Calling all PC users. help me choose a laptop!!!!
by Shogun Sound · in Artist Corner · 03/21/2005 (9:48 pm) · 10 replies
Greetings all.
i'm normally a mac user but things have taken a turn where i need to get a laptop pc.
but i am having a terrible time trying to find one that suits my needs. They are either way over the top for my use, or have terrible integrated graphics cards.
basically all i want is something that has around 20GBs of space, your normal hook up jacks(usb, etc), and a good graphics card.
the main thing is the graphics card. it has to be good. not absolutely amazing, but pretty good.
so there you are, anyone want to help?
i'm normally a mac user but things have taken a turn where i need to get a laptop pc.
but i am having a terrible time trying to find one that suits my needs. They are either way over the top for my use, or have terrible integrated graphics cards.
basically all i want is something that has around 20GBs of space, your normal hook up jacks(usb, etc), and a good graphics card.
the main thing is the graphics card. it has to be good. not absolutely amazing, but pretty good.
so there you are, anyone want to help?
#2
(no experience with ATI mobility... )
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
the link above takes you to dell notebook line up... (if you are in UK go for dell.co.uk of curse)
Use the link above as a reference and compare Dell line up with other vendors... this way you may be able to find the best solution for you
I hope this helps a little bit
03/22/2005 (1:19 am)
Laptops with gForce Go cards (not sure up to what series they area) are quite good with graphics(no experience with ATI mobility... )
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
the link above takes you to dell notebook line up... (if you are in UK go for dell.co.uk of curse)
Use the link above as a reference and compare Dell line up with other vendors... this way you may be able to find the best solution for you
I hope this helps a little bit
#3
I've actually been to Dell's site, but they are all too overblown for me.
My budget would be around 1000.
i'm mainly doing some sound design testing in a few 3d games, so that will be the computer's primary purpose. everything else(cd burning,sound design, editing, word proc,internet,dvd) will be done on my Mac.
so you can see my dilemma. I don't need a powerful laptop, just one that handles 3d graphics well. Am I really going to have to pay $1000 for that?
also, should i be looking at a 32 MB card or 64??
help!
03/22/2005 (8:55 am)
Thanks for the tip.I've actually been to Dell's site, but they are all too overblown for me.
My budget would be around 1000.
i'm mainly doing some sound design testing in a few 3d games, so that will be the computer's primary purpose. everything else(cd burning,sound design, editing, word proc,internet,dvd) will be done on my Mac.
so you can see my dilemma. I don't need a powerful laptop, just one that handles 3d graphics well. Am I really going to have to pay $1000 for that?
also, should i be looking at a 32 MB card or 64??
help!
#4
03/22/2005 (8:55 am)
What other vendors should i look at anyway? and which should i stay awya from?
#5
03/22/2005 (9:01 am)
I purchased a averatec 6130 about 8 months ago, while the battery life is shortlived (about a hour) the performance is very good. I have played the latest games on it. It runs just about $1000 now and has a 3 gig p4 HT desktop processor, 15.4" widescreen, ati 9600 64 meg mobility video, dvd player/cd burner, 40 gig HD, 512meg ram and performs quite well. I even play EQ2 on it quite often which is quite resource intensive.
#6
after a bit of dizziness and common sense I have decided to go with the desktop instead of notebook.
so here is your chance to really help me out. like i said before, i am a mac user, so i have no clue as to what motherboard to get, video card, sound card, processor. So many choices . . . .
so let me tell you what i'm looking for:
a great video card, an great sound card and . . .i guess maybe a cd-r drive with it. your normal LAN connection . . . usbs, firewire(would be nice).
drive space can be anything since i've got a ton of external firewires/usb/usb2 drives.
Processor? i have no clue. i'm mainly going to be gaming and doing some sound editing if that helps. thats it.
budget: around $1000
I a guess it would be a stripped down audio-visual machine.
so there, i've opened the floodgates. Maybe i should be on a PC commercial, you know, like the pc users going over to mac? : )
i really appreciate everyones help on this.
