Processor/Graphics Requirements

~Rebel~

Hello folks, just a quick query.

Im gettin a new laptop at the moment, want something nicely beefy as plan on getting a few years out of it. Im doing a multimedia masters so will need something pretty graphics intensive. Basically choosing between two at the moment;

D620 - Intel® Core™2 Duo T7400 (2.16GHz) with integrated Intel 950 graphics (+EUR 450.00)

or should i spring the extra bit for

D620 - Intel® Core™2 Duo T7400 (2.16GHz) with NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M 256MB (+EUR 530.00)

or perhaps even go backwards a little bit with

D620 - Intel® Core™2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz) with NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M 256MB (+EUR 330.00).


I dont mind paying the money, but only if its worth it.


Will look forward to your help anyway, Thanks!

-Rebel
__________________

8T8

If you are doing a lot of video encoding get the fastest CPU you can afford (assuming you want the job to go as fast as possible) so get one of the Core 2 T7400 notebooks.

The Intel GMA950 is useless for any 3D work so don't even contemplate a laptop with one if you need to work with 3D graphics.

The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M is nothing more than a glorified GeForce Go 7300 with driver support for pro apps like CAD etc. While not exactly bristling with power it is still a major step up over the Intel GMA950.

For the money your are paying for the Quadro you would be able to get a better GeForce class GPU if that's what your after unless you need the pro extras the Quadro driver unlocks.

~Rebel~

Thanks very much.

those offers i mentioned were from a dell direct laptop.

just been looking at the alienware website. for about the same price as the comp with the most expensive processor i can get an alienware one thats exactly the same but with the following diff's;

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7400 2.16GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB

256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600

Otherwise, both have 100GB 7200rmp Hard Drive and 2GB's DDR2 Ram.

The dell is 14.1" widescreen which would be very handy for size as will be bringing it with me a lot, while the Alienware is 15.4" widescreen. Would that be very cumbersome/heavy?

Are alienware good from experiences?

8T8

Alienware are a mixed bag you pay a premium for the name alone & the supposed better quality support service but people have varied opinions on the quality of that support.

The Go 7600 is a better GPU a decent mid-range unit but you should be able to get better for less.

How much is your total budget ?

Because if its €2K then just get a Dell XPS M1710 both models come with high end 7900 class GPU's and the Core 2 CPu plus widescreens.

~Rebel~

Thanks, at the moment im still leaning toward the alienware one, because it has a little more then the dell for the same price.

The XPS M1710 one's sound perfect, except for the 17" monitor which makes it pretty heavy. (The 14.1" dell weighs bout 2.4kg's, the 15.4" Alienware weighs 2.7kg's and the 17" XPS weighs 4kg's). Ill be carrying it with me a lot (every day pretty much) so thats a big enough issue.

Im thinking is possibly impossible to get any better gpu then around what they're giving in the smaller ones due to lack of size inside for heatsink/fan whatever.

Are there any other websites that might offer any more capability in around the same size/weight? I can stretch the budget up to about 2500e excluding VAT (will be getting vat back).

8T8

Not really customizable laptops are a poor showing this side of the pond often if you want the cream of the crop at reasonable prices Dell is really the only game in town. Now that Dell own Alienware though less options have been available on Dell's site which may be an attempt to drive business Alienwares way.

Have a look around laptops direct as well.

Sony makes very nice laptops but like Alienware you pay a terrible price premium just for the name. Take a look at the VAIO VGN-AR21S or the VGN-FE31Z which has a weight of 2.8kg.

You are correct in general the high end laptops are the more bulky ones if you forgo the high end GPU you will be able to net something that is very light.

I take it the Area 51 m5550 is the one you were looking at buying. The only suggestions I would make are go with the;
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (minimum)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600
DVD burner isn't selected by default
Additional Battery - Alienware® m5550 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery

The screen is your call the bigger option of 1920 x 1200 is extremely large and XP wasn't meant to work at such heights so you must fiddle with the DPI settings which in turn screws the fonts and icons. Windows Vista is supposed to be better in this area in scaling to large displays but the larger screen will also add to the weight.

~Rebel~

After yet more searching i've almost settled on the Asus A8Js.

Pretty much the same spec as the others, except in a 14" size and with nVidia Go7700 512MB Discrete Memory.

Cant for the life of me find where i can order it from though!!

8T8

Dabs have the Asus AJ8C listed as available to buy but not in stock.

I could swear I saw those on laptopdirect as well but their site seems to be messed up at the moment.

~Rebel~

I found an american site called star tech that delivers overseas, but the price is amazing!
The spec is;
-14in WXGA ( 1440x900 ) LCD GLOSSY "COLOR SHINE" LAPTOP
-NVIDIA GO 7700
-Mobile Intel® Duo core 2 T7600 processor w/ 4MB- Dual 2.33 GHz Core- 2006 Sipp Merom
-2X 1GB DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM
-MOBILE HARD DRIVE 100G 7200rpm
-Wifi 802.11 A/B/G
-Operating System - MS WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
-A8 SERIES SPARE 6 CELL BATTERY
-USB FLOPPY DRIVE (just incase)
All for 1,756.17 EUR!
For that price the importing cost doesnt even really matter.

Is there a catch im missing here or anything?

8T8

There is a Star Tech on reseller ratings (a USA consumer store rating site) that seems to have a fairly good rating is it the same outfit ?

Those specifications look pretty nice.

~Rebel~

Yup thats the company alright. I did a bit more shopping around though, and found that portableone.com offer the same machine, with whatever you want in it, but also offer an extra option screen that provides extra visibility under bright lights and sunlight, which was the one gripe i found repeated more then once around the reviews of it. They have a very good customer service record as well, and have promptly answered any queries i had, and even recommended me to not shell out on the extra .33ghz chip as he said performance is fantastic with the 2ghz, and the performance gained would be negligibly compared to the cost. It comes with a global 2 year warrenty and apparantly is an easy machine to upgrade down the line.

I found a great forum in forum.notebookreview.com that provided a lot of information. Thats where i got the recommendation for the asus in the first place. Happy out now, fedex should be winging me my new laptop in the next week or so

Thanks very much for your help 8T8, this is a ig buy for me so needed all the info i could get, glad im gone away from the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M 256MB now!

rt101

hello ~rebel~ how do you like your a8js? do you recommend it? how much did it end up costing you to import?