Is Win XP Pro OK for Lightwave?

[dolph2003]

I'm just beginning to look into working with 3D/animation. After comparing a variety of 3D products, I'm leaning towards Lightwave. Also, is anyone using Lightwave on a Laptop, or is it pretty much workstation only?
Thanks for anyone with info.

[mattclary]

XP Pro is fine for LightWave. If the laptop has good specs, it should run LightWave fine. Just make sure you get one with a decent video card.

[dolph2003]

I am seriously considering an Alienware M51 Laptop which has a ATI Mobility Radeon 9000. I believe it is 128MB. Would that do?

[MorituriMax]

All things being equal in the OpenGL world, avoid ATI cards..

True, not EVERYONE has problems with them, but if you're plopping down the bucks why take chances that a given ATI card, sic Driver, will have any stability issues.. go nvidia...

[mrunion]

I use a Dell Inspiron 8100, PIII 800+, nVidia Ge Force 2 Go (32MB), 512MB system RAM, UXGA 15" screen (in 1600x1200 mode), XP Pro -- All is fine with it.

Please note: I am NOT implying this machine just SCREAMS at renders, etc. But for most scenes you can drag the scrubber without lag with OpenGL previewing, etc., and it doesn't render all that slow. (Sorry, no benchmarks.)

I have no complaints. I also second the nVidia thing.

[dolph2003]

Thanks again for the info. Does anyone have any knowledge of the P4's @ 3.06 with Hyperthreading? Also, I seem to be getting the idea that Nvidia is preferred over ATI, even if it has only 32MB or 64MB? I was planning to go with 1024 for RAM.

[MorituriMax]

Heck I'd go ATI Radeon 9800 Pro in a heartbeat if it weren't for those pesky OpenGL buggies that keep cropping up.. for that money I ain't taking NO chances... I got a Geforce4 4600 x8 from MSI and it is great.. Run a Dell FP2000 20" LCD and that sucker is rock steady at 1600x1200.. never any glitches yet..

Course, if anyone can recommend an ATI card/driver combo that has never done anything undesirable, check it out..

[dolph2003]

Again, thanx for helpful info. If it were not for the fact that I am a high school teacher, and need a machine to go between work and home, I would go for a workstation. Never the less, I do need the mobility. I have had my attention on the Dell Inspiron 8500. I see that I can go up to a 64MB GeForce4. That should do it right?

[pauland]

That sounds ideal. I have an inspiron 8200.

Paul

[dolph2003]

Well, it sounds like I'll go for the Dell Inspiron 8500. Now for the next question. What would be a good external drive? Is USB 2.0 or Firewire better. This is for video editing using Premier and After Affects.

[Wade]

Firewire would be the better choice for video. While they are almost equal in speed USB shares as other demands come up, and fire wire dedicates the band width - at least that is what I seem to remember reading somewhere. Many drives have both Firewire and USB2 which would be the thing to do as you could always find a place to plug in.

Wade

XP works well for me as well

[WizCraker]

Firewire is best for video.

Also you might look into the New Dell Inspiron 5150 it comes standard with intel 3.06 Ghz 15 in SXGA+ screen, Standard 64 MB nvida geforce 4 go, 3 year warranaty Price: $2,314.00. Of course it has other stuff in it for that price like 512 MB DDR RAM. For a full quote just call me.