Laptop comparison - which one?
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I am considering a new laptop and am looking at the Acer Aspire.
As well as performance for Su and video editing I also thought it would be useful to buy a laptop with Blu-Ray and HDMI so I can use it for watching HD discs on the TV without the added expense of a separate stand alone Blu-Ray player.The range offered by Acer is quite complex and as I have lost touch with processor development since I last built a PC I was wondering if anyone would care to comment on which of the following configurations would be best (ie what are the differences?).
Apart from the processor and graphics card the specs are similar and I have listed the price of each laptop with the CPU V.Card details. Also added link for full Spec)
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£755
Intel Core 2 Duo (T5800) 2.0GHz Processor with 800MHz FSB, 2048KB L2 Cache
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - 512MB VRAM -
£790
Intel Centrino 2
Core
2 Duo (P7350 - 2.0 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB)
Dedicated (NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with up to 1791MB of TurboCache 512MB Dedicated) -
£738
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2GHz 800MHz
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - 512 MB -
£870
Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn (T8300 - 2.40 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB)
Dedicated (NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS with up to 1791MB of TurboCache 512MB Dedicated) -
£899
Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn (T9300 - 2.50 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 6MB)
Dedicated (NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS with up to 1791MB of TurboCache 512MB Dedicated)
All the above have the 18.4" screen except no 5. which is 16".
So which is best value for my needs??
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Any laptop bought today will serve you well. Just make sure to get worldwide warranty in case you plan to travel.
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Make really sure there are no issues on the videocard performance for each one, and take a look to find video driver hacks (installing new videodrivers on a laptop is always a pain)
Apart from that, look for the pc that has the smallest charger (in size I mean) because when you take it around too much weight is very uncomfortable!
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Yes, check out how well the graphic card is supported. Many laptop graphics card doesn't receive driver updates after only half a year.
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XP? Why? Dog old OS. I recommend trying to get a machine which gives you free upgrade to Windows7 when it ships. I'm trying the beta now and it's great.
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if you plan to use SU not only for private or 'fiddling-around' purposes, avoid video sub-systems with video memory shared (slowly) from the working memory, i.e. the euphemistic nVidia 'Turbo Cache' or ATI 'HyperMemory' stuff...
...but buy a Dell Precision w/ Quadro FX video sub-system instead, at least if you can afford
think of service and maintenance (e.g. new video drivers for upcoming OS as e.g. Windows 7) too.
hth,
NorbertP.S.: try to get hold of a Vista with XP Pro 'downgrade' as e.g. Dell and HP are offering, at least for their business lines. Which will be available, if I remind correct, until mid of this year only.
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@thomthom said:
XP? Why? Dog old OS.
since when does maturity disqualify?
not really, but instead:
- stable, reliable OpenGL support of available video drivers (btw, it's not only speed)
- no eye-candy but less consumption of hardware ressources = faster
- no annoying 'do you really wanna...' messages
- guaranteed support until 2014 (btw, Vista Ultimate currently 2012)
our experiences and tests in the past w/ Vista video drivers in connection w/ the CAD systems we are distributing are pretty disappointing, just google for e.g. 'disable desktop composition' for getting further information on these issues.
in short, if you wanna be productive or if you maybe make a living from the results of your work, stay in general with the old dogs. If you wanna be top-notch or an early adopter, use the latest-greatest OS... preferably before the first SP is avail
hth,
Norbert -
- The eye candy can be turned off.
- I find there to be less message in Vista than in XP. And Windows 7 has even less.
- Have you tested the drivers lately? In the beginning when Vista came out the drivers where touch and go. Since it was all so new, and XP had been out for a long time. Vista has been out for a while now. And Windows 7 use pretty much the same driver system.
I really disagrees that XP is automatically an more productive environment to work with. I use XP at work, I've used Vista at home since the first public beta. Vista is not getting the credit it'd due.
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Peweuk, don't forget to get as much RAM as possible, and unless your used to a small screen, I'd go for the bigger ones.
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@daniel said:
don't forget to get as much RAM as possible, and unless your used to a small screen, I'd go for the bigger ones.
The ones I mentioned all have 4gb ram and 18.4" screens and come with 32 bit Vista (home premium). Although I'm not sure of the benefit of having more than 3GB ram with a 32 bit OS.
The Dells are way out on budget for my needs, and don't have HDMI output. I am getting the laptop to save having a PC in the house (loml does not like it sat on the dining table).