B.T.W, anyone want to explain in more detail about how to choose a motherboard and processor?
03/22/2005 (11:04 am)
Ok. ok. ok.after a bit of dizziness and common sense I have decided to go with the desktop instead of notebook.
so here is your chance to really help me out. like i said before, i am a mac user, so i have no clue as to what motherboard to get, video card, sound card, processor. So many choices . . . .
so let me tell you what i'm looking for:
a great video card, an great sound card and . . .i guess maybe a cd-r drive with it. your normal LAN connection . . . usbs, firewire(would be nice).
drive space can be anything since i've got a ton of external firewires/usb/usb2 drives.
Processor? i have no clue. i'm mainly going to be gaming and doing some sound editing if that helps. thats it.
budget: around $1000
I a guess it would be a stripped down audio-visual machine.
so there, i've opened the floodgates. Maybe i should be on a PC commercial, you know, like the pc users going over to mac? : )
i really appreciate everyones help on this.
B.T.W, anyone want to explain in more detail about how to choose a motherboard and processor?
#7
You will find plenty of info about all PC components from Motherboards to Ram types, to video cards test to harddrives etc....
plenty to read about...
one word of caution:)
"so let me tell you what i'm looking for:
a great video card, an great sound card and . . .i guess maybe a cd-r drive with it. your normal LAN connection . . . usbs, firewire(would be nice)."
A great video card? = easily the most expensive component for a PC today
great sound card = Audigy 3 or something like that... not cheap stuff
another word of caution:
" i'm mainly going to be gaming and doing some sound editing if that helps"
Gaming and Audio editing, two of the most demanding types of applications... well mind you video editing is another one and for Audio I don't think you are talking about a full top of the range version of Cubase with plenty of virtual plug ins etc...
But to play the latest games at good frame rate you are talking about expensive graphic card, fast CPU and good amount of ram..
So I guess a site like
http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html
with plenty of info and review about PC parts may help you to compare parts performances against prices and see what you need
well it is a start:)
03/22/2005 (2:49 pm)
Http://www.tomshardware.com/index.htmlYou will find plenty of info about all PC components from Motherboards to Ram types, to video cards test to harddrives etc....
plenty to read about...
one word of caution:)
"so let me tell you what i'm looking for:
a great video card, an great sound card and . . .i guess maybe a cd-r drive with it. your normal LAN connection . . . usbs, firewire(would be nice)."
A great video card? = easily the most expensive component for a PC today
great sound card = Audigy 3 or something like that... not cheap stuff
another word of caution:
" i'm mainly going to be gaming and doing some sound editing if that helps"
Gaming and Audio editing, two of the most demanding types of applications... well mind you video editing is another one and for Audio I don't think you are talking about a full top of the range version of Cubase with plenty of virtual plug ins etc...
But to play the latest games at good frame rate you are talking about expensive graphic card, fast CPU and good amount of ram..
So I guess a site like
http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html
with plenty of info and review about PC parts may help you to compare parts performances against prices and see what you need
well it is a start:)
#8
03/22/2005 (3:13 pm)
Why is this even in the TST forums? Please post in the appropriate forum next time.
#9
oh well no harm done, except for yours.
03/22/2005 (3:55 pm)
My bad. i apologized in the other forum i posted it in. i was looking under general discussions but i was no paying attention to which genral discussions i was running into.oh well no harm done, except for yours.
#10
This way I can work at the confort of my lazyboy yet take it to my day job if needed :-)
Hope this helps,
Brian Peal
*** Looking for Torque Programmers ***
07/17/2005 (9:14 pm)
I bought a Gateway Desktop Replacement just to do Torque development and graphics on. I have had it since last November and it is great. Basically, it is a 17in wide big laptop with a full keyboard and number pad, top notch graphics card and a desktop CPU 3.8 GHz and built in wireless. This way I can work at the confort of my lazyboy yet take it to my day job if needed :-)
Hope this helps,
Brian Peal
*** Looking for Torque Programmers ***
Torque Owner Teck Lee Tan