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Best Laptop for my needs/budget

post #1 of 16
12/30/05 at 4:29am
Thread Starter 
I'm looking to buy a laptop sometime this coming semester. I can't spend much more than $800. My main need for this is being able to use it for Autocad, all Adobe programs, and if at all possible, Viz/3DSMax (no rendering, just modeling). I have just built a very nice desktop workstation which describes the budget and the needs. I just want this laptop so I can do all of the grunt work (Cad drawings, adobe layouts for architecture). I have this laptop in mind:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/Mid...eed_promotions

* Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
* AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology
* ATI Radeon XPRESS 200M Chipset
* 6 cell lithium ion battery
* 65 watt power adapter
* Touchpad with scroll zone
* as thin as 1.22-inches and as light as 5.99 lbs
* 15.0-inch display
* Integrated ATI Mobility® Radeon X300 with up to 128-MB allocated system memory
* Interfaces: One type I/II PC card slot, IEEE 1394 port, three USB 2.0, VGA, RJ-45/RJ-11, audio in/out

Now, the main thing is the X300. I'm pretty sure it's sufficient for just CAD and Adobe. I wanted a decent dedicated video card, but those are hard to come by for this budget. Anyways, what do you think? Any other suggestions that you know of coming in the next semester or so? I appreciate it.
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post #2 of 16
12/30/05 at 4:30am
Personally I'd get something much stronger for CAD. The x300 isnt too great at something that taxing.
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post #3 of 16
12/30/05 at 4:51am
Agreed, but with a $800 budget you are going to have a hard time.
Your best bet might be to buy a pre pci-x computer 2nd hand that is running a 9700 or something. Like a Clevo CL56, which was quite popular about a year ago.
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post #4 of 16
12/30/05 at 5:39am
Thread Starter 
I only have experience with desktop cards. I have a FireGL V3100 (workstation equivilent of x300). It does very well in CAD. I was under the impression that the x300 was the rough equivilent of the 9600, correct? If it's anywhere near the 9600, then it will handle CAD no problem. I know people that still use those ancient quadros and it will handle Autocad 2006 just fine. I think if anything, Viz would not run very well, although I will not be modeling anything too taxing.
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post #5 of 16
12/30/05 at 5:46am
Keep in mind, notebook cards are weaker than their desktop counterparts. And that x300 shares memory with your system.
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post #6 of 16
12/30/05 at 5:53am
Exactly, which is where the advantage of having a dedicated GPU WITH dedicated memory is going to set the 9600/9700's apart from the x200/x300's.
As far as taxing the system goes though, I am not really familiar with AUTOCAD so I could not tell you what type of requirements would best suit you for it specifically.
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post #7 of 16
12/30/05 at 6:01am
AutoCad isnt is as system intensive as most people think but that shared memory will kill it.
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post #8 of 16
12/30/05 at 6:52am
i would agree with Coldbourne. an $800 budget is going to be hard.
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post #9 of 16
12/30/05 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
Heh, tell me about it. The drawbacks of having a pretty nice desktop workstation.

Anyways, thanks for the input and knowledge. I will continue to keep an eye out with ebay and what not. Thanks again guys. Any other comments would be appreciated.
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post #10 of 16
12/30/05 at 2:15pm
get a v4000t, and it shouls come arround 900. But with a nice x700
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post #11 of 16
12/30/05 at 2:17pm
ask Unleaded, he has a twinhead N15RB he's trying to unload
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post #12 of 16
12/31/05 at 1:52am
OMG, CoffeeShark is on the job again. Yeah, it's served me extremely well but I am looking to move on...it's not pristine from a cosmetic standpoint but it has NEVER given me the slightest problem.
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post #13 of 16
12/31/05 at 8:50am
What kind of video does she have?
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post #14 of 16
1/30/06 at 2:57am
Thread Starter 
Well, it looks like I'm even closer to getting a laptop since I'm working out living arrangements next year for college (won't have much desk space and will need wireless. Yeah, that's me, buy a whole new PC just to get wireless. It's like buying a new car because the radio went out).

The more I think about it, the more i want to save up for a V4000T. I was looking at configurations. For the stuff I'll be doing, do you think the Celeron 1.6 will be ok? From what I've read, it's a P-M without the power saving features. It's not like I'll be rendering my stuff on it. I'll also think about the 80 GB 5400 RPM HDD and going through the egg for some more ram, maybe 1GB of it.

At the moment, I'm thinking of selling my current PC (AMD 64, 3200, Nvidia 6800) and my PS2 and games. I just don't use my PS2 and I wouldn't need my desktop. What do you guys think the performance change will be from my AMD 64 3200 to a celeron-m 1.6, and the 6800 to the x700? I know the decrease is there, but to be honest, the only time I use the full potential of my 6800 is for 3d mark runs. The only games I play anymore are UT 2004, HL2, Civ IV, and occasionally BF2. Man, that's a lot of sequals. Anyways, I'm bored so I thought I'd share those thoughts.
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post #15 of 16
1/30/06 at 11:34am
What about an Inspiron 6000D? The dedicated 128mb x300 would work well for what you want it to do, plus it has a 15.4 wide screen instead of that HP's 15 XGA screen. I don't know much about the V4000T, but I think the I6000D would fit the bill nicely. I haven't run CAD on mine yet(I'd like to eventually) but I'm pretty sure the x300 wouldn't have any problems with it. It's run all of my games without a hitch so far, and got over 2,000 pts on 3DMark05. It may not be a powerhouse, but it should be enough for what you want it to do. And I got mine for $880 shipped, you could do it for under $800 with a few less options.

That's my suggestion anyway. Plus, you can get a higher res screen on the I6000 than on the HP. That's one of the biggest things that made me not want a HP is the lack of screen options. If I could get a DV4000 with a WUXGA screen I'd be all over it.
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post #16 of 16
1/30/06 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
That could be a possibility. It just depends on if I can find the right coupons when I want to buy. A WUXGA screen is kinda winning me over the WXGA. I dunno. More stuff to think about. Thanks for the input.
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