Most of my work is done in the office which is outside in the garden, and the laptop is for working on when I can't be bothered to go to the office (I hate the commuting
) and also as a secondary consideration to use for watching the occassional Blu-Ray disc on the TV without having the need for a stand alone Blu-ray player.Acer seem to be the best value currently to give me what I need, but I am not sure which of the processor/video card combinations would be best to go for???
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@peweuk said:
The Dells are way out on budget for my needs, and don't have HDMI output.
you may want check the Dell XPS or Inspiron series too, probably not as cheap as an Acer.
@peweuk said:
... outside in the garden
avoid the 'mirror' screens (Dell calls them 'True Life') if working outside or in a bright surrounding is ever an option.
@peweuk said:
... watching the occassional Blu-Ray disc on the TV without having the need for a stand alone Blu-ray player.
I would prefer a dedicated player, the BDPs from Sony are fine and pretty silent and affordable in the meantime.
@peweuk said:
I am not sure which of the processor/video card combinations would be best to go for???
the speed of one (1) kernel of the CPU is most important for SU, a recent intel Dual Core (e.g. T8xxx series or higher) is a good choice, 4GB work memory is no fuss/cheap, a bigger nVidia GeForce (not ATI Radeon) with dedicated memory (512mb is 'nough) should provide a decent OpenGL 3D output too.
hth,
Norbert
sketch3d.de -
@sketch3d.de said:
@peweuk said:
@peweuk said:
... outside in the garden
avoid the 'mirror' screens (Dell calls them 'True Life') if working outside or in a bright surrounding is ever an option.
I second this. My laptop have this type of screen, hardly usable with strong ambient light.
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Without a doubt for Sketchup the one with 9600M GT is the best.
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@thomthom said:
- The eye candy can be turned off.
yes, for looking similar like good ol' XP
@thomthom said:
- I find there to be less message in Vista than in XP.
the 'User Account Control' was a new feature of Vista... and intended to 'annoy the user', at least according to David Cross, a product unit manager at M$.
@thomthom said:
- Have you tested the drivers lately?
must admit that we did not have tested the latest revisions from end of Feb. resp. beginning of March, they are surely getting better and better... but testing should obviously not be done in a productive environment.
@thomthom said:
And Windows 7 use pretty much the same driver system.
sure, it's simply a revamped Vista 2.0, the way it should have been for the inital release.
@thomthom said:
I really disagrees that XP is automatically an more productive environment to work with.
Vista may surely work too... or not, XP does work.
just my 2 cents,
Norbert -
I just picked up a new one today. It's not to everyone's taste, but with the AIA coming up and another long haul flight looming, I wanted something that was truly portable and which I could take on a plane without having to virtually empty my carry-on bag of everything other than the laptop itself.
I've been looking for something that was very compact, but that I could use for SU...if only to run QC checks on the FormFonts models when I'm away from my desk.
It has some impressive specs including a reasonable nVidia card, HDMI output for the large monitors we use at the convention and very neatly...a Windows XP downgrade disc. Also, it only weighs 3 lb.
http://www.simplyasus.com/N10J-HV011E_ASUS_N10J_450692.htmlThe added bonus was that I got one with an opened box...so it was only £400.
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I've ordered the second one in my OP. (Thanks chango70)
I'll post back my impression when I've had a chance to use it.
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My two cents...stay away from ATI cards and "mirror" screens.
I once had to work with a screen like that and I'll tell you if your not in a dark room your eyes will be very strained at the end of the day because of all reflections.
They may look good when the PC is off though... -
@alan fraser said:
I just picked up a new one today. It's not to everyone's taste, but with the AIA coming up and another long haul flight looming, I wanted something that was truly portable and which I could take on a plane without having to virtually empty my carry-on bag of everything other than the laptop itself.
Very interested in this one! Why don't you let us know how it performed on the long run?
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@broomstick said:
...how it performed on the long run?
it's a netbook, not a workstation; the Atom CPU is not very fast by design, surely nothing for big models...
...and a 'mirror screen' too.
Norbert
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No, it's not very powerful; but then I don't need anything powerful when on the road...I need something to review and demonstrate models more than actually create them (although I can do that if pushed). I do all my real work on the desktop system.
The Asus runs the like of SU, Corel and Photoshop just fine, if rather slowly. It also has a rather neat feature called Express Gate (presumably using some form of Linux) which enables you to cold boot into a pared-down OS in about 5-10 seconds, giving you web access for browsing, email, chat or accessing media files on the hard drive or USB sticks. Basically, it's a big version of my Blackberry...but one that will run full-sized Windows OS.
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