Scooter Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I'm looking to get a new computer in the next month. I'm going with a notebook this time since I'll be using it at work also. I have it figured out that I'll want a P4-3.4 or 3.6 with 2 gigs of RAM and 256mb for the video card. This will be for using 3D modeling programs, FEA, and of course some games. My work computer is a P4-2.8 with 1.5 gigs of RAM and it does bogg down on the more complex models so that's why I want the faster processor. Any suggestions on which company? I'm looking at Dell XPS, Compaq X6000, or HP zd8000? Looking for the best bang for the buck and better reliability. I'm open to suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Looking for the best bang for the buck and better reliability. I'm open to suggestions. Click here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Stay away from Compaq, and probably HP for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) The PowerBook that Cullen suggested would only be a good idea if you are not fully invested in lots of expensive software for the Windows platform. If you are, then I say just belly up to the bar and order a Vaio. All of my Wintel oriented friends that do pro video for a living use Vaios for portable stuff and have custom towers at home for performance reasons. The rest of us use Mac's ;-) The Alienware machines are real good Windows portables. Cool too, just a little pricey. BTW, three things to pay attention to. 1. Get XP Pro 2. Get 1GB or more of RAM 3. Get the biggest, fastest hard drive option available (7200 RPM 8mb cache if possible) One more thing, if they offer a graphics card upgrade with more video RAM, do it. On notebooks, these things will keep it from becoming a slug real soon. Unlike towers, you have to stick with “most“ of the internal hardware in a notebook for it’s service life. -- Regards Edited January 31, 2005 by George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I've had great luck with my Dell. DO NOT get the super wide screens. The technology is rather new and I've found it distorts my graphics by stretching them too wide. Dell's warranty service is top notch as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1911user Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 If you built your home PC system and want a powerful/custom laptop, this option might be good and would save some serious $$$$. DIY laptop build More discussion of DIY laptop Last, but not least, interview with a custom Notebook manufacturer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I have an Itronix rugged notebook and a Sony. Both are good, but the SOny comes with alot of soft-crap. I hear that Panasonic is making a rugged one as well. IBM's laptop div. was just bought by the chinese so get one while they work. HP and compaq's are good to throw at cops chasing you on the freeway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Sandoz is right about the Chinese buyout, but (in my research) the IBM is getting rave reviews here 'n there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I personally really like the Toshibas. I have had a *lot* of laptops over the last several years (I am basically a "mobile worker"... my laptop *is* my desktop, if I am ever in one place long enough to plug it in). I have never had anything but good experiences with Toshiba, both the machine and the company. Some Windoze machine generalizations -- IBM: good features, generally a half-generation behind, heavy -- Compaq/HP: decent prices, quality is spotty these days -- Dell: not bad machines, you can get whatever you want, but remote support is spotty -- Toshiba: generally high quality, with prices to match -- Vaio: great machines, very small/light, very expensive I am currently using a Toshiba M205 "tablet-PC", and love it. I have had it for about a year, and this is the longest I have *ever* gone without wishing I had a different machine. Performance is good (not "great", but good. More than adequate for a "work" machine, nowhere near good enough for a video- or game-machine). The tablet functionality is wonderful. Good screen, good features, and still small/light enough that it isn't offensive to carry around. A little spendy (approx 2k).... but I'd buy one of these even if it was *my* money instead of my employer's. That's saying a lot. bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_aos Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Looking for the best bang for the buck and better reliability. I'm open to suggestions. Click here. I'll second that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 If you get a Dell, please use the link on www.uspsa.org/dw/associates.html so USPSA gets a comission on the deal. This won't make sense if you have a corporate purchase program (where you get a discount for using the access code provided by your employer), but if your other option is www.dell.com, this is a cost-free way to make a donation to USPSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Dells are especially fun if you're handy with tools. I had the joy of buying two on my Amex and using the parts to build one, working computer out of what wasn't broken, then shipping the junk back. Dell's service is great if you have family in India and would like to call them toll-free. Sony is great if you can't type fast. If you know how to type at all, you will exceed the time constant on the debounce circuit and it will lose letters. Apple is an excellent choice if you like being treated like sh*t by their service people. Their service gambit is to dilly dally around on service issues until your warranty expires then announce you're SOL. They totally screwed over a friend of mine on her powerbook. TI and Acer are a total joke. The Toshiba, I bought for my mom at Costco, of all places is pretty good. The modem fried, but that's a $50 problem. Half the price of my dell and twice as fast. Laptops are a necessary evil, nothing more. The likelihood of them ever being anything but sh*t warmed over seems pretty unlikely in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I hope you don't plan to do a lot while running on batteries-- all laptops slow down considerably when not plugged into the wall. The big honkers even more so. All the ones you mentioned are big honkers.. be sure you're happy carrying something that size and weight around as much as you plan to. Also make sure the video cards in each support your CAD and modelling programs. Some do, some don't. I think the XPS (and Precision equivalent) rock for not-portabled-often use, but I'm a little biased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted February 1, 2005 Author Share Posted February 1, 2005 No Mac's. Mechanical engineers never use Mac's. Plus all the software I have is designed to run on a PC with Intel processors. Programs like Solidworks don't even like AMD