Laptop to run LW 8.0

[njpennington]

I am about to purchase a laptop and I have about $1500 to spend. For reason not mentioned here I cannot go to a desktop and must go to a laptop. I will be running LightWave 8.0 and Vue 5 Infinite. Could I get some input on the following questions, for other reasons I could only buy a Windows PC not an Apple:

- Which Processor would be better Intel 3.0 HT or the new AMD 64?
- Which video card is better Nvida or ATI?
- Which should I be more concerned with more video memory (128 versus 256) or should I be more concerned with RAM (512 meg versus 1.0 Gig) and if I had to chose would be better to go with 256 Video and 512 megs of RAM or 128 video memory and 1.0 gigs of RAM.
- Can anybody suggest a laptop that might make sense for me, currently I am looking at the following models

- Dell XPS (used)
- Compaq r4025 (new but it comes with a video card with the following specs - RADEON® XPRESS 200M and Hypermemory™ which directs the system to run in either UMA mode or with dedicated frame buffer to achieve graphics performance equivalent to 128MB discrete VRAM. )

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all

[TOXIC-3D]

I just purchased a new "HP ZD8000" notebook 5'months ago specifically for Lightwave... It has "yet" to crash for any reason..! It has more than surpassed my hopes & expectations when running Lightwave...

Here's what it has...

3.4 Ghz Pentium 4 w/Hyperthreading
2 Gig's of PC4200, 533 Mhz DDR2 memory
100 Gig 5400rpm hardrive
CD/DVD dual layer burner
17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1680x1050)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600
I opted for Windows XP Pro with "Free upgrade" for Windows Media Center 2K5... which incedently, comes with a "Free" "Dual TV-Tuner Card"... "Ya gots an High Def reciever..? Plug it in and rip your High Def movie directly to your hardrive..!!!" "I recorded the first season of Battlestar Galactica direct to hardrive followed by DVD backup... Totally sweet deal."

I purchased these acessories at the same time...

HP xb2000 Notebook Expansion Base
Features wireless keyboard, mouse, and built-in Harman Kardon premium speakers
160 Gig hardrive kit... Plugs into the Expansion Base.
"I have my Cannon i9900 printer & Cannon 8400f scanner aswell as my 5.1 surround sound setup plugged directly into my Expansion base... One cable connects the Notebook to the base... Oh yeah, can't forget my Momo steering wheel & pedals... gots ta' get my GTR fix now & again... heh heh"



"Hope it helps..."

:cool:

[TOXIC-3D]

Oh yeah, incase your interested here are some other programs/software/games that I have installed on my Notebook...

Lightwave 8.3*
Photoshop 7* (recently upgraded to CS, followed by, CS2)
Illustrator 10*
*I use the above 3 programs via my Wacom Intuos 3
Mickey'softs Office 2002 (full)
Quicktime 6.5 Pro (full)
WinAmp 5 Pro

Half'life 2*
Unreal Tournament 2k4*
Doom 3*
Nascar Racing Season 2003*
GTR-FIA GT Racing*
* "all these games are set to their highest available graphics & audio and work "Flawlessly!!!"



Toxic'...


:rolleyes:

[njpennington]

I was thinking of purchasing either a

- Dell XPS
- Compaq 4000
- HP z series

I am torn between using a Pentium M or a AMD Athon 64. Since Windows is coming out with their x64 I thought it might be better to go with a AMD. Do you look at any of these notebooks or have any thoughts. Thanks

[Lynx3d]

In case you buy an AMD64 Notebook make sure it actually supports Windows x64, apparently it won't install on ASUS Z80K notebooks, and Asus doesn't even plan to fix it.

About CPU...Pentium-M is still best when it comes to battery runtime, next closest would be AMDs Turion 64, which are apparently just selected Athlon64 with the newest 90nm core that have lower max. power dissipation but are also more expensive. I think Pentium4 are by far the most power-hungry CPUs you can put in a notebook...

And apparently the Radeon XPress200M with HyperMemory is still quite slow, slower than the low-end X300SE, i'd better watch out for Radeon9600 / X600 or GF6200 on the nVidia side...shouldn't be too hard to find with a $1500 budget.

[gaushell]

Ditto on the zd8000. Purchased two for our office a month ago. They rock. We did not order Media Center though as it isn't necessarily going to be as compatible with all software.

