so im an architecture student and ill have to get a new laptop really soon. i would like a desktop that could handle photoshop/cad/3dsmax/etc easily, but i pretty much have to have a laptop, which will probably be heavy as shit. so any suggestions on brands or where to buy from would help. also any suggestions on when to buy (although soon) based on new releases of hardware.

12/1/2006 8:11:58 AM

What kind of budget you talking? The IT guys at work use some really nice AlienWare laptops that I'm sure would be perfect, and yes, they are heavy as Hell.

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 10:57 AM. Reason : I <3 BooBs]

12/1/2006 10:56:40 AM

i know it will be pretty expensive, but as long as i get what i pay for its worth it since its essential to doing the work i need to get done. and if you or anyone knows if alienware laptops are worth it (preferably from experience) then i would definitely look into it more.

12/1/2006 11:09:52 AM

I'll talk to them today and see what they say about them.

12/1/2006 11:22:06 AM

Alienware would probably be your best choice in this class of portables.

12/1/2006 11:26:20 AM

unless somethings changed in the past year or two I'm pretty sure alienware pcs are overpriced

edit: looks like alienware has progressed nicely since the overpriced extreme gaming computer company they used to be... might be a nice choice.

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 11:36 AM. Reason : doh]

12/1/2006 11:33:52 AM

^^^cool, thanks

12/1/2006 11:35:40 AM

Might want to wait a bit longer, as Quad-Core just came out in desktops, so might not be much longer before it's available in notebooks. But then again, that may be more than what you're looking to invest into a notebook as I'm sure they will be quite pricey when it's first released.

12/1/2006 12:32:33 PM

You can probably get the best of both worlds. If you are going to be sitting at a desk at home for long period of time, I would recommend spending the extra $$$ to get either a docking station or a Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor you could hook up directly to your laptop.

So far as which computer to get ... really depends on your budget. Whats your range ... you can go as low as $500 or as high as $5000 depending.

12/1/2006 12:40:09 PM

nothing used in architecture for undergrad work is all that taxing. get a lenovo from the bookstore with a cad optimized card if you want peace of mind.

12/1/2006 1:07:05 PM

yeah, i didnt know about the quad-core. ill have to read more about it to see. i do have a mouse/keyboard/monitor/etc now (might get a $dig. monitor later). but as far as price im thinking it will definitely be into the thousands but again i havent priced a bunch of different systems yet cause im still wondering what exactly to get although i do know that alienware runs a lot more expensive than some others (save maybe lieberman).

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 1:12 PM. Reason : (]

12/1/2006 1:12:28 PM

^^ Nah the time to buy those is in the beginning of the school year. They can't update their models in the middle of the year because they don't do the volume of sales then that are required to get decent pricing if they switch models. The Lenovo Thinkpads are a great deal may-august though. If you can wait that long you can get a top of the line laptop that weighs a hell of a lot less than the hulking alienware computers. The higher-end t-series laptops come with graphics cards that are more than adequate for CAD and solidworks use.

12/1/2006 3:25:23 PM

you are much better off going mainstream now and getting a decent deal. Then upgrade in a year or two and sell the old one. Spending thousands on a laptop is silly. Well before its life is over the current machines will smoke the shit out of it.

12/1/2006 4:29:55 PM

My cad computer at my engineering firm is brand new and its only a 3000+ amd with 1 gig of ram
thats like pocket change now

and we do some BIIIIIG projects

12/1/2006 9:35:28 PM

CAD programs are not that taxing at all, but 3ds max is and photoshop and illustrator are somewhat. so when you have more than one open and try to go back and forth things start to go nuts. and from what i know, undergrad and grad students use the same stuff, at least i hope since ill be in grad school next fall.

[Edited on December 2, 2006 at 4:47 AM. Reason : .]

12/2/2006 4:46:15 AM

i'm not gonna add anything new or insightful to this thread

i like lenovo, though

12/2/2006 5:44:21 PM

i'd probably get an apple, if it were me

12/2/2006 5:48:11 PM

go get a macbook from the bookstore

12/2/2006 11:58:57 PM

^If he wants the best performance, a laptop in that size range would probably throttle too much during long renders, compared to a larger one with better ventilation.

12/3/2006 12:27:36 AM

to that i say, pshaw

12/3/2006 1:15:21 AM

just a heads up, when considering cost, 2GB of memory is a MUST for architecture (revit/cad/3ds/adobe), a good 7200rpm hard drive, and lastly a mid-range graphics card or higher. dual-core is also a must but i WOULD NOT wait for the quad core (only going to servers right now), they aren't coming to desktops until early 2007, and probably not to laptops until later next year.

i would also 2nd the recommendation for a good docking station with standard keyboard/mouse.

typically Dell has some really good discounts after Christmas, i would also recommend alienware and velocity micro as both are geared for high-end graphics... you can also buy an Acer or the like from Newegg and add a 7200rpm HDD and 2GB of ram yourself if you want to save some $$$. a good warranty wouldn't hurt either, at least a 2-3yr.

btw, this is coming from an architecture alum.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 3:35 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 3:35:00 PM

^thanks, that helps a lot

12/3/2006 7:06:41 PM

l personally don't like dells, but thats probably just because everyone has one

then again, i'm kinda non-conforming to begin with

12/3/2006 7:36:56 PM

yeah, ill have to look into that one a lot. now i have an inspiron 8200 and the only thing that hasnt been replaced at least once are the keys and the plastic casing - so i might just try something new.

