Mac, Or PC?

#1 Well, I know toshiba, and I think Panasonic makes one too, it is called the ToughBook, it is IBM Compatible, but they are pretty good at taking a beating, may want to look into them.

#2 IBM ThinkPads are very high quality laptops also. My college uses em exclusively and considering the amount of punishment stupid students put them through (I had a guy in one class who liked to drop it a few inches whenever his program didn't work... which was often) they're remarkably durable.

They're also a tad pricy but within the 5k range.

#3 Go with one of the new Apple laptops man. The 15 inch would probaly be your best shot. It requires almost no matience, is very durable, no viruses, and it's beautiful machine :D

#4 If 5k is your price range, I would go with an Apple if quality of hardware is your only consideration. Their high end laptops kick ass. Depends on what your focus is, though, and what sort of development you'll be doing. At present, if you plan to do all you development on one computer (including art assets), I would go with a PC. Otherwise you'll have to wait for a possible Mac port of Quark before you can build interiors.

If you get an apple you absolutely must get AppleCare or an equivilent 3+ year warranty. Trust me, the battery replacements alone are worth the cost (in my experience, laptop batteries start to lose their charge after a year or so, and are practically useless after about 2 years of heavy use).

#5 Are you "Digi" aka "Black Knight" Chris Timberlake?

#6 I would like to thank you all for your feedback, but upon looking for a apple powerbook steel case i came across this beautifull, awsome site, and i would like you guys to see it they sell VERY HIGH END, when you thinkg of high end i bet you think of alienware, voodoopc, and a G% processor, well think again, look at tehse beauties, www.go-l.com these are super development workstations, i'm prob going to get http://www.go-l.com/laptops/hollywood_silver/features/index.htm and get a steel case for it =D

#7 Yes matthew i am

#8 I don't know man. I would stick with an Apple. Seriously there's almost no matinence period. Thou yea if your a mapper the only way that I know of to do maps, is with GTKradiant. Thou I don't know if there's a way to get those into torque.

#9 Export to .map, and yes i map, i program, i do 2dartistry, and i do alot of otehr high performance things, if you look @ that laptop, its perfect for what i want, i can buy a steel case, and get a backpack with lots of padding, and line the laptop hodler part with steel and pads.

#10 I definately WOULDN'T buy an Apple, unless you already happen to have a couple other computers.

I dual-boot Linux and XP on my Dell laptop, and everything runs just fine. No compatibility issues, affordable software, substantial application support.

Considering I run Windows and Outlook, I am a prime target for virii, however these virii have NEVER been an issue for me because 1) I am not fucking stupid and don't run rogue software 2) I don't open/read/respond to email that I don't recognise or didn't request 3) I use Norton Antivirus and KEEP IT UPDATED, and it plugs in seamlessly to Outlook and grabs virii before they infect anything.

So, yeah, if you are a retard and Virii are a huge concern get a Mac. Or get an X86, and boot to Linux. That Hollywood machine that Timberlake posted definately looks nice, although I don't know much about that specific company.

Dell has pissed me off right now, because it has taken them over a month to ship me a SIMPLE $18 powercord for my Dell Axim PDA. I also just dealt with Toshiba today, regarding my E740 PDA, which was recalled due to faulty backup battery (loses data). After well over a year, Toshiba will still honor the recall and FIX my device for free- total turnaround time of about a week. They pay ALL shipping costs and even sent me a box. So I should have my Toshiba up and running long before my Axim.

I have been considering my next laptop purchase to be an Alienware... but who knows.

#11 I would go with the powerbook first (mac platform) and Toshiba (pc). Both offer built-in wireless support for the traveler.

If you decide on Apple, see Alex's comments. Very true! I already had my Apple battery replaced under warranty. Buy AppleCare! I have an iBook and love it, but would recommend a powerbook for performance(it's so much faster at rendering and better graphics). Very study: Titanium.
Like Chris suggested, I would recommend reconsidering your decision.

I've always thought Toshiba to be high end for PC laptops. Someone can correct me here, but I believe they're the pioneer in laptop production. Great soundsystems(Harmon Karmon speakers), wireless keyboard and wireless LAN). They rule.

solo.

solo.

