Laptop advice

moosejoose

Hi was looking for advice on a laptop that would be good for digital art/design. something for photoshop illistrater kinda thing. what spec is needed? is mac the only way to go. Just worried about compatability, been using my dads g4 powerbook and can be a bit of a hassle when it comes to transfering work. Any help much appreciated. Most importantly what price should i expect to pay?

snellers

it's a pretty broad area you are discussing -

the most important question I would ask would be 'how much can you spend' ?

if using a laptop as a primary tool for design you would most probably want as large a screen as possible ....when opting for larger screens you tend to go down two paths:

1: large screen + fairly heavy / bulky laptop - reasonable price (dependant on spec of course)

2: large screen + light 'n sexy laptop - expensive (irrespective of spec)

will you be wanting to do any 3d modelling...etc?

moosejoose

Sorry probably should have been a bit more specific, what i really want is something that i can do 2D graphic design on, as you can probably gather im not going to be using it for any kinda comercial/professional use just something that i can experiment/learn on that wont blow up from programs running on it. What is the least i would need to spend for this type of set up? Looks not important.

snellers

ok fair enough - if you are planning on using illustrator / photoshop ...etc then above anything else RAM is your friend

A friend of mine in the UK recently bought a reasonably decent specced laptop I suggested with a big screen for £400 (roughly €512) from ebuyer.co.uk - and is very very happy with it - this would fulfil your current needs no probs (and if you don't like that particular one at least will give you an idea of what you can get for the money -
Windows Vista experience rating for it:

Processor 4.7
Memory 5.3
Windows graphics 3.1
Gaming graphics 3
Hard disk 5.1


Spec:

Asus A7U-7P274C 17" WXGA+ Laptop
AMD TL58 1.9GHz
2GB RAM
250GB HDD
256mb ATI X1250
DVD-SM
WLAN
Webcam
HDMI
Windows Vista Home Premium
2 Years Warranty

click link below -

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139075/show_product_reviews

Hope this helps !

thegloriousend

I had the same question going in December. I am architecture student and use alot of photoshop, sketchup, autocad and rendering packages like 3dsmax - often at the same time. I ended up choosing a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21S and bought it from http://www.laptopsdirect.ie. I couldn't be happier with my choice. But here is the decision making process I went though to get it http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219242

moosejoose

Thaks a million very helpfull advise. If i wanted to use it to do 3D work how much of a jump in performance/price would i need. I am starting a product design course in sept.

maclad

Well...I would suggest a mac but autocad is windows only:(. But jesus don't get anything with vista it'll drive you mad and no matter how much ram you throw at it it'll never run as smooth as xp would with the software you want:cool:

snellers

maclad I'm not disagreeing with you as such but I haven't had any probs at all with any of the Adobe products...etc using Vista - it definately is memory hungry if all the gadgets and gizmos in the os run but they are very very easy to disable if it becomes a prob - Vista is and will continue to become more stable - most of the real issues with Vista are from the early adopters of the product IMO - I would recommend 2gb ram (or more if you can afford it) but other than that no probs.

IMO if at all possible when 3d modelling...etc it would be preferable to get a desktop machine rather than laptop - you will get a hell of a lot more bang for your buck and the components will be easier and cheaper to upgrade - 3D modelling will require as good a CPU as poss, plenty of RAM and ideally a purpose built graphics card (if you are that serious about it)

If I was using Autocad, the Adobe family & 3d modelling software I would be opting for the largest possible screen - e.g. Dell 24", possibly even 2 if the budget goes that far!

All depends on your budget -there are laptops out there that could do an excellent job for you and are as high specced as possible but they will cost a small fortune - a laptop similar to the one I detailed above will run all the programmes and has a reasonable graphics card for the price (on the reviews people talk about playing far cry...etc so it must be pretty ok) - you have to try and weigh up price/performance ......as said before all boils down to your budget - don;t expect Ferrari performance from a Ford fiesta! ...both cars will get you to the same place....just one in a bit more style and a lot faster! :-)