Need notebook replacement for motion graphics & animation

anim8tor

Honorable
May 18, 2013
4
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10,510
My current notebook is a Sony Vaio VGN-AW190, Intel core 2 duo p8600 @ 2.4ghz, 18" monitor, 4gb Ram, 250gb hard drive, Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT. It was originally shipped with Vista 64 bit and I recently installed Windows 8, losing a lot of functionality in the process-no driver support. It's clunking along running Adobe CS6 but it has had its share of temper tantrums. I have not installed any 3D software back onto it since upgrade as I anticipate several issues so I plan to upgrade my notebook and use this as a backup for photoshop, emergency small job renders, etc.

I started looking at the Lenovo y500 but thought I would check out some other computers that might be more powerful for the 3D modeling and animation software that I'd like to run, if I can afford the extra expense

1. What is your budget? ~$1600

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15-18", 15.6 & 17.3 seem to be most popular and I would be ok with either one but would prefer one with a numeric keypad

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1920 x 1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? desktop replacement that I occasionally need to take with me

5. How much battery life do you need? 2 hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? casual games, maybe The Sims as well but graphics/animation most important

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Adobe software (Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects -full suite), 3D modeling and animation

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 750gb 7200RPM, I store most of my work on external drives

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Direct purchase but would consider pre-built if right configuration/right price from amazon, jr, b & h photo, etc.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 5 years, willing to do upgrades on a notebook that has that flexibility

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Blu-Ray burner would be nice but the priority is graphics and animation

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. Open minded about the brand

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Thank you in advance! :)
 
Solution


I understand about being a pain and seeking creative solutions. I taught computer classes for 14 years at a school for children with special needs.

It looks as though Zbrush would run fine without the Quadro (could not find anything regarding a GPU in the system requirements). Rhino appears almost the same way except it recommends an OpenGL 2 capable card with...

anim8tor

Honorable
May 18, 2013
4
0
10,510
Thank you for the suggestion. I was originally thinking that I would need a Quadro card though. The add on for that is a whopping $600+ which puts it over $2000. It's looking like I may have to wait.

 


I don't know about the other software you plan to use but you can run CS6 without the Quadro card. I run it on my desktop with an nVidia card that is not a Quadro. I'm not saying you wouldn't get better performance with a Quadro but that CS6 will run fine with other nVidia cards.
 

anim8tor

Honorable
May 18, 2013
4
0
10,510
I'd probably like to run Cinema 4D, Rhino and maybe Zbrush. As a teacher, I'm constantly searching for creative solutions so I tend to be more of a pain in the a**. LOL MY potential students will be introduced to a lot of this stuff (in varying degrees) and are from an autistic spectrum. It's a pilot project so the whole direction isn't completely fleshed out yet.
 


I understand about being a pain and seeking creative solutions. I taught computer classes for 14 years at a school for children with special needs.

It looks as though Zbrush would run fine without the Quadro (could not find anything regarding a GPU in the system requirements). Rhino appears almost the same way except it recommends an OpenGL 2 capable card with not more than 63 cores. As for Cinema 4D "In short, CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D run on any OpenGL 2.1-capable graphics card. We do however strongly recommend using a dedicated 3D graphics card with a chipset from AMD or NVIDIA. Currently, powerful graphics chips are also available on mid-range notebooks. " I hope that helps.
 
Solution

anim8tor

Honorable
May 18, 2013
4
0
10,510
Thank you for all of your help. When I first started out, a couple of decades ago (eek!), I had built my own desktop and technology has evolved so much. I've been so focused on the art itself and haven't really kept up with the technology so your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Beth