Modeling laptop

biggest_kid · Jul 2012

Hey guys, looking into doing an animation course at uni next year, and thought id like a laptop to take with me when i move away so i can, well you know model shit and use facebook and help me out with uni, all the regular laptop stuff.

So i was wondering what would be some good choices? Ive been looking around and doing tonnes of research and every time i think "Hey that looks like a good model" i go and find one that looks better but is cheaper and then get told its not actually better haha.

So anyway im looking to spend around 1000$ - 1700$, and would like atleast 8gb ram, atleast a quad core cpu, and an ssd. Screen size doesnt bother me too much as long as its no smaller than 13". Im in australia by the way so no Sager's or anything like that please.

The current one that is leading the pack in my mind is the Dell Inspiron 14z Ultrabook. I can get it for $1613 aud including the extended dell 3 year warranty. Its specs on the australian dell portal are:

- 3rd gen i7 3517U cpu(4mb cache)
- 8gb 1600mhz ram
- 256gb ssd
- radeon hd 7570M(1gb) graphics card

What do you guys think? Have any other models you'd suggest that fall within my budget? Will this laptop be enough to render large, high poly scenes and navigate 3d and 2d software without lag?

Any help you can offer is much appreciated,
big

Kwramm · Jul 2012

that's similar to my desktop PC and it doesn't have issues displaying complex content that we receive from EA, Ubi and other clients.

Since you're a student it's extremely unlikely that your scenes will reach the complexity you'll encounter at high end commercial projects anyway. And if you do, then it's a sure sign to optimize because student projects almost never get that complex that they require such powerful machines.

My own PC at home is about the same power range and I'll easily keep it for another 2 to 3 years. It offers enough power for my side projects. From my own student experience student projects fall in the same league.

Eventually you might want to add an external monitor, keyboard, mouse and wacom though. Having some way to easily dock the laptop would be a good idea unless you want to reconnect all the cables every time (during my 2nd year I got a desktop because of that and kept the notebook as render slave).
Invest in some external storage + a backup solution. ZBrush files and/or rendered content will fill up that small SSD in no time.

If you care for color accuracy, make sure the screen panel is an IPS, although there's some nice non IPS panels like the ones Apple uses. You probably don't need print-grade accuracy in any case.

The only reason, as a student, to think your PC sucks is because you're crap at optimizing your scenes

biggest_kid · Jul 2012

Yeah i already have a spare keyboard and mouse i can use with it, so thats no problem. A monitor and external hard drive i can look into getting if i really need them, they arent too expensive these days anyway.

And my current pc is fine for 3d modeling, its just i dont want to have to cart it to uni and back every time holidays comes around and i need the portability of a laptop too.

Any more advice?

Andreas · Jul 2012

biggest_kid wrote: »

model shit and use facebook

Or just facebook, as might be the case :poly124: At least that's what I did during college ha.

Does it have to be an Ultrabook? You could save a bundle and get a much better card if you open yourself up to regular laptops.

Di$array · Jul 2012

I would also recommend a 17' screen. Especially if you are going to be working on it for long periods of time.

r_fletch_r · Jul 2012

Id get a 15" with a external monitor before i got a 17". Your still very portable but have a big screen for when your working at home.

biggest_kid · Jul 2012

@Andreas: No it doenst have to be an ultrabook, that is just a model that i found that seemed suitable and within my price range.

@Di$array: Like i said im comfortable with anything from 13" to 18."

Any other model suggestions?

Thanks for all the help so far,
big

Modeling laptop

Replies