looking for a laptop. I want something small and notebook sized like the Sony Vaio TZ series
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+TZ+Series
The graphics card on this seems to be an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 250mb.
I was wondering if anyone is runnning SU on this size of device?

Anssi · 5 Feb 2008, 19:02

Stuartb,

You can't run SU with an Intel integrated graphics chip with Hardware Acceleration on. That makes it tedious for all but the smallest models.

Anssi

bertb · 7 Feb 2008, 07:38

Hi Stuartb,
I use a Sony Vaio VGN-AR ,on the move and in my office,
Intel CORE 2 CPU, T5600, 1,83GHz, 2 GB and a NVIDA GForce GO 7600,
I have no problems unless it's a litlle heavy with it's 17" screen, but I need this size for presentations.
It normally works okay but consider my files do not exceed 10Mb.
As office machine I run a Vaio desktop that gives me some problems, but has a 24" screen
Good luck.

linea · 7 Feb 2008, 07:42

I use SU on a Toshiba laptop (as for the spec, er, its shiny with an nvidia card) and a six year old Sony Vaio - runs great on both.

Have you looked the asus eee, it's tiny and very cheap, but I'm not sure if it supports 3d graphics.

Gjenio · 7 Feb 2008, 07:57

@stuartb said:

I should specifically say I am not looking for Mac, and not looking for a laptop. I want something small and notebook sized like the Sony Vaio TZ series
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+TZ+Series
The graphics card on this seems to be an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 250mb.
I was wondering if anyone is runnning SU on this size of device?

Apart from integrated graphics, 11.1' display it's too small for drawing, whatever you want to do. I have a Thinkpad Z61p, 15.4', 1920x1200 resolution, and after a year I realize that it is not so good for all day working (drawing), now I'm changing it for a Dell Precision m6300, 17,1' and 1440x900 resolution.

juju · 7 Feb 2008, 08:40

Asus EEE is a joke, pretty much a gadget IMHO.

sketch3d.de · 7 Feb 2008, 12:04

the Asus EeePC uses a Linux based OS, i.e. no go for SU.

I would avoid a video card w/ shared memory (which are fine for and dedicated to office and internet usage) as well as ATI based solutions under Windows (besides maybe the FireGL stuff).

I would recommend a dedicated and nVidia GPU based video subsystem, preferred the Quadro FX CAD series, w/ 512 megs own RAM.

use Windows XP Pro SP2 instead of Vista, currently the OGL support of recent video drivers is more stable than the available Vista drives... will probably change w/ SP1 of Vista and future releases of video drivers.

check the Dell Precision series w/ Quadro FX GPUs integrated.. you also might want to select and buy as commercial user resp. company because of the opportunity to 'downgrade' from Vista to XP...

btw, because of missing multi threading of recent SU builds a faster dual core CPU is better than a slower quad core.. may obviously change in the future.

hth,
Norbert
(formerly known as 'ignorant' sketchup-forum.com admin scnr)

linea · 13 Feb 2008, 09:50

Just for the record, the eee will run Sketchup.

linea · 13 Feb 2008, 09:59

remus

I just ammended my post on that, it ships with xp or linux, not vista

linea · 13 Feb 2008, 10:04

@unknownuser said:

Asus EEE is a joke, pretty much a gadget IMHO.

@unknownuser said:

the Asus EeePC uses a Linux based OS, i.e. no go for SU

Asus EEE ships with either a linux distro or windows Xp, but it is probably too small to consider for SU.

sketch3d.de · 13 Feb 2008, 10:18

as I undestood, the default OS Asus ships is Xandros Linux only, at least in Germany.

regardless of this, the hardware specs seem to be not very promising for using an OGL based 3D app: Intel Celeron M 900MHz CPU, 512MB/1024 RAM, Intel GMA 900 GPU (shared), 800×480 LCD

running/launching is one thing, working with real life models another one.

Norbert

juju · 13 Feb 2008, 10:19

IMO the Eee is only good for ebook reading, that is all I'd do with it anyway because of the small screen and weak specs.

linea · 13 Feb 2008, 10:39

Fair point Julian. I think anybody would soon outgrow an eee, I wouldn't use one, but it might be good just for portability.

remus · 13 Feb 2008, 11:55

youd be rather pressed for space with vista on an eee, theyre hard drive is only 4/8GB and a raw version of vista is about 8, so it must run a pretty cut down version.

edit: see jons posts.

lewiswadsworth · 28 Mar 2008, 03:06

I just ordered the XP-compatible Eee PC 8G (wheeeeeee!)...I'm looking forward to its portability, and also to the possibility of doing some unusual modifications to it (there are web pages after pages devoted to this topic), hopefully involving a great deal of ugly duct-taping and exposed circuit boards. It's the antimatter universe's equivalent to the Mac Air niceties.

linea · 28 Mar 2008, 22:16

You are keeping it real Lewis! Let me know how you get on hacking the eee. I have a theory that I could mod it to feature bluetooth and then use it for measured surveys using a leica laser distometer (bluetooth enabled) and Powercad Sitemaster. However, freedom lover that I am, if there is a way to do this with open source apps on a linux o.s. that has to be a more efficient use of the eee.

Good luck with the gaffer tape, maybe try a folded out paper clip too.

lewiswadsworth · 29 Mar 2008, 14:12

@unknownuser said:

You are keeping it real Lewis! Let me know how you get on hacking the eee. I have a theory that I could mod it to feature bluetooth and then use it for measured surveys using a leica laser distometer (bluetooth enabled) and Powercad Sitemaster. However, freedom lover that I am, if there is a way to do this with open source apps on a linux o.s. that has to be a more efficient use of the eee.

Good luck with the gaffer tape, maybe try a folded out paper clip too.

I'm with you there...the only reason I'll put XP on this thing is to run SU. But first I'm going to ditch that silly Xandros Linux distro for the Xubuntu derivative that the Eee fanboys have put together. Maybe with WINE and 'buntu, I won't even need to use my extra XP license on this...I've found references to people using QCAD and Blender on the Eee (and even Compiz/Beryl for the desktop!), so it might actually work. It will be fun to try.

I did see...and I've lost the site now...a description of an "ultimate" Eee hack where the owner managed to get Bluetooth working on the little thing with a bit of creative soldering and a Dremel tool. I'll send the link to you if I find it again.