Grahpics card vs. "media accelerator"
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@joshvt said:
.. Can't say I have had much luck finding anything in that category to date...
in the less-than-1k U$ area you might want check the Dell Vostro series (in business area only) which can be configured with a small GeForce included.. maybe sufficient for your needs. But would upgrade the Intel Core 2 duo CPU to at least the T8100 model.
hth,
Norbert -
I can vouch for this one, I own one and it rocks with SU.
Dedicated graphics, 3gb ram, and general great machine.
And the current price is great, I bought mine when it was $1400, now it's only $800
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"Media accelerator" sounds similar to what my cheap Dell desktop has @ home. As was mentioned it's basically an integrated video card of sorts, and a really poor one. I bought a GeForce eventually to do what I needed. W/ the integrated video I had to turn acceleration off. That said, you mentioned that this was a computer that isn't for you and that it'll only be used for SU occasionally so if your models aren't big and you'd be ok w/o acceleration turned on I think you'd be ok.
I think the Quadro FX, mentioned above, is overkill for what you're talking about. GeForce would be plenty for occasional SU use. I have an GeForce 8800GT on one machine and a Quadro on another and don't see much difference with SU.
-Brodie
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yeah, my wife will be the primary user and she does not use sketchup. I am an architect and use sketchup mostly for single family residences. Occasionally I may use the laptop for casual client presentations or marketing. My models usually are in the 15-30 MB range and while I will rarely be doing a lot of editing on the laptop, I can't deal with the "sticky" factor...
This is from left field, but a friend of mine suggested I look into a Macbook... Any thoughts on that?
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@joshvt said:
Gai,
care to point me in the direction of something "really cheap"? Can't say I have had much luck finding anything in that category to date...I actually meant that in this case you could even go for a "cheaper brand" than Dell since you wouldn't feel the difference anyway.
So if a Dell, with a dedicated video card, would cost too much, I'd rather go for a less prestigeous brand but with a good video card. Your wife would probably not notice any difference but you definitely would when using SU.
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@joshvt said:
My models usually are in the 15-30 MB range...
which is definitely not a small modell size...
@joshvt said:
... and while I will rarely be doing a lot of editing on the laptop, I can't deal with the "sticky" factor...
i.e. professional usage which definitely excludes shared video solutions limited to office/internet/videos.
@joshvt said:
...a Macbook...
thought you wanna stick below U$ 1,000.- ...
... the OpenGL support of the OSX video drivers provided by Apple is currently less mature than the ones available from the makers of the video cards for XP Pro... just check the forum.
buy a Dell Precision w/ Quadro FX if you can, hurts only once... than every time zooming/panning/rotating your models in front of your clients.
jm2cs,
Norbert -
@gaieus said:
So if a Dell, with a dedicated video card, would cost too much, I'd rather go for a less prestigeous brand but with a good video card.
the mentioned Sony Vaio series is maybe prestigeous, the e.g. Dell Vostro series surely not...
...and Dell provides the #1 service in connection with Notebooks, at least according to the latest survey of the most reputable c't magazine in Germany.
hth,
Norbert -
I'm afraid I don't know much about laptop hardware but I wonder if a good solution would be to get a nice cheap laptop but one that has good upgrade capability. You could throw in a lower/mid range video card and be set. Then, if things changed down the road and you were going to use it more extensively or for presentations you could always put in a better card. Would that make any sense?
If you went that route, I'd suspect Dell wouldn't be the way to go. The integrated video card on the desktop is a hassle, on a laptop it could make upgrades even more tricky.
Just a thought.
-Brodie
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well... $1000 was the hopeful budget... then several trusted friends/ coworkers gave the macbook pretty high marks for reasons other than sketchup. I am also a sucker for well designed products- which the macbook is... The local apple store apparently has skup loaded on some of their floor models and you can try it out. I am going to take a nice size model to the store and drop it on a macbook and see what happens. Will let you know.
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@joshvt said:
I am also a sucker for well designed products- which the macbook is...
I would check if all of my apps are available for OSX before evaluating the design, it's still a tool.. but priorities may vary.
Norbert
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