12/3/2006 7:42:56 PM

Actually, Quad-Core is available in certain desktops. Case in point, the new XPS 710 from Dell offers a Quad-core.

12/3/2006 8:27:57 PM

^^^^^

Alienware has seriously trimmed down it's offering of workstations since being purchased by dell. They no longer offer dual-xeon workstations.

As far as alienware's laptops go, unless you're looking at SLI graphics cards in a laptop or spending 4+k, dell's xps line is probably a better buy.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 11:10 PM. Reason : ]

12/3/2006 11:07:46 PM

so looking at both dell and alienware's websites, neither of them really specify whether or not the system is available with a hybrid flash based HDD. i might just be looking in the wrong place - any info?

12/6/2006 11:00:51 AM

i'm looking for one that will be a kick ass video player too
cause i want a laptop but... i want a computer to run the home theater too.

12/6/2006 12:04:57 PM

you sure you dont want to get a dvd player?

12/7/2006 9:28:14 AM

^ roffle

i own 1 (3 if you include the xboxes)

no the lcd I'm planning on buying has a vga input and i want to use it as a monitor from time to time.
along with my wireless mouse and keyboard i think a 46" 1080x 1920 res monitor would be pretty awesome in the living room.

12/14/2006 10:46:18 AM

Dont buy alienware. I own one. it's a piece of shit and their customer service is awful.

yes the specs are nice, but I assure you, the quality of the laptop itself is pretty worthless. Look them up on the BBB. I have about a 2 year old laptop fromthem that as soon as i start getting paid from Cisco- a new laptop from somebody else is tops on the list.


So far I have had happen-
battery latch break- they wont fix. My battery is now held in place by duct tape- this broke within the first 4 months of owning it. (I never really took the battery in or out so I dont know why it broke).
screen case crack- they wont fix.
video card, motherboard, cd drive had to be replaced- had to fight them tooth and nail to fix. No idea what caused all THAT to blow up.
btw- 24 hour on site warrantY? that's a lie. It's NEVER on site. You will ship your laptop away for EVERYTHING.
AC power supply- had 2 stop working because the fans in them crap out.

expect to be hung up on by tech support, deal with people who dont speak english, be told you have to pay for everything regardless of what happened or your warranty and be prepared to have to fight and threaten and harass them to get the most simple of questions answered or anything fixed.

Thing is STILL unstable and wont play WoW, although this seems to be software/driver related- basically the new videocard doesnt play nicely with the pci modem so that's disabled and there are still conflicts but I can't work them out.

Their "power house" boxes- are also airline jets. I wont complain about weight, or size- that's kind of required when you're putting processors that run very fast and hot in a laptop, but it possesses the noisest fans I've ever heard.

In short, it was a serious waste of money and I'm sorry I ever bought a damn thing from them.

[Edited on December 14, 2006 at 11:27 AM. Reason : .]

12/14/2006 11:19:45 AM

thank you.

12/14/2006 11:39:32 AM

Quote :

"so looking at both dell and alienware's websites, neither of them really specify whether or not the system is available with a hybrid flash based HDD. i might just be looking in the wrong place - any info?"

the technology is called DataBurst Cache and as far as I know it's only available in the desktops (Precision 690, 490 / Dimension C521,E521 / XPS 410, 700)

12/14/2006 9:23:07 PM

I bought my laptop from http://www.istnc.com/ a few years ago, and it has peformed very well. These guys are local here in NC and custom build laptops for you. In the laptop section of the site you can chat live with one of the people that actually puts together these laptops (yes not a big corporation, you actually talk to people who know what they are talking about). When I got my laptop it performed superbly and has never really failed me. At one point my first battery stopped holding a charge but that was a manufacturing error with a certain batch of batteries and they paid shipping both ways for me to get a new one that did not have that problem. It has never given me any trouble and I have been using it daily for over a year and a half, with pretty heavy use at times. My laptop is one of the ASUS models but surely there are newer models out by now.

[Edited on December 14, 2006 at 9:34 PM. Reason : ]

12/14/2006 9:33:14 PM

don't just look at alienware...

sager, abs.com, gen-x-pc.com, hypersonic-pc.com, velocitymicro.com, widowpc.com and a host of other performance computer sites out there can give you better deals on better constructed laptops...

if you want top of the line, then at least a 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 7900GTX or 7950GTX, 2 gigs of ram, and a 7200rpm harddrive are a must, although if you dont' need a faster harddrive you can get up to 160gigs in one drive or 240 in 2 drives. For pure performance though, just get a smaller 7200rpm drive and then an external drive for your storage.

you're probably looking at between 9-13 pounds in the notebook, especially if it's got anything near decent construction, and it'll be bulky as hell and not really fit for your lap... best to keep it on hard surfaces at all times

12/16/2006 8:09:27 AM