New Laptop suggestions

[John K]

Hi guys,

I am starting to think about upgrading my 4 y.o. Dell Laptop which I think is something like a 2.2GHz 6 GB SDRAM and 500 megabyte HD machine. It was top of the line 4 years ago and cost me around $3k.

What I need is something that:

* will be used for planteray capture stuff using a SkyNyx 2.0 camera for high speed RGB imaging (for now until I upgrade to one of the latest cameras). This means I need a hi speed drive and lots of capture speed ability
* use Photoshop and all the CS applications (video making etc) including making HD movies - this has been a real issue as I have HD movie files that are several GIG in size now that I find it very difficult to process. So need a really good video card and lots of RAM
* processing speed speed speed!

Dell have a new range of gaming machines out there: http://www.dell.com/au/p/laptops.aspx?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&~ck=mn#!facets=103757~0~3074998&p=1 but these are very expensive!! $4k for a laptop?? Holy cow!

I live in Melbourne (Brunswick) and want to buy somewhere where I can get an onsite extended guarantee or which is close to home in case there are problems. I only want a laptop as I dont have the space for a box.

Can the people on the forumn that know their stuff provide some advice?

Thanks in advance.

John K.

[mithrandir]

Not the cheap end of the market, but Toshiba make nice lappies, and have the best Bluetooth stack if you have BT devices to connect.

Written on my Qosmio :)

[peter_4059]

How about one of these?

http://www.dell.com/au/business/p/inspiron-17r-se-7720/pd

[jjjnettie]

I've had nothing but trouble with my Aspire. It's fine for processing, but when it comes to connecting it to hard ware, for some reason I've had every conflict imaginable.

My next model will be a Toshiba. :)

[Larryp]

I have a Toshiba Qosmio-lovely machine!

[mithrandir]

Apart from needing a forklift to move it and a handy power point.

[Larryp]

I don't move it, Andrew-I use it as a desktop.
I also have a Toshiba netbook and a Toshiba Sat.Pro 130 13.3" for portable use.
The Qosmio is unbeatable for features, though

[silv]

regarding HD movies - that need space and processing speed:

USB 3.0 drives connect with 5Gbit/s to USB3.0 drives.
or - even faster - Intel's Thunderbolt connects with 10Gbit/s to Thunderbolt drives (http://www.pcworld.com/article/259593/five_thunderbolt_devices_for_lightn ingfast_data_transfers.html#tk.mod_ stln).

Both technologies by now have hard drives and RAIDs on the market.

They let you work on your HD movies while these reside on the external drives. RAID being preferred in your case for faster read/write access than single drives.
So, even if you buy a laptop with a small-ish SSD you can still work on Terrabytes worth of footage.
It lets you choose a much less expensive lappi if you can live with having to work on an external drive.

If your old Dell already has USB 3.0 then a USB 3.0 RAID is worth a try to give you an idea of what a new lappi really has to have in terms of CPU and memory.

I only know of Apple Macbooks that have Thunderbolt built in.

[acropolite]

+ 1 for Toshiba, buy one specced to your desires then change the hdd to an SSD.

[mithrandir]

That would hurt the bank balance. My Qosmio has 2 disks totalling over 1TB. A pair of OCZ or Crucial 512GB SSDs are around $1100

[netwolf]

Before you decide on brand perhaps we should consider some specs.
1. Suggest I7 QM 2nd or 3rd gen.
2. Some laptops will now support 16gb Memory, get one that can be expanded to this.
3. USB 3.0 ports
4. Discrete Graphics with its own memory 1-2gb, Nvidia or ATI. Look at your software and see if it can make use of any features from either brand.

5. Next you need to decide on Screen Size and resolution, if you get a laptop with HDMI or Display port output then you can always use an external screen for post processing. This size will impact the size and weight of the laptop and its portability.

6. Will you use firewire? This can limit your choice to either Buisness model laptops some come with Fireware A and can have Express Card slots to allow adding a Firewire B card or Apple Mac book pro

7. Also you need to consider the impact of night time out door use on Laptop. So you might want something with a strong body that can handle this type of use.

8. Hop down to to some show rooms and have get a look and feel for the laptops.

You can Get I7 QM 3rd Gen with 4GB Ram + Discrete graphics starting from around 800$ and up. The Same in a Apple Macbook Pro 2nd Gen I7 will start around 1400 mark.

For Work I use a HP Probook, and am trying to get an Elitebook both are very nice systems.
For home I use a Asus K55VD which i just got 3rd gen I7 QM will be expanding to 16gb from the 4gb in it. Paid 900 with extended warranty.
Previously had Toshiba P750 2nd gen I7 QM very nice machine can now be had around 800 mark.

Each machine has its pros and cons, but all are good machines. To me I consider my specs i need and then look at the best deal i can get at the time.

[Colsmith]

Just bought ASUS R501VM-S4142V i7 3610QM/4G/750GB/BRCombo/15.6"FHD/Win7HP/2GB NV GT630M Unit Price: $1269.00 from MSY

Was difficult to find just the right specs (Full HD, Blu-Ray, 3rd Gen, etc.) without going for a 4+ Kg gaming monster!

Still loading astro software - Stellarium and APT are good to go, Ascom/EQDir/PHD yet to be setup ...

[MrB]

I just got an ASUS G75V for work.... can't complain.
It has:
CPU: 3rd gen i7 3610QM
MEM: 16GB DDR3 (1600)
GFX: NVIDEA GeForce GTX 670M with 3GB
HDD: 1TB Seagate platter and 256GB SSD
SCR: 17.3" full HD 120Hz LED
Connections: 4x USB 3.0, 1x VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Blu-Ray RW drive
Windows 7 PRO 64 bit.

Was $2,400

[ZeroID]

Take a look at a Lenovo M92p then, smaller than a laptop. 7" Square and lower than a golf ball.
I bought one for a Media PC in the lounge. i5 processor, 500 gig HD, Radeon 2400(?) graphics and 8 gigs RAM, Win 7 64 bit.
It flies compared to any laptop I've got access to at work.
It's smaller than my lunchbox ...:D

[John K]

Thanks for all the advice everyone,

The ASUS75VW is getting very good reviews all around.

Certainly give me things to think about!

John.