#12 @Randall,

You post emphasizes the most important point here: Support! I don't like to bash any particular company, but I've been hearing horrible, and I do mean horrible things reguarding the support of these direct sellers(i.e., Gateway and Dell).

Dell has a little better rep than Gateway, but just the same doesn't provide timely service.

What's going on with these guys? In this day of overnight delivery, the best they can do is a month? I've been getting the impression lately that they are just trying to liquidate their present inventory and are unloading inferior dated machines on the market. I hope I'm wrong!

Just ranting!

solo.

#13 Just checked out the 'Hollywood.' Sweet. If it lives up it's specifications, it should rock for pc mobility. I like the graphic card(9600). I didn't know they made that card for a lpatop.

I noticed they benchtested against a powermac(G5). Quite a bit faster, but I'm skeptical of benchtests between PC and Mac(doesn't mac have a faster pipeline) and architecture is streamlined?

Did notice multithreading and dual processor capability. Definite plus if the software supports it.

Ferrari manufacturers? What's with the big Euro- sportcar builders getting involved with the computer sector? Porche designs some of the TFT screens now. (Curious).

Frankly, I'm impressed, but still skeptical. Should I be?

solo.

#14 Yes mac's G5 is faster than pc, and the Ti (titanium powerbooks) are 1st generation

#15 Yeah, be skeptical. We work alot with the MediaQ and ATI mobile chipsets, and their internal benchmarks are nearly laughable. Their hype is even more ridiculous. Independent benchmarks/reviews will probably be the most accurate, although those can be sketchy at times too. In fact, our work with hardware vendors want us make the most use of the hardware to get the performance as fast as possible, and at the same time make the competition look as pitiful as possible... even if it makes their own chipset look bad (more upgrade sales for their new hardware).

They really don't care if we can achieve 800 FPS with their chipset while the competition achieves 750 FPS. What they really want is a massive gap from the competition... so 500 FPS for their chipset and 300 FPS for the competition is MUCH better for their purposes.

Until you see a consistent list of benchmarks and tests from independent reviewers, they really shouldn't be taken too seriously. But none-the-less, that Hollywood is an impressive machine.

I'm not much of a speedwhore, so I really don't care which CPU/GPU is fastest. I just want something that works for what I want it to do. Anything else is simply junk.

#16 Buy a 17" PowerBook and a PC. Total cost would be about 5 grand.

#17 Now, there's a capital idea!

#18 I would buy a PC simply because alot more people use PCs than Macs. You would have alot more potential teammates for game development and alot more potential buyers for a finished game.

But, if you're using Torque, Java, or anything platform-independent, you can write a program that you can just recompile and run on a different platform.

Like Seth said, you can buy both a PC and a Mac for $5k.

I would never spend $5k on 1 computer or even 2 computers unless I had to spend $1,000,000 in a month or were buying a server. For a desktop, I wouldn't spend more than $1k. For a laptop, a better upper bound might be $1.5k because laptops are more expensive.

A year or so from now, you'll be able to buy those $5k computers for alot less. If you bought a $1k computer now and then got that $5k computer for $2k a year from now, you would save $2k and have an extra computer.

I don't think there's much available now that will run on a $5k computer but not a $1k computer anyways.

#19 Excellent points Steve, but some people simply must have the best! Money is no object for these people. I don't know if Chris is one of these people, but I don't begrudge him for having the bucks, nor the inclination for spending them (although, I am bias in that I rather have the money spent in the good ol' U S of A). More power to you Chris.

There is another factor that you touched upon Steve. Performance. Chris has to ask himself, "How cutting edge does this computer have to be." Again, you can ask from a pragmatic point of view or put on those 'glasses' that let you see into the future(or past, keeping with game sensibilities here).

The features that are on these cutting edge machines can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure in an enterprise. For instance, if one company can 'render' ideas quicker than another, obviously that company will have the advantage.

Most of your other points I am in concordance with. Just air out that wallet a little Steve. Let the moth's out!

solo.

#20 The reason why i need "THE BEST" is because i want my developers to have the best gfx, and the ebst stuff, instead of these POS's they have that it takes 3 minutes to laod up #DSM, the reaosn why a laptop, the screens drives and equipment is of better quality, and they will be traveling!