Hello all, I am thinking to buy a laptop to do 3d art, and I need some recommendation of what laptop to get. I am thinking of getting windows-based laptop, not a mac. Any insight will be appreciated, thanks alot
did some massive research into this awhile back...but yeah naturally, the more you spend, the more worthwhile it is.
$2500 is probably gonna be tough to find something that'll suit 3D. I bought me a D820 Dell, which is more a businessy/multimedia laptop. In Maya, my Quadro NVS flickers abit and if I were hardore 3D (painting weights etc) it'll probably drive me nuts.
I have 2 gigs of RAM and it handles Zbrush quite well (to an acceptable point). Duo Core for rendering!
You could also consider the Power Book since it has the Intel chip and you can run Windows on it. Apparently they are a quite a good all rounder. There's a couple of cheapo laptops you can always go for where you can pick and choose your components.
Search on CGTalk forums etc, where this has been discussed alot. And don't forget ebay. But yeah, I think, for sanity and the fact that laptops can't be upgraded easily, you'll have to spend upwards of $4000
I don't think you will easily find a laptop capable enough for the higher end 3D applications for the $2500 mark.
Apps like Mudbox and ZBrush are going to want 2gb of RAM, a fast dual core processor and a good graphics card to really get the best out of them.
It may be ok for apps like Maya, Max and Photoshop but even they like to eat RAM, just try playing back your animations real time in Maya not to mention Photoshop is a resource hog at the best of times.
A few guys at work bought the new 19" Dell uber-laptops for 3D work but they cost near 6K.
I'm still yet to see how them being mobile (19" mobile? yeah right) is worth the price when my desktop PC which was half that price has all the bells and whistles.
Not too mention I'm still able to upgrade and it doesn't overheat or burn my lap.
If you are keen on a laptop still then check out some of these guys:
http://www.p4laptops.com.au
http://www.computeralliance.com.au
http://www.umart.com.au
In the end it's really up to what you want to do with it, if mobility is more important than pure power per dollar then I guess a laptop will be ok.
Yeah, I agree that its much better to work on desktop rather than laptop, but sometimes when you go overseas, its nice to have a laptop around to help you spend your time :P. Anyway, lets say if by any chance (or miracle, hehe), the money falls down on me, and I would have more than $2500, what laptop is your shot?
I have recently been looking at a laptop for my woman and well, the Asus G1 would suit you perfectly.
Here is a URL for the specs (P.S dont buy from umart) http://umart.net/au/product_info.php?cPath=162_343&products_id=109173&o…
Check it out, it's a fantastic deal, but the only problem is they are hard to get.
Cheers,
How much are you willing to spend?