Laptop help!!

[rufus303]

Hi,
I am looking at buying my first laptop for work and home use as I have just graduated from architecture at uni. In New Zealand laptops are really pricey and I've done my head in researching pros and cons so I thought I’d put out the 3 models I’m interested in, any feedback would be much appreciated.
Really want it for revit/Photoshop/work laptop usage but also the odd game, at this stage I’m not doing any intense rendering but would like the option to.

dell studio xps
15.6in FHD 1080p screen, i7-840QM 1.86 - 3.2 turbo boost, win 7 pro, 8 GB ddr3 1333MHZ ram, bluray, ati mobility radeon HD 5730 1 GB, 500GB 7200rpm hd ($3,125.00 NZ$)

Asus G73jh - not so professional looking though
17 in HD, i7-720QM 1.60, 8 GB ddr3 RAM, Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB, win7 pro, dvd drive,1TB 7200rpm hd (3,259.00 NZ$)

sony F127
16.4inch FHD, i7-740QM Processor 1.73 - 2.93 GHz*1, win7 ultimate,8 GB DDR3 SDRAM*2 (MAX),640 GB*3 Serial ATA, 5400 rpm, blu ray, NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with CUDA™ Technology 1GB ($3,500.00 NZ$)

Would really appreciate any help in deciding which of these would be best to run revit or are there any better options? Cheers.

[Alex Page]

I Have the Asus G73Jh 8Gb RAM and it is really good. The things I like about it is the formed casing is really nicely detailed, it has a full keyboard with numberpad (backlit) - No problems as att - its a pleasure to use

Note the video card is alot better than your other options for Revit at least - which could/should push you towards the Asus

Also (a complete surprise when I brought mine) it came with a good backback and an extremely good 5 button mouse (best Ive used for years), headphone and microphone set - since I had budgeted onbuying these things later, it was cheaper than I thought!.....may not be the case with your quote.

[rufus303]

Ok so in my situation the graphics card makes all the difference? Because the dell has the better i7 840QM, however my major concern with the dell is apparently they have overheating issues? This is the stuff I’m finding hard to get my head around haha. I am definitely leaning towards the asus though..Not sure the one I’m looking at comes with the extras
http://www.alphacity.co.nz/index.php...ducts_id=57939

Thanks for your input

[iru69]

I can't speak for the laptops themselves, but from a pure specification standpoint, the Dell would be my choice.

While the Asus has the top of the line graphics chip, its CPU is the weakest of the bunch, and the CPU is what has the biggest impact on performance. I'd be a little concerned dropping so much money on a new laptop with last year's CPU.

The Dell's video card is on the lower-middle range, but graphic performance in Revit should still be decent (by that I mean, shadows, ambient occlusion, etc. should perform decently with very little regen on moderate size models).

The Sony's graphic chip should also be acceptable, probably a step behind the Dell's. I don't know that its slight bump in CPU is enough to offset the fancy Asus graphic chip that certainly is a plus.

Of course, you never know what graphic chipset Revit is going to be compatible with in this version or the next.

Other than raw performance, be really sure you want to lug around a 17" laptop. Most people I know who have bought a 17" laptop don't buy another unless they have special requirements. Blu-ray is a nice bonus if you're into that kind of thing. Unless you have an enormous movie/video library, more than 500GB isn't of much use for most folks. I like the build quality of Sony. Unimpressed with Asus. Dells are total ****, but they generally have great warranties.

Tough decision - best of luck!

[rufus303]

So either way I see it now there are serious cons for all haha! This is really hard..I don’t really want to go for dell if they are known for terrible build quality and find its breaks on me after all those $$.

Are there any other laptops you could recommend me to have a look at? I know that is a tough ask, but in terms of a desktop replacement for revit is there anything else I should be looking at and or new models worth waiting for?

I've found anything with "proper" cad graphics cards in NZ such as Leveno ThinkPad’s are stupidly pricey (over $4000 for much lower spec laptops then above) so they are a bit out of my price range.

[Alex Page]

Agree with the fact that the dell will be the fastest, which is always a good idea. Aouther point about my Asus is that it has x2 500Gb harddrives, so I use one foe system stuff and the other one for data. I like this a lot.........but youre right, a hard decision. I dont belive its worth looking for other brands - Id make a choice from those three.
Regarding which one is more reliable - I guess its like buying a second hand car - you can be lucky or not.

regarding 17" size - it is big and weighs alot. Not a problem for me, I need the exercise!

Anouther thing to think about is are you buying direct or not. The reason I went for the Asus instead of the dell is that my reseller will come in and fix it (and I have a very good relationship with them). The dell is more likely to need to be sent away, and I cant afford the downtime

[heath.simone]

With the I7's make sure they are triple channel motherboards, if they are you would be best looking at 6 or 12gb of ram to make sure they are in matched sets. Triple channel is the current tech.

I've got the new HP 8540p i7-840qm laptop which is triple channel (3 rows of ram slots in a group vs the older style where it was groups of 2 rows).

Realistically the graphics card will most likely be more than capable for the work you will be doing to start with. Photoshop and gaming will put a much higher demand on the graphics card than Revit. I wouldn't bother looking at the 720qm processor, it will be the bottleneck in the system. I posted up a while back all the turbo speeds for the 620, 720, and 840qm processors as i looked at all of them when i was spec'ing up the new laptops for work.

You better paying for the best screen, cpu, and graphics you can get. Remember ram is cheap to upgrade, so are hard drives. If you need more HDD space just run an external drive. Blue ray is nice, but again do you really need it?

[rufus303]

So does that mean 6 Gig of triple channel ram would be 2x3gb sticks? Or have I not understood that? In NZ that doesn't seem to exist! Dell and toshiba are the only brands that lets you customize for higher specs and although that hp sounds perfect, it doesn’t exist on their NZ website.

The Dell I posted above is the best specs they offer before you get into the more serious and expensive Alienware.

I don't really care for bluray drives, it’s just I had no choice whether it was included in the deals or not...

[heath.simone]

6gb would be 3 x 2GB RAM Chips and 12gb would be 3 x 4GB.

hmmm i'm in Auckland and we ordered them, i can't remember the site i was looking at. We are how ever an international company so we might have access to more models.

[rufus303]

Ahh yeah I just figured that out then lol.

Do you think it would be worth getting the dell then? its got 8gb (2x4) just not sure if it can fit an extra 4gb stick, I assume it would given the i7-840QM processor? The only thing im worried about is the dell build quality and it not lasting.

How much did the hp cost if you dont mind me asking?