Portable Workstations for Sketchup

sketch3d.de

I find that the bigger is screen if far more valuable when working with a tool like SU.

of course but sometimes mobility is a demand too... and the e.g. Precision workstations are availbale in bigger sizes also.

Mike Lucey

I still miss my old 17" MacBook Pro. Having the extra screen real estate of the 17" over the current 15.4" MBP was great, even the retina resolution does not fully compensate. However, my problems will be solved when I get my hands on some very portable Packed Pixel screens!

If anyone is not familiar with Packed Pixels, you can check it out here, http://www.packedpixels.com/#home

kaas

@ashscott said:

We're looking for powerful, small laptops to run SU files larger than 60mb.Suggestions?

I also just started looking for a replacement for my current 12" Thinkpad. Ideally a very portable laptop, if I need more workspace I will link it to a monitor.

Options:

MacBook pro 13" - 2.6Ghz - Intel Iris gfx -> cons: expensive, need another license for SU (cant use same license on Win&Mac), not a dedicated gfx chip (big no-no)
Lenovo Z40 - 14" - Geforce 820M 2GB graphics -> cons: not in Europe? - would prefer a 12" or 13"" - cpu only up to 2 Ghz - not sure about the build/quality (the original Thinkpads are 'indestructible' - having mine now for 7 years and still top notch quality)
Lenovo Thinkpad T440p - 2.5Ghz GeForce GT 730M -> cons: again 14"

... still looking, haven't found the right one yet...

Not considering but maybe an option for some:

somewhere December 2014 (if you like the design) the Alienware 13" - 2.7Ghz - GeForce 860M
in the US you can buy the Razer Blade - the GeForce GTX 870M should do well with big 3d models with the 2.2Ghz/3.2 Ghz cpu.

ashscott

Thanks folks - some good suggestions there.

I really like the look of the Dell Inspiron 14 7000 Series: http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-14-7447-laptop/pd?oc=x510772nz#AnchorZone3

The Lenovos look OK but dont seem to have the same firepower as that Dell.

Moving to Mac is too much of a hassle for us even though its arguably a better platform (but lets not start a 10 page discussion on that).

Small laptops are preferable for travelling. Easy to plug them in to projectors at meetings to give presentations. You can easily get them out on the plane to make tweaks and at home they simply plug in to a couple of 21" or 24" LED monitors so you have plenty of screen real estate most of the time.

I used to have a 17" Acer that was great at home and ok if you were going away to a place that had another desk but a bit of a hassle on planes and a total pain to pull out when sitting on someone's couch. It still goes though and serves as a handy home computer - when it finally dies I'll bolt legs on it and make it into a coffee table.

Keep the recommendations coming for machines under 14 inches!

numerobis

i recently noticed that SysMark/MobileMark has integrated Sketchup. http://bapco.com/products/sysmark-2014#details-applications
So you could look for some results.

sketch3d.de

@ashscott said:

Keep the recommendations coming for machines under 14 inches!

the ASUS Zenbook series as e.g. the new UX303LN with 13.3" display also avail in QHD+ (3200 x 1800).

ntxdave

@mike lucey said:

I still miss my old 17" MacBook Pro. Having the extra screen real estate of the 17" over the current 15.4" MBP was great, even the retina resolution does not fully compensate. However, my problems will be solved when I get my hands on some very portable Packed Pixel screens!

[attachment=0:10s8udcl]PackedPixels-Uses-Office.jpg[/attachment:10s8udcl]

If anyone is not familiar with Packed Pixels, you can check it out here, http://www.packedpixels.com/#home

Great idea but I am afraid they will wind up pricing themselves out of business. In one of the clips they say they estimate they will be about $500. That is a darn expensive screen (IMHO).

Are they actually available anywhere?

alpro

http://www.boxxtech.com/products/mobile-workstations?gclid=CjwKEAjww8eiBRCE7qvK9Z7W_DgSJABfOjf2qyiDbutAIFCOezB18iRlZ8drdY6IDOZ4obmI1wrhuBoCDQPw_wcB

A bit pricey but seem pretty power packed and portable plus no bloatware

Mike

pmolson

I have been using laptops pretty much exclusively for the past 8 years for modeling and rendering. I work on great big honking models. almost all of them over 70gb full of 3d plants and trees etc.

I used a dell precision m6400 for the past 5 years and it was an absolute work horse. Big durable and capable. It is now my back up and still works good.

My current machine is a Dell alienware 17x. Lightning fast.

I found out the hard way that over 16gb ram is not utilized unless you run windows pro.
I run 32gb ram

I am not listing all the specifics, because you will basically want to get the fastest, baddest, components your budget will allow.

The bigger the screen the better in my opinion, but I am kinda old and my eyes are not what the once were.

good luck

ashscott

All great advice - and I agree, its more cost effective to go for a bigger machine, you get more horsepower per dollar. However, 14 inch is what is needed in this instance. I was tempted to buy a 6400 when they came out but went with something a little cheaper at the time.

I liked alienware's recent concept of leaving heavy GPU in a module on your desktop (its rare to need full power on the plain or out and about on battery. It sounds like there could be some improvement in Alienware's pioneering idea and I look forward to seeing where it leads. The other bonus is that it uses desktop GPUs so you dont have the heat and price problems of mobile GPUs.

Thanks for your input everyone

mk11

@ashscott - what did you end up buying?

juju

I'm also looking at options at the moment.

Have another look at the alienware 13, consider it with the graphics amplifier. From what I understand it becomes the primary graphics when plugged in and restarted.

sketch3d.de

the brand new HP Omen 15 might be interesting too even if slightly to big but with a lots of horsepower (and being thin & light).

CalypsoArt

I bought my 17" i7 Sager notebook in 2010. I have had no problem since. For two years it was my full time work machine for AutoCAD, Sketchup, etc., working 12hrs a day pushing a 24" monitor. It now is my home machine but I still use it for projects. The only negative was that the battery lasted 45 min. However, I always kept it plugged in. New Sagers are capable of pushing dual 30" monitors. You can get the same machines with 15" screens.

(www.sagernotebook.com)

Edit: Oops, missed the under 14". Sager current has only 1 14" and 1 13" model.

ashscott

The Omen looks cool, I especially like the option for a bumped up GPU.

The smaller Sagers look nice too, my concern is their support in New Zealand...

mk11

Anybody running SU on an Asus Zenbook UX301LA with the 2.8Ghz i7?

juju

I'm currently on the Asus TaiChi 21 with the i7 CPU.

officialsite

asus official site

(www.asus.com)

For smaller things it seems to work just fine.

kaas

@Ashscott, any other laptops you're considering? I'm in the same boat so I'm following this thread with much interest.

ashscott

Nothing other than what is above - purchase has been delayed a little but will let ya'll know once a decision is made

kaas

On a side note: I noticed there are only two aspect ratios available for laptop screens nowadays:
16 : 9 (for instance 1920x1080) and 16 : 10 (for instance 1920x1200). 16:10 almost resembles the golden ratio and gives you more height and less vertical scrolling. Pity it's only used by Apple.
Everybody else has gone for the cheaper 16:9. The argument 'its better for watching movies' is imho not really valid for people who are looking for a (business) laptop. How many people buy laptops for watching movies as the main purpose anyway...