Laptop for working

[artist_in_a_box]

Hey guys, can any of you recommend a good place to buy a laptop for doing a bit of work in max? I use my desktop normally but now and then i have to go out and would like to be able to kee working at girlfriends house and such, or even when i go home from uni at breaks.

I was originally goin to save and get an alienware at the end of the holidays but logic is telling me that its more a 'want' then a 'need' and im certain i could get something decent for much much less. I know the usual places like ebuyer and such btu are there any other shops you would recommend me checking out?

Cheers,
Ben

[Murder king]

well, it depends on the country you live in. if you wanna buy a good laptop online, go to Alienware Computers - Custom-Built Gaming Desktops and Laptops

[PermaGrin]

I ended up getting...
Alienware M17x Laptop Product Details | Dell

I also upped a lot of the parts. Large HD, dual Cards, etc. Mine ended up around $2,500.00 (after special discount).
I was able to justify this by the fact my 4 year old laptop (that was a beast at the time) ran me around 3k. So hopefully this will last just as long, if not longer. The 4 year old still works, just out dated.

As far as working on the on I bought. After dealing with work laptops trying to work on a high res project, once I hit around 200k poly, I started running out of memory fast. This new one has yet to have a problem. Navigating Maya with 500k without any slowdown. Renders maps out fairly fast.

As far as "wants" over "needs". I totally get this. The Alienwares will certainly cost you. But depending your needs, you could say you need to reliability (well mine is) and the power to do the work you do. What kind of work do you usually do in 3d? Smaller stuff? Than you could easily get away from a 3k pricetag.

[artist_in_a_box]

An alienware is my first choice but it will be a good few years until i can blow 4 figures on a machine, would be nice though, I did see the one for about 700 but to be honest for the price on paper the stats didn tlook that amazing, not sure how it would perform in action but as paper is all i have to go by its a lot to spend on somethign that doesnt look that impressive.

Im in the UK and i have a decent rig for 3D stuff already but its a desktop. I live at Uni for 9 months of the year and during holidays unless i can afford to take a break from work i have to find a way to lug it all home and back. Im not asking for a ninja of a laptop but something that i could manage on really, take it to the girlfriends house or home on small holidays so i can keep up to date with work.

I think im lookin at a 400 - 700 price range, Inspiron 17 Laptop Details | Dell UK

This is what im lookin at now, though the lack of dedicated graphics is an issue but as ive always had a graphics card im not sure how much this would affect me with my 3D work. I know games will be a problem but i hope its not gonna be a ground breaking issue wi Max.

[Murder king]

That laptop seems to be a very good choice. But I think the problem would be the lack of HDD, only 250 gb, I have 1,5TB and it's not enough for me lol. Well, maybe it's just me... :P

[artist_in_a_box]

HDD isnt much of an issue as i work on my desktop this is for backup and added mobility really. I know what you mean though, until the other day i was pushing the limits of a 1.5Tb myself lol.

[McGreed]

yeah, but with a laptop I think harddisk isn't that big of a deal, since you can always get some external harddisks, would have been more a problem if it was RAM or graphic card. Don't see those plugged into USB.

[artist_in_a_box]

lol, would be nice though eh? just plug your graphics upgrade in the usb port, though my seup would look like a huge messy web if i did lol

[Murder king]

yeah, usb graphics cards and ram would be great, i don't understand how any of the companies that make that hardware didn't think about this yet. xD

[diamond1]

I want to buy a lap but cheap for my working home, any thought share?