Photography / 3D design laptop? (dv5t or XPS M1530 or other?)

zeusalmighty

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Aug 21, 2008
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Hi, I'm looking for a laptop, here are my current requirements:

1. Budget:
1000-2000 usd

2.Size:
15 inch (16 inch would also be excellent)

3.Resolution:
Atleast 1600x*(1050?). Most preferrably a 1900x* option (widescreen)

4.Portatibility
Average moving around, so it should be a bit light (well, up to 3.5 Kg)

5.Battery life
I think I should be able to squeeze at least 2.5 hours of non-intensive work (like internet browsing or text processing). Anything above that would be a bonus.

6.Gaming
No games really...maybe COD4 with graphics set to Low.

7.Processes
Definitely working with Photoshop, Lightroom, Lightwave or Maya and rendering. It should be able to handle a bit heavy scenes (1m polygons), as well as run any (2) combination of the above mentioned programs. Especially for Lightroom and Photoshop, I want a smooth running application. Ofcourse I will be running text-processors, spreadsheets and all, but that is easy to handle on many computers...

8.Storage capacity
160 Gb. I prefer saving anything else on my external hard drive. 250 Gb would be considered a bonus.

9.Online shops
Official U.S. sites of the makers most probably.

10.How long should it last?
It should last atleast 3-4 years. I will be using it as my main computer for all that time.

11.Extra
I prefer something mobile that isn't too troublesome to carry but with enough power to run the mentioned applications smoothly. I would consider a 17" one if the specs are that good and size and weight are that low. A blu-ray drive and HDMI port would be a real treat -even a requirement- since that makes sure my laptop is future-proof (in terms of multimedia). Good looks are certainly something nice, but I'm willing to give it up for a nice hardware configuration!

12.Brands
I guess Dell are nice, Sony, HP, ASUS, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo or even Acer I wouldn't mind.
I WOULD mind Apple, Alienware, Voodoo or any other brand that isn't very popular (not because of the hype, moslty because I like having good and global support and a good user base for my laptop -the more the safer-).

13.Country
I will buy this laptop in the US.

As I already mentioned, some candidates are the dv5t and XPS M1530, as follow:

HP dv5t:
Core 2 Duo P8600 (or T9400)
1680x1050 Brightview infinity
4 Gb RAM
nVIDIA Geforce 9600 GT 512 MB
160 GB SATA 7200rpm
802.11 b/g with bluetooth.
Blu-ray drive

Dell XPS M1530
Core 2 Duo T9300
LED 1440x900 (yes, I know it's low)
4 Gb RAM
nVIDIA Geoforce 8600 GT 256 MB
250 GB SATA 5400rpm
802.11 b/g with bluetooth
No Blu-ray drive.

Studio 17 also looks really nice. Could you provide with some options I'm not aware (other laptops), comment on my selections/recommend beter configurations? Oh, availability is also an issue, since I probably will need the laptop delivered by 5 Sept tops. Thanks!


 

tommyqh

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Nov 13, 2008
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i'm interested in knowing as well. I've considered the NEW Macbook Pros but price point makes it a hard sell consider there are tons of cheaper laptops offering more performance.

Need a laptop with a good screen for accurate color values to do post processing on photos. I heard the new Mac's LED backlit screen serves this purpose but does anyone know if there are any other laptops with this type of technology?

The dual video cards from NVIDIA is a major plus too...
 

dwellman

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Dec 14, 2002
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by traditional, you mean CCFL backlit matte displays, then yes-- on all ThinkPads, except on x200s, x300 and x301 use LED backed.

Ideapad U series are LED backed, too. . . but "glossy".