[njpennington]

Based on what I am reading I am definitely close on making a decision on which laptop to pick, does anyone have opinions on the following laptops

- Dell XPS - buying used
Intel 4 - 3.4 Ghz
1.0 Gig RAM
ATI 9700 128 Meg RAM

- Acer Ferrari 3400
AMD Athon 64
1.0 Gig RAM
ATI 9700 128 Meg RAM

- HP zd8000 series
Intel 4 - 3.0 Ghz
1.0 Gig RAM
Either X600 with 128 or 256 Meg RAM

I am also looking at a few notebooks with the Nvidia card, does anyone think there is a big difference between the ATI and Nvidia I heard there are some problems with OpenGL on Vue 5 Infinite.

[Exception]

I have researched notebooks over the past half year for excusive use with Lightwave and some photoshop on the side.

the options you list used to be on my list too, untill I ran into some better models that I will explain to you a bit further on. first, to answer your questions:

- Which Processor would be better Intel 3.0 HT or the new AMD 64?

Assuming you are not interested in power consumption/battery time, a Pentium-M is out of the question for Lightwave work. It is more than 30% slower than its equally priced Pentium 4 in floating point. They don't tell you this, but it's definately true. I have a Dell XPS Gen 2 here to prove it: slow as a dog when it comes to rendering.

Concerning the difference between an AMD64 and Pentium4, speedwise they are about on the same level. but, an AMD64 runs cooler and uses less power. Also, they are a bit cheaper so you get more bang for the buck. If you can choose, I would choose AMD64, otherwise a Pentium 4 is fine too.


- Which video card is better Nvida or ATI?

In relation to Lightwave: Nvidia 100%.
ATI's openGl drivers cause troubles and can hard-crash your system. However this is rare, and there are many happy ati users running lightwave. If you can choose, I would choose Nvidia. If not, then it's not a big deal.

- Which should I be more concerned with more video memory (128 versus 256) or should I be more concerned with RAM (512 meg versus 1.0 Gig) and if I had to chose would be better to go with 256 Video and 512 megs of RAM or 128 video memory and 1.0 gigs of RAM.

Video RAM is hardly important in Lightwave, the OpenGL interface will allow you to let it run smooth on any videocard, while sacrificing a little quality in textures.
However, this is a bit dependent on what you do with your computer. but, if I were to suggest, System RAM is one of the most important aspects of a Lightwave computer, and Video Ram is down there on the 15th place or something.

- Can anybody suggest a laptop that might make sense for me, currently I am looking at the following models

Those models are good computers. I can tell you a list of computers that I looked at in time as possible contenders, and why they are or are not suitable. these are all more or less DEsktop Replacement computers (DTR's) that are less concerned with mobility and more with power:

- HP Pavillion Z8000 series:
Cheap 17" machine, runs too hot though and has a slower processor than most competitors. Slow harddisk. Quite unnatractive in aesthetics (personal). Plus point: has numerical keyboard, downside: screen is OK but not as good as competitors

- Toshiba Qosmio G-10
Brilliant screen. Dual harddisks are great. Pentium-M too slow for rendering

- toshiba Satellite P-30
Great all round machine. Affordable too. Good screen, non glossy however. What tuned me off: storied of aniquated hardware and service being bad

- Acer Ferrari
Ack, well didn;t do it for me, in price, performance, or anything...

- Dell XPS Gen 2
I bought this machien, but returned it after using it for a few days. It's incredibly ugly, but it's the lightest 17" notebook that I could find. Still, it weighs too much to be called portable. The screen, if you get an LG Philips one, is quite bad. If you get a samsung one, is great. Pentium-M way much slower than Dell promised me for rendering purposes.

And then the machine that has-it-all for my personal agenda:

-Clevo D900T. Sold in the US as Sager N9880.
this is a clone-laptop, and before this scares you off, researching it will tell you that it is one of the best built and most stable laptop brands you can find. This is really no longer a laptop, but more a portable computing solution. It has 2 disk RAID, Nvidea Quatro workstation graphics (or less if you don't want to sepnd too much), PCI-Express, 533 Mhz Bus, SATA harddisks, and Pentium 570J as its fasters processor, although the 6xx series (64 bit) are also available.

