Looking for a ~$850 laptop for game art
ngon master
My non art job has a ton of downtime, which is boring the hell out of me, so I figured I'd try to take advantage of it and get a laptop so I could have more time to work on art. I was really tempted to get a Microsoft Surface Pro 3, but the lack of a dedicated GPU really has me concerned about performance in viewports, UE4, and Marmoset. I think I found a decent option, but I'm not sure if it's the best I can get, and has iffy reviews. Not really looking for 60 FPS, or great gaming, just want something I can be productive on.
The Asus N550JK-DS71T
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9095406&SRCCODE=WEBGOOKWL&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_rytBRDVhZeQrbzn_q0BEiQAjnbSHHBfTiU27yyWKIbvQKBHW42eVNI0-nJpIbQaisqlEKQaAk-h8P8HAQ
The Asus N550JK-DS71T
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9095406&SRCCODE=WEBGOOKWL&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_rytBRDVhZeQrbzn_q0BEiQAjnbSHHBfTiU27yyWKIbvQKBHW42eVNI0-nJpIbQaisqlEKQaAk-h8P8HAQ
Replies
1. The PCMark tested battery life is 2hr 16m. That's kinda terrible. In a real world situation, with things like your GPU or HDD sucking up energy, expect it to probably drop down to 1/2 that - 1.5hr if you're lucky. It's a 4-cell battery after all. Gaming laptops are notoriously bad on this front though. I paid $2k for mine, a 17" HP, and the battery barely lasts 2.5hr with a moderate load.
2. 15.6" is probably the best compromise between size and portability, but you'll find that the smaller screen size will get to you after a while. It's great for playing games and web browsing, but not best suited for fine detail 3D world. It's certainly doable, but 15.6" is hardly ideal for 1080p.
3. 1TB is much smaller than it sounds. Just loading it up with your basic CG software and a few games will eat into that HDD space pretty quickly. 1TB isn't bad for a laptop, but you'll definitely want a portable HDD for your data. I'd probably recommend a Western Digital Passport 2TB. It's USB 3.0 compatible, small, doesn't require an external PSU, and can be had for ~$85. It's also very reliable. I've got two of them that I put to heavy use.
4. The i7-4700HQ isn't exactly what you'd call a speed demon either. It's a pretty middle of the road CPU. With a Passmark CPU score of 7,817, it's up to 33% slower than a similarly priced desktop CPU and easily 1/2 as fast as a gaming desktop.
5. 8GB RAM is just fine, but consider it the bare minimum for any modern PC these days. You should be okay for now. Just be prepared to max it out to the full 16GB down the line if you want to extend its life. Your 64-bit apps will thank you.
For $800, it's a decent laptop. Don't expect miracles and keep that PSU handy.
FWIW, you're better off avoiding the Surface Pro anyway. I've got one and, while I like it, you really do have to pay more to get more. It's too expensive for what you get. You can easily end up spending $2k for $1k worth of power.
http://pc4u.org/best-gaming-laptops-under-1000-dollars/