Laptops for Lightwave?

[Nicolas Jordan]

I am considering getting a laptop for use with Lightwave. So far I think the best bang for my buck is the Dell Inspiron 1720. I also like the fact that the Inspiron 1720 has a numeric pad. I looked at a 17" MacBookPro but they end up being over $1000 more than a Dell with the same specs and they don't have a numeric keypad so that turned me off pretty quick. Any other recommendations? What is everyone else here using for a laptop?

[Bytehawk]

if you're planning to use the laptop with its battery, check how long your pc can go on battery. Some laptops only work for 30 minutes without mains. Lightwave does use the GPU quite a lot and thus is a power hog on a laptop.

[RollerJesus]

I use an Alienware M5150 (2.3 Ghz, 2 GB, 6600 video card I think) and it's really good when run on main power. Battery life is definately an issue and I burned out the first video card (5500) while trying an overnight render.

Both Modeller and Layout perform reasonably well compared to my dual processor desktop G5 (non-intel) but rendering seems to suffer a little bit. Which is OK because I can sit on my couch and watch TV for the extra 5 minutes or so...

[Steamthrower]

I use a MBP 15" with Lightwave and the battery will last for about 4 hours...which is pretty decent seeing that the 17" Dell that I use at the office will only last about 45 minutes max.

[Talon70]

Just purchased a Dell XPS 1730 & couldn't be more pleased

Dell XPS M1730, Mobile Intel 2.8GHz,EX, 4MB, 800 FSB Merom
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
Blu-ray Disc Drive (BD/DVD/CD burner w/double layer BD write capability)
17 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
Serial ATA RAID 0 with Dual 200GB Hard Drives
1GB NVIDIA SLI GeForce 8800M GTX


<<<Talon70>>>

[nomad108]

I've had good luck with both my Vaios. I do over-night renders all the time and have had no problems. I've been quite pleased with them.

[Nicolas Jordan]

Just purchased a Dell XPS 1730 & couldn't be more pleased

Dell XPS M1730, Mobile Intel 2.8GHz,EX, 4MB, 800 FSB Merom
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
Blu-ray Disc Drive (BD/DVD/CD burner w/double layer BD write capability)
17 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
Serial ATA RAID 0 with Dual 200GB Hard Drives
1GB NVIDIA SLI GeForce 8800M GTX


<<<Talon70>>>

Nice! :thumbsup: A bit pricey for my needs I think. Looks like they have a Physics Accelerator on that machine with no option to order it without. I like the fact you can get most of the XPS machines with XP instead of Vista though.

[Nicolas Jordan]

The new Dell XPS M1530 looks like a nice machine at a low price but lacks the numeric key pad. :thumbsdow

Anyone here ever had a Sager laptop?

[cresshead]

i bought a Acer Aspire 5920G Notebook... £664.99
core 2 duo 2ghz
2gig ram
viata premium
15.4 screen [1200x800]
nvidia 8600 256 ram
250gig hd
webcam, styled by bmw, dolby audio, hdvd read/writer.

runs around 4hours max on battery

battery extreme test:-screen full brightness, full audio running a hdvd film over 2.5 hours from a full charge.