slide projector

[nrenfro]

We are looking to replace the computer in our conference room now that we have Revit. all we need it to do is allow relatively smooth to toggle in the 3D views and camera views. This machine is purely for presentation and would not do anything more intensive than panning and show a walkthrough of models. Has anyone have any thoughts on how little of a computer I can get away while holding up appearances?

[gregcashen]

If you can pre-open all of the windows before the presentation, then there will be very little load on the machine. You could proably get away with an old laptop from ebay or even a new cheap one...something that you could get for less than a thousand bucks.

I would say laptop because then you could preload the project and the views without having to sit in the conference room if it is in use. Plus it would have a smaller footprint, and wouldn't get in the way when not in use.

Keep in mind you might have a hard time panning/rotating the 3D views on the fly, but if you pre-loaded a bunch of different 3D views, you could just toggle betwen them.

[Scott D Davis]

Our firm has several of the Sony Vaio laptops as part our "presentation" hardward packages. The particular model we have is ultra small, no bigger than a letter sized sheet of paper and a bit over 1/2" thick, when closed. They fit onto a carrying bag with our Epson projectors.

Ours are Pentium III, and I think they are around 600-700 Mhz, with 512 Megs of RAM. I have run Revit on these many times without any major slowdowns. I usually do what you are saying, which is to pan and zoom around the model, flip to different views, etc. But I have made changes to a model, placed new cameras, and cut new sections, live in front of the client without any hang-ups.

On another note, I run Revit on my home computer, which is a PIII 450, with 384 megs of RAM. I'm not doing anything hugely complex at home, usually messing around with my own house model, or creating families. It runs Revit just fine! I wouldn't try to open a 500,000 SF model, or render anything at home, but other than that, I'm surprised how well it runs.

[nrenfro]

As always the wisdom shared is practical and feasible, thank you. I discovered a old PIII retired workstation that has been sitting in a corner. I think it will fit the bill, although I like the laptop idea. Perhaps if I am good Santa will get me one of those....