If you find that machine to be too expensive I would seriously consider the following machine:

- Sager NP 4750
AMD64 with all the good stuff, and a bit cheaper than the D900T.

Mind you these are ALL 17" notebooks.
If you are interested in 15.4" as well, Sager has a whole collection for you. In that screen size ASUS notebooks become really interesting too. Check out the Asus W series. Hard to beat in terms of quality, Asus builds the IBM Thinkpad and Apple powerbooks...

[njpennington]

It was very helpful. Based on your thoughts I am going to have to re-think my options. I was leaning towards either the HP zd8000 series on the Dell XPS but I think I might move away from both of those options. I started looking at the Clevo and the Sager and I am thinking I might go with the Sager. I was also looking at the Compaq R4000

Link Here (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/compare_category.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks/compaq_presario&catLevel=1)

I would get the laptop loaded with the folllowing:

- Windows XP Pro (I wonder If could get Windows x64 running on this laptop)
- AMD Athlon 64 3800
- 128 MB ATI Radeon 200m
- 2 gigs of RAM
- 60 GB 5400 RPM Drive

This would fit into my budget around $1500, the Sager is a bit more money than I can spend at $1800 since I need to upgrade my LW7.5 to 8.3. I have had a few people tell me the 200M is not a great card, any thoughts on this laptop?

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[vsele]

This is the best one...it's a little bit exspensive than 1500$(effectively it cost 3600 $)but it's the best powerful laptop in the world....the only one that could be face with it is the GOboxx 2200 from boxxtech , but it's much more exspensive with the same configuration.... ;)
Alienware laptop (http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/MJ-12m_7700/mj-12m_7700_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-MJ12M-7700&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT)

[njpennington]

I am down to two laptops

- Dell 9100

Processor - 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4
1 MB L2 cache
32 KB L1 cache
800MHz front side bus
Memory - 1 GB 400MHz Dual Channel DDR SDRAM standard(2x 512MB DIMMs)
Graphic - 256 MB DDR ATI Mobility RADEON 9800
Hard Drive - 40 GB 5400 rpm
Display - 15.4" Widescreen XGA
Optical Drive - CDRW + DVD

I found it used for around $1400

- Compaq 4000

Presario R4000Z AMD® Athlon XP 64 3500+®Processor 2.2GHz, 15.4-in XGA
Memory 1GB(1024MB) DDR SDRAM Memory
128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
Wireless Network Adapter Dell 802.11 b/g Intergrated Wireless Card
Hard Drive 60GB/5400RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
CD ROM/DVD ROM DVD+/-RW Combo Drive With Daul Layer

I found this one for about $1200

Before I buy and last words. Thanks all

[Exception]

This is the best one...it's a little bit exspensive than 1500$(effectively it cost 3600 $)but it's the best powerful laptop in the world....the only one that could be face with it is the GOboxx 2200 from boxxtech , but it's much more exspensive with the same configuration.... ;)
Alienware laptop (http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/MJ-12m_7700/mj-12m_7700_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-MJ12M-7700&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT)


A little research will yield that an alienware laptop is exactly the same as a clevo laptop (sager) but only double the price and with an alien stuck to it. Exactly the same with Boxx laptops, and also hypersonic, SavRow and all the other companies who just put their sticker on a clevo laptop and pretend its a wholly different product.

I researched these things thoroughly, and if you look at the specs, you'll see I'm right : )
Sager is the official reseller of Clevo in the united states, and although they can be had a hundred dollars less expensive, the others are not to be recommended.

I have compiled a list of as many Clevo D900T resellers around the world I could find. It is on another forum, here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=73014&highlight=clevo+shootout

Remember, the cheapest is not the best!
I would recommend getting it directly from Sager, or from PC torque, which is a great company. ALSO when you are in europe! the european resllers are very bad, except the dutch ones, but they are expensive.

Honestly for a price/performance standpoint, its hard to get around Sager/clevo. Compaq is overpriced and uses old components. Dell I would never buy from again after my XPS Gen 2 experience. Bad hardware with good specs... bad sales, bad service.. eugh. the service/sales part is personal. the hardware is... well, proven to be mostly what they can sell as the best, not what IS the best.

[vsele]

A little research will yield that an alienware laptop is exactly the same as a clevo laptop (sager) .

