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In the market for a Lap top (any input)

Reich
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Reich
So it's about time i invested in a more mobile computer. So i have been looking into getting a laptop. I have been suggested to look at the Dell XPS by a few people. Just wanted to get your guys input. Looking at a price range around $1500 for a laptop that will handle modeling and single frame renders. I have 2 PCs at home that handle anything thats going to be animated or a fly through so i don't need it to be a oober laptop but something that isn't clumsy and i can still work with.

Also is there any way to get around Vista? i hear that Max 2008 doesn't run smoothly on it.
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  • Lee3dee
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    Lee3dee polycounter lvl 18
    I've been looking at the Dell M1530 laptop for myself with the 256mb 8600GT, they had an awesome deal for fathers day that I missed on. So i'm constantly checking www.delloutlet.com for a refurbished one. Having previously purchased an xps desktop from that site, its I would recommend checking it out.
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  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I picked up a Sony vaio with bluray, hdmi out, 8400 geforce card, 2gb ram. It's a great computer. Not going to be as quick as the 8600. But hdmi out and bluray as well for $1500 is great.
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  • Jesse Moody
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    Jesse Moody polycounter lvl 17
    i've got the xps m1710 4 gigs of ram super sharp lcd 512 mb 7950gtx and core 2 duo.

    Great service by dell too. Can't go wrong with them with their awesome warranty.

    I'm running Vista Ultimate 64 bit and have had no issues with max 8, 9, 2008 or 2009.

    Maybe i'm just lucky or maybe it's just people don't know how to configure their systems and use google.
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  • nacire
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    nacire polycounter lvl 17
    I picked up one of the Gateway FX notebooks at Best Buy for 1250.00 +free game. I was shocked first off that I was buying a gateway, but second off just how nice of a machine it really is. The design and build quality are IMO very high quality. It is pretty nice too that the only thing that cant be upgraded is the FX card which is soldered to the board. So you can easy upgrade the ram, cpu or hard drive. You can run two drives in a Raid if you like as well. The lowest end component, was the cpu, but I've noticed no bottlenecking whatsoever and it plays crysis beautifully. Anyhow here are the specs:

    It comes with a 17-inch display with a 1440x900 WXGA+ resolution, an Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTS 512MB, an Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 (1.66GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache), 3GB of RAM, a 250GB 5,400 RPM hard drive and a multi-format dual-layer DVD-R/RW/DVD-RAM drive.

    Go check one out at a local best buy, they really are very nice laptops and have an amazing price/performance/build quality ratio. Here is the CNet review.

    http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/gateway-p-6831fx/4505-3121_7-32822855.html
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  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    I'll chip in with my mac option ;) Anyway, great machines. Macbook pro running XP is like shit off a shovel. Also if it breaks, you are likely to get a replacement quickly
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  • dejawolf
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    dejawolf polycounter lvl 18
    running an XPS M1710 here as well, little problems with max 8, with new drivers, it runs only abut 10-15% slower than on XP. still couldn't run max 2009 though.
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  • arshlevon
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    arshlevon polycounter lvl 18
    if you do get a mac you should check out parallels desktop... seriously the most amazing thing i have ever ever seen. you basically run the mac os and xp at the same time, so you can run windows apps and mac app at the same time on the same desktop with no real performance drop. saw a guy at gdc running this and it blew my mind. he was running maya for windows, and a mac os version of photoshop, and you can copy and paste between mac and pc apps.

    http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/
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  • Lee3dee
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    Lee3dee polycounter lvl 18
    I would buy a macbook pro, but I need the guarantee that it will run UE3 even after installing xp. I hate to go with Dell, but they seem like the best "bang for your buck"
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  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    Well the macbook pro comes with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (512MB), 2gb ram and a 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo as standard, chances are it will run anything.

    Did I mention they are tough also? I dropped my powerbook in a mad fumble the other day, onto unforgiving concrete from about chest height, the thing closed by it's self in mid air spin, and all I have to show is a small buckle in the aluminum body.
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  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    I also say go with a Macbook pro.
    Lee3dee wrote: »
    I would buy a macbook pro, but I need the guarantee that it will run UE3 even after installing xp. I hate to go with Dell, but they seem like the best "bang for your buck"

    Don't worry, It does, fully cranked up too. In moments where tons of players were on screen and explosions are going off left and right, I don't think there was a noticeable drop in frame rate at all.

    and yeah, Hawken is right, these things are built tough.
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