WTB - Laptop

Isaiah Sherman · Apr 2013

After some thought I've been considering switching to using a laptop as my gaming / work station.

Yes, I know desktops are vastly superior and have a longer life, but I would prefer to be more mobile. My current PC is something I built back in 2009 but has performed moderately well.

So I have some questions: what kind of laptops should I be looking at? Brands? Custom? Can I build a custom laptop like I have all my desktops?

And lastly, what should I sell my PC for?
-2TB of HD space
-Core i7 quadcore processor... 2.4ghz or something
-8gigs of RAM
-Nvidia GTX 275

I'm assuming I can get a laptop with better specs than that for a decent price.

My price range is ~$1000 + desktop sale price.

Discuss, and thank you!

teeth · Apr 2013

1TB HD Space
Core i7 quadcore processor, 1.73 ghz
8GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT 435M (kinda bleh but works)

I got it new from Dell for $1100 USD 2 years ago. With that reference, I would say you could probably sell your desktop for about $800 maybe? I'm not super sure, but a new brand I would think it would price around $1000, new custom built around $900, and since it's used deduct a bit from that. Desktops also tend to be less expensive than laptops and I think our builds are semi comparable even though yours is a bit more. You could always go to Dell, or a site where you build your own computers, make an order the same as your current setup, and use that price as a reference point.

As for buying a laptop, I hear building is incredibly pain in the ass because everything has to fit inside the case. I am personally very happy with my dell computer, it's an xps 15. I think the performance has been great, I haven't had any hardware issues, and customer support has been more than helpful with any windows related problems I've run into. I use the build listed above to play Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Starcraft 2, Aion, WoW, and other stuff. It plays nice with all the graphical programs like zbrush, maya, photoshop, unity, udk and works well for low quality up to high-mid quality work (in terms of rendering power, and polygon count). I should also mention that I game while I simultaneously have chrome, photoshop, blender, and zbrush open among a slew of windows utilities. I can run about 170 processes concurrently before I experience real slow down. I'd say it's an all around good and very versatile machine, though if I were to buy another I would definitely spend the extra $200 and get the best graphics card since stuff tends to lag a bit sometimes (they're really expensive in laptops I guess). Also, definitely do research into heat control on laptops. Dell has been really nice about this laptop, but it doesn't have great circulation and has overheated once when I wasn't paying attention. But I bought a cooling pad with a fan and I haven't had a problem since. Just something to consider. Dell also makes meh batteries. Mine lasted up until a few months ago and now will only last 2 hrs before I have to plug in (previously lasted 8 ). But I think that's a matter of how you use your machine. I've never owned another laptop so I can't compare battery life to the average.

EarthQuake · Apr 2013

If you're switching completely from a desktop to a laptop, I would HIGLHY recommend looking at screen quality as a big factor. If you end up with a really powerful laptop with a crappy panel and awful viewing angles, you probably will not be happy doing art on it.

So I would look into something with an IPS type panel, this is going to really limit the models you can find, as well as the budget, but look into it.

Custom building isn't really doable for laptops.

Snader · Apr 2013

Do you want to be MORE mobile, or ALL mobile?

Because for many things (texturing, lowpoly, rigging, animation[excluding physics simulation, duh], basic sculpting, greyboxing levels, etc) you don't need a particularly strong machine. So you could get away with just doing those things where ever, and once you need SRS HRSPWR you swap to your desktop for a bit.

teeth · Apr 2013

I agree with Snader, I tend to do a lot of stuff on the go, unplugged even, and take it to my desktop to render. I guess the question about screen quality also hinges on how mobile you want to be. If its mobile in that you want to be able to do sketches on the subway, or catchup on some work in a cafe, then I don't think screen quality matters terribly as you can always switch to a higher resolution second display when you are at home when you need the quality. If you plan to do everything mobile, then I guess you would really need to invest in a high end screen which will easily ring up your cost.

willy-wilson · Apr 2013

Agreed if your already 1000 in the hole for this then just set that 1000 as the budget and get something right around that price range. something i can say is the screen can be a big issue my current laptop has by far the best screen i myself have used on a laptop and that would be the lenovo yoga ideapad. i have not tried much 3d work on it as im learning programming. (php, java, and python) also look around i got this one open box at best buy nothing wrong with it at all for 650$

the verge review
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/9/3615468/lenovo-ideapad-yoga-13-review#ooid=F2dGJwNjpEZigiX-3Mt1S0AriJvBY50S

Lenovo_IdeaPad_Yoga_13_35477652_35477652_35510546_35510543_35510544_04_610x436.jpg

Lenovo_IdeaPad_Yoga_13_35477652_35477652_35510546_35510543_35510544_04_610x436.jpg

radiancef0rge · Apr 2013

i bought an ideapad through passport unlimited thing, it took 500$ off of it. y500 series. Came down to 800 for
1tb
650 gt
i7 2.4
8gb ram

Isaiah Sherman · Apr 2013

Thanks everyone, yeah display quality will be important, but I do think I will be able to plug into a primary display at home.

Good to know I won't be able to do anything really custom. I should think about using my passport unlimited as well, I always forget about that thing. I'll research what is available through that.

Thanks again!

Isaiah Sherman · Apr 2013

I guess I do have another question, if I buy a laptop, can I just format the hard drive immediately when I get it to wipe off any possible junk software a company might put on it?

For example, most laptops come with Windows 8 now and I want to stay with 7. I would want to format my HD, install Windows 7 and start fresh. Seems like most laptops come with brand-oriented recovery software, like HP Recovery or something like that if you buy an HP laptop. I don't see why I would want to use that.

mystichobo · Apr 2013

Isaiah Sherman wrote: »

I guess I do have another question, if I buy a laptop, can I just format the hard drive immediately when I get it to wipe off any possible junk software a company might put on it?

For example, most laptops come with Windows 8 now and I want to stay with 7. I would want to format my HD, install Windows 7 and start fresh. Seems like most laptops come with brand-oriented recovery software, like HP Recovery or something like that if you buy an HP laptop. I don't see why I would want to use that.

I don't think it would be too hard, I have a Dell (that's about 2 years old now, but hey, still does everything and plays all my games, so not complaining), and when I got it, I paid an extra $10 for a "restore disk", which ended up being a standard Win7 disk, with none of dell's crap.

I think I had a fresh windows install happening within an hour of getting it home

EDIT: One thing to look out for is hard drive speed, When you're used to a 7200rpm drive or a SSD, 5400rpm is ungodly levels of slow.

firestarter · Apr 2013

These kind of places sell barebones laptops, but also the easier limited configuration options, which is probably more sensible unless you really know what you're up to with hardware:

http://www.gentechpc.com/
http://www.xoticpc.com/
http://www.powernotebooks.com/
http://www.rjtech.com/

You might be underestimating the cost of getting what you want in a laptop though.

WTB - Laptop

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