joseph alexander Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Anyone have any recomendations for a travel laptop. I have a budget of about $1800.00 (US) and am mainly concerned about battery life and having a reasonable graphics card. Ideally I'd love a toughbook, but doubt i can get what i want for a reasonable price. Anyone know of other supliers of rugged, touchscreen, laptops? -Joe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Get a Macbook Pro and a decent case. All the cool people in Manhattan have Macbook Pros now, so they can use them at Starbucks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecton3d Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I agree with Andrew that the MacBook Pro's would be a good machine and would be my first choice for a lappy IBM seems to think they have a robust laptop in the Lenovo Thinkpad but it's lack of configuration options leave a lot to be desired by a 3D guy (as in a decent graphics card and at least 2gb of ram)... remember this ad from a few months back: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/media/notebooks/thinkpad/rollcage_wmv.html ...nice 3d nonetheless : ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoron13 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 as a thinkpad guy, I have to agree with Andy. I love my t42p and the comments about the weak card and upgradability are biased. If you get a t40 series WITH THE P MONIKER, the card works well (128mb fire gl), and I have 2gb's of ram built in. My reasoning for getting the thinkpad back in decemeber was that it's the closest one can get in terms of hardware (weight, stability and reliability) to a mac with a windows laptop. Now that bootcamp is out, the ONLY drawback I can possibly see with a macbook pro is the heat issues. As long as you don't plan on using it on your lap there just isn't a reason not to go with Apple. Best of both worlds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterglow Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 is it for 3D? wouldn't get a mac if you're doing 3d. if u can stretch your budget, get a dell precision m90, otherwise the cheaper precision. built for 3D. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Steve- The Mac is great for 3D work. It runs MacOS and Windows, takes 2GB of RAM, has dual cores (my 2.17 is as fast as a dual 3.6GHz Xeon), the screen is quite good and the video is 128-256MB ATI x1600, very good in Max in DirectX mode or in Cinema4D. There are Universal Binary MacOSX versions of Cinema4D and Modo so you have your choice of OS if you use one of those, and Cinebench actually renders faster in OSX than Windows. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph alexander Posted August 25, 2006 Author Share Posted August 25, 2006 What's your battery life like? I do a lot of weekend trips between New York, New Hampshire, and Maine. By the way Andrew, what office are you working at? (I noticed that you're in New York as well) -joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jafs00 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 sorry to break it to you guys...IBM is out of the PC making business for about a year or more now..for those who didn't know here's an article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6666170/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunGlare Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 If U'll decide to go with apple, dont' buy the ones shipped with Sony battery. U can get burnt in cool way. And I didn't mean hot coffe on Your tongue, as people from Manhattan would think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunGlare Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 The Mac is great for 3D work. It runs MacOS and Windows Did You have any problems with Max on Mac? I'm thinking of buying one, but Icant find any dealership that would give me opportunity to try highend apps from windows. I dont want to change my habits and workflow too much, I wold like to stay with autodesk products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Tom- I don't have Max any more but I do run Viz without any problems. There are discussions on the Web of people running Max on them, so Google a bit and you'll find information. Also, the Sony battery with the problems is only in some PowerPC models, not in the Intel models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunGlare Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Tom- Sony battery with the problems is only in some PowerPC models I've read in the newspaper about 1.8 milion batt, claimed from Apple only. I've googled here and there but I cant find any firm statements, only rumors, for exple problems with ADT2007... so for now I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony cortez Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Hi AJ, Didn't realize you were from NYC...I work here in SoHo, around the corner from the Apple store on Prince. I too am thinking about purchasing a Mac Pro (can you imagin how cool I'm gonna look working on Max?, jk) Was wondering if you would like to meet up sometime and show me how Autodesk runs on your machine? Do you ever attend any of the NY Motion Graphics user group meetings? Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Actually I'm leaving NYC this weekend - wanted to get a job in a different specialty, and while I was at it, wanted to lower my expenses. NYC on a junior architect's salary is too much overhead. But check out the Apple web site, they've released a second Bootcamp beta and this one is supposed to fix some of the issues and work with the Mac Pro. Right now the only Autodesk software I'm using on the Mac is Viz, and it's running great, I can't vouch for any of the other stuff. As long as Bootcamp is still in beta I don't think I'd recommend buying one of these for an office, considering the expense and all, unless you're feeling adventurous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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