processors. I currently have a Dell desktop. Their service WAS great when it was still in the US. I've heard mixed comments from a few people I know that have their notebooks. HP and Compaq seem to have good prices, but I guess I'll look in another direction. Sony didn't have one with a 3.4 or 3.6 processor. Toshiba didn't seem to have any that have the regular P4 processors. I'm basically looking for a top of the line system that is semi portable. I would prefer to get a desktop, but I don't want to drag a tower around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 I have had a new laptop about every year starting in 1994. Bought one HP and one Sony. Got rid of both... To me - Toshibas rule! Eleven - I believe - Toshiba laptops with ONE floppy drive failure in 1995 with the first Pentium laptop I purchased. Not a single (hardware) problem since. Thats a pretty good record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 No Mac's. Mechanical engineers never use Mac's. Plus all the software I have is designed to run on a PC with Intel processors. Programs like Solidworks don't even like AMD processors. Well...that explain a lot!!! [sorry, couldn't resist] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Shred is right on the money with laptops slowing down if not plugged in. Order a second power supply for the travel bag immediately --- this will allow you to string a home power supply behind furniture and leave it there. If it's available order a traveling power supply --- the one that Dell offered me with my laptop lets me plug into the cigarette lighter on the truck or an airplane. Alienware's laptops appear to come with user upgradeable videocards now. That would get me looking at them in a hurry. Hitachi makes 40 and 60 gig 7200 rpm drives --- installing one in my three year old Dell 8100 made a huge difference in speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Shred is right on the money with laptops slowing down if not plugged in. Yes and no. Most laptops have, either built into an extension to the OS or as a separate app, some power management tools. On my Toshiba, for example, I can tell it how I want it to behave when unplugged. If I want max battery life, it will slow down the clock and scale back CPU activity. If I want to keep the machine running at full tilt (and full screen brightness) I can, but at the cost of battery life. ymmv The other thing I'd throw in, on the topic of a second power supply, is that having lived "mobile" for quite some time, I can unquivocally say that the I-Go "Juice" power adapter is the best $120 you'll ever spend. Leave the manufacturer's power-supply plugged into the wall at home, so it is always there. Throw the "juice" into your laptop bag. The adapter runs on any voltage between 5V and 240V, so you can have your laptop "plugged in" with this one device, whether on an airplane, in your car, in the hotel, in pretty much any country. I travel with the Juice and a universal plug converter. Thats it. Oh, and you can charge cell-phone, pocket-PC, Palm, and other things off the same device, while it is running your laptop.... Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Shred is right on the money with laptops slowing down if not plugged in. Yes and no. Most laptops have, either built into an extension to the OS or as a separate app, some power management tools. On my Toshiba, for example, I can tell it how I want it to behave when unplugged. If I want max battery life, it will slow down the clock and scale back CPU activity. If I want to keep the machine running at full tilt (and full screen brightness) I can, but at the cost of battery life. ymmv Well, they say full speed, but every one I know of slows down even on "max performance" when on batteries. The 2nd-PS advice is good. Just make sure you get a PS that's rated for as much power as your original one. A big honking laptop needs a big honking brick.. 100-120+ watts output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 I know, just get a small form factor shuttle with a little handle on top.....looks like a lunch pale and you could paint hot wheels graphics on the side and put STP stickers all over it. And I'll trade you a banana for your pudding and throw in some peanuts....... Now what to do with the 13" lcd..............They make nice roll out keyboards too.......Problem solved arent I great!! And you got some POWER! I had no idea that Toshiba made a laptop. go fig. Im not gonna touch the apple thang for fear of getting my ass chewed. Get that panasonic rugged notebook that way you can be really cool at band camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 I like my Sony ok, but Eric's right: they all suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 This is not a bad laptop. No laptop is a great computer, but this one ain’t so bad in the world of things. The Alienware Area 51-m 7700 http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pa...ode=SKU-DEFAULT Looks cool too. The demo and development guys at Adobe that are working on their new PC only video editing software (Premiere) swear by these laptops compared to anything but a real workstation. No matter what you get, don’t get the cheap model in the line, and make sure it starts with XP Pro already on it, upgrading to XP Pro from any other MS flavor original OS in a laptop is a real PITA, or a dead end in some ridiculous situations. -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pa...ode=SKU-DEFAULT Hey, lookathat... it's got finger grooves for when you lift it over your head to throw it. Must help to increase distance and prevent accidental slippage and the head injury that results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huston in Austin Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 I know MasterCam and other CAD/CAM programs don't work very well with an ATI video card. They seem to work best with the NVidia cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 alienware's stuff is just rebundled. Avoid the $2000 I didn't do my research tax. if you are doing 3d visualization, loko for something witha geforce go 6800 in it. (don't know if there are actually any available at retail yet) It will give you maximum perfomance and compatibility in open GL applications. Nvidia has a more solid OGL implementation in general, and has for the last several generations of hardware, especially where professional 3d apps are concerned. Beyond that, the guts are very similar between all laptops. Unfortunately nvidia's site is unreachable for me at the moment, so I can't see who their luanch partners for the product are. [edit] just wandering around my usual forums, and noticed Boxx jsut released their goboxx. http://www.boxxtech.com/asp/2200.asp nothing like raid in a laptop.. hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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