I have checked the prices of three laptop one from clevo, one from sager and one from alienware...the result is that alienware is the most expensive(but also the best good looking..ehehehe), clevo is less expensive than sager for about 340 $ and 440 $ than alienware....not so much different...this is the configuration

Display
17 " Super Clear Glossy Surface (1920 X 1200)
Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 560 with HT Technology / 1MB L2 Cache, 3.6GHz (LGA775, 800MHz FSB)
Video Display Controller
Nvidia Quadro FX Go 1400 PCI-Express 16X Graphics Module with 256MB DDR3 Video Memory
Memory
2048MB PC4200 SDRAM * 2 DIMMs
Primary Hard Drive
100.0GB (5400rpm) Ultra DMA Hard Disk
Floppy Drive
External USB 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive
8X DVD ± R/RW/+DL Combo Drive & Softwares
Battery
12 Cell Smart Li-ION Battery
Modem
Integrated 56K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem
Network Adapter
Integrated 1000Mbps Ethernet LAN + Internal 802.11g Wireless LAN
Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Warranty Services
1-year standard warranty
Free Accessories Included
110V/220V Autoswitch AC Adapter and Power Cord
User's Manual and Utility Driver Disc
Standard Carrying Bag

Model:

CLEVO DT900 $3.352,00

SAGER NP9880 $3,695.00

ALIENWARE MJ-12M7700 $3,796,00

[Exception]

I have checked the prices of three laptop one from clevo,


That is nice of you to do, but doesn't make sense.
Ok, I'll explain.
Clevo is the manufacturer of all these machines, whether they are called Sager, Hypersonic, Alienware, Boxx or whatever. the original type designation is D900T.
However, clevo's are almost never being sold as a clevo, they are rebranded.

Sager is the only official main reseller in the US. They sell clevo's, they will admit, but they are called a sager nonetheless.

The price you list for 'a clevo' is therefore a bit silly, because they are all clevo's. I dont know where you got that price from, but if you happen to check that link i provided in my last post, you'll see ive already done a price check on oh... 20 or so companies that sell the clevo d900t.

Also, there are DIFFERENt D900T's!
Sager sells the newest one, with GLOSSY screen and Lightscribe dvd writer. Some of the other companies lag behind, some even still hanging about on the model before the previous one, the one without the Nvidia 6800 Go Ultra.

PC Torque is an official reseller of Sager. So far, I have found no better sources for these machines than Sager and PC torque. Ive ordere quite a few...

Qlso, good news for those who are willing to wait.... The Clevo D900T chassis is currently used to develop an Athlon64 X2 solution. This means Dual Core processing in a laptop! It is supposed to be available in about three or four weeks.

[vsele]

That is nice of you to do, but doesn't make sense.
Ok, I'll explain.
Clevo is the manufacturer of all these machines, .

Yes you right but you misunderstanding....at this linkdt900 (http://www.ajp.co.uk/) I have checked the lowest price......ehehehe however is my fault.. :)

[Exception]

Yes you right but you misunderstanding....at this linkdt900 (http://www.ajp.co.uk/) I have checked the lowest price......ehehehe however is my fault.. :)

Be carefull. that is NOT the last D900T model. It is the old one without WUXGA. that explains the price difference. I would stay very clear of this reseller. They don't have 64 bit processors even...

[njpennington]

I have gotten some great insight and will be buying something this week. One last request. Could anyone that is using a laptop post what laptop there using with specs, if they are happy with it and what they are not happy with. Thanks everyone.

[Exception]

Dell XPS Gen 2
2.13 Ghz Pentium M
2 GB memory
80GB 7200 RPM
17" WUXGA

Plus: pretty light for such a powerfull machine
Cons: Ugly as sin, slow to render (pentium-M), screen nice but not brilliant, Dell support is sub-par

PC Torque Sager NP9860
3.6 Ghz 64 Bits intel
2 GB memory
2 x 80 GB 7200 RPM RAID
17" WSXGA

Plus: Screen brilliant, super fast, reliable, nice media module that plays without turning the thing on, RAID is wonderfull!
Cons: would have liked WUXGA (now available)
Don't mind the weight


Advice: whatever you do, when getting a notebook, try to get a harddisk with as much RPM as possible. When choosing between SATA or higher RPM, go with RPM.