Laptop Recomendation

Discussion in 'Notebooks & Mobile Devices' started by Mc A, Dec 28, 2006.

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  1. Mc A

    Mc A Newbie

    Hi,
    I'm a graphic and audio student.
    I would like to change a new laptop.
    Any recomendations on Graphics and Audio laptops ?

    Thanks.
     
  2. ZuePhok

    ZuePhok Just Started

    graphics student doesnt mean u need a high-end graphic card.

    just get a centrino duo laptop and u will be fine :beer:
    if u need bigger workspace, take a look at hp, dell and fujitsu multimedia offering. thye are heavy though..
     
  3. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hi!

    What's your budget? And what kind of graphics do you do?
     
  4. Mc A

    Mc A Newbie

    I think bout the budget before, but...if i wanna have a better laptop for long, I need to spend more rite ?
    Anyway, my classmates are using Dell Presc. Series.(M90 & M65)
    The spec from thier laptops are actually recomended by my college, but I found it too big and heavy. I travel to coll. by bus and it's way too heavy for me :p
    Im actually looking for a compact/lightweight laptop and stylish too. :D

    Im currently eyeing on Sony FE and SZ series...
    Do u think the Sony can meet up my requirement ?

    Thanks

    If HP, which model should I go for ?
    Currently using Fujitsu S2020, trying to change some new brands :lol:

    thanks.
     
  5. fyire

    fyire Newbie

    Well, before looking at just specs, look at the following too:
    - what sort of work do you need to do with it? (2D, 3D, etc.)
    - what sort of applications do you need to use for work?
    - what sort of processing power do you need for the applications that you need

    and finally on the list:
    - apart from work related stuff, what other secondary uses would you have for your notebook? (stuff like IM, watching movies, or gaming, etc.)

    then only can you determine fully what r the specs that you may need, and start looking at which brand/models to get
     
  6. Mc A

    Mc A Newbie

    I'll be working with 2D & 3D and also working with audio.
    I'll be runing most of the Adobe softwares and needed to work with alot of audio softwares.
    In my coming semester, I'll be having digital filming which I might need to do film editing but that will be in another 2 years time. Most important now is to settle the 3D thingy, and hopefully it should be ok for my filming in the future.
    Apart from my studies/work, i'll be using it for IM and for games.

    Im planning to get a laptop which I can use til the end of my studies.
     
  7. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Get as much RAM as you can afford, and make sure you get a dual core processor at least.
     
  8. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    RAM, Dual core processor and as much HDD space as you can coz it's hard upgrading HDD once you get one. :D
     
  9. Mc A

    Mc A Newbie

    meaning that any laptops will do ?
    is just that I have to deal with the RAM,HDD and the Processor ?

    Anyway,
    Happy new year to you guys... :mrgreen:
     
  10. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Yup. looks like the most important element is
    1. RAM - at least 2GB if you ask me
    2. HDD - minimum 100GB is possible, and hopefully a swappable bay option for another harddisk (you can easily get this on an IBM or a Dell),
    3. Processor - as recommended by all, a core 2 duo one.
    4. Graphics card - it'll be nice if it comes with a discreet graphics like the ATI Mobility or NVidia GeForce GO... even a low end one helps for 3D acceleration for the editing preview screens of the 3D editor software. But since 3D cards aren't used for final output rendering, it's not absolutely necessary... Intel's onboard graphics might even do the job... haha.
    5. Audio, well, of course having a discreet sound blaster card is nice but this isn't necessary at all.
     
  11. djspinnet

    djspinnet Newbie

    get a mac.

    if you're doing audio/graphics, you're bound to run into some macs sooner or later, whether in school or at work.
     
  12. Mc A

    Mc A Newbie

  13. fyire

    fyire Newbie

    Not too bad, but one problem is that its got shared video ram. Might be some penalties for some heavy 3D stuff.

    Since your budget's along the lines of the SONY type range, check this out instead:

    http://www.macasia.com.my/hardware/portables/popup/macbookpro.htm

    The MA609ZP/A model goes for RM7799 which is about roughly RM800 more, but u get the following:
    - faster CPU (2.16ghz Core 2 Duo)
    - Dedicated graphics with dedicated video ram (ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128mb GDDR3 SDRAM)
    - Bigger Disk (120gb)
    - Bigger screen (15" widescreen @ 1440 x 900)

    The weight is about 500g more, but well, if you're working with graphics and audio, the bigger disk, dedicated video ram and the bigger screen will be a rather big welcome indeed. (not to mention higher expandability too, as this machine supports up to a max of 3GB ram, should you require that much later)

    And djspinnet's right when it comes to Macs and Audio/Video. Take for example, even Astro who's corporate policy calls for only Windows notebooks and workstations also maintains about 100 odd Powermacs and Mac Pros for audio/video stuff.
     
  14. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    SZ's 7400 has 128MB dedicated & 128MB shared if i'm not mistaken to make it 256MB Turbocache
     
  15. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Yup, TurboCache is not really completely shared. It will only use the additional system RAM when it takes out more than the dedicated memory.

    Can it be disabled?
     
  16. ZuePhok

    ZuePhok Just Started

    well if he uses CS2, mac is probably the worst choice.
    running ontop of rosetta, it's slower than "streamyx" :mrgreen: totally rubbish and our company has regretted in purchasing these machines.
     
  17. djspinnet

    djspinnet Newbie

    You can't blame Photoshop. 1 year is way too fast for them to modify CS2 and CS2 contains many PowerPC-related optimizations and hence, hard for them to come up with a Universal Binary of CS2 in time.

    CS3's a few months away, and from personal experiences of people I know who've tried it, it's faster than any CS2 on Windows and faster than any CS2 on any PowerPC macs too.

    Remember that he's not just using CS2. Now imagine if he has to use Logic Pro or Shake. Tsk tsk. How's he even gonna run it on Windows?

    And especially that the Mac can run both Mac OS X and Windows, you solve two problems with one machine. That way you don't have to worry if your work/school requires Windows or Mac.
     
  18. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    disabled ? :think:

    as far as I'm concerned, on my M1210 (using Geforce 7400 w/ 64MB dedicated) i haven't found any settings to disable it :think:
     
  19. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    True, but the model listed by fyire is quite a lot more than the Sony Vaio.
     
  20. djspinnet

    djspinnet Newbie

    He did point out that some of the specs of the MBP is higher than the Vaio which justifies the price difference.

    Besides, I wasn't defending fyire's recommendation of the MBP, I was just clarifying CS2 on the Intel Macs and why I personally feel a mac would be better.

    That being said, most similarly or lesser spec-ed Sony Vaios are costlier than their nearest Mac counterpart. For the most part, Vaios are overpriced, I'd rather go for something else for that price.

    :)
     
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