Sister wants a laptop or desktop?

[PLSG08]

So my sister is looking for either a laptop or a desktop. She can't decide which since she's not so good at computers.

I suggested a desktop for performance (since she needs 3D modeling, Photoshop, lite gaming, Sony Vegas, Blender, 3DS and CAD, and the likes) but then her problem would be she can't bring the desktop to her college because her college is 2 hours away from our house.

The laptop now comes in but as the problem persist it's not that powerful. (she doesn't do HEAVY 3D modeling, just basic one)

on a $850 budget here, I thought for the laptop she'll get the Lenovo Ideapad Z480 (Core i5 3210m, 4GB RAM, Nvidia GT630m/540m. The desktop would be easy for me to figure out

So laptop or desktop? thanks for the help guys!

 

[3870x2]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092SAUXS/?tag=tec06d-20

HD 6850 (plays game at 1080p)
Blu-ray
17-inch
core-i7
3D screen, wireless video, can use the computer as a hotspot.
$850.

I have one. Impeccable blu-ray playback (played dozens on my TV, this is my blu-ray player for the house). It is kinda heavy. Sometimes the graphics switching gets funky (usually fixed by a restart). You also cannot upgrade to AMD graphics drivers, you have to use the ones supplied to you by HP.

The only difference is mine is Raid-0.

 

[Fourstaff]

Laptop, its easier to live with the speed penalty compared to the bulk. Get a nice Ivy Bridge processor inside (HD4000 should be enough for "lite gaming", unless it means battlefield 3 10 mins a day).

 

[mlee49]

Just curious, what major is she going into?

Most engineering and design schools will have dedicated desktops for students required to model and design.

Trust me, lugging a dedicated laptop for design/gaming/modeling is a complete chore.

There's tons of great laptops with dedicated graphics cards, just maximize the gpu to your budget and see if that what you/she likes.

 

[3870x2]

Just to point out, mine was refurbished also, had it for 9 months so far, runs great.

The reason why this laptop is so cheap is because a lot of these were sent in for a fix due to bad heat transfer, and overheating. Because of this, there were a lot of refurbished laptops, and they are selling at sometimes half the price.

Mine in particular was MSRP $1700, and got mine for $1050.

You will not find a better deal by a large margin on any new computers, and will probably have to settle for much less in your price range.

 

[Fourstaff]

Most engineering and design schools will have dedicated desktops for students required to model and design.

Trust me, lugging a dedicated laptop for design/gaming/modeling is a complete chore.

This guy speaks of the truth. Why should I lug my POS laptop to uni when I can use those shiny i7's?

However, if your sister plans to go back home every weekend or something like that (ie heavy travelling between home and college) its still wiser to get a laptop.

 

[PLSG08]

Just curious, what major is she going into?

Most engineering and design schools will have dedicated desktops for students required to model and design.

Well she's taking Multimedia Arts, and our college (yes, I also go to her college) only has a couple of macs and a few wacoms. The Alienware systems are reserved for those who are taking up Game Design.

Well the thing is she goes home everyday. so yeah portability is a plus.

As for 3870x2's post, I'm currently looking at online shops for the model. Although I do have bad experiences with HP/Compaq laptops back then, leading me to get a desktop. (which so far is pissing me off since Philippine's isn't a prime country for this kind of market... might as well get me laptop too :/ )

Are MSI laptops any good tho? HP here is overpriced

 

[Fourstaff]

Are MSI laptops any good tho? HP here is overpriced

I can vouch for the gaming GTxxx series, but not the lower end ones. If she goes home everyday, and if she doesn't need her computer at college you will be better off getting a desktop.

 

[PLSG08]

Well back then she had this 3D project and a 30sec render took her one week to pull off her current laptop (Core i3 330m, 2GB ram, Geforce 310m)

The specs were weak and maybe getting another laptop might get her that slow speed again.

I would vouch for a laptop myself but the problem is that this pc will last her for about 5 years and upgradability would be an issue here. I mean getting a desktop that's beastly fast would render things in no time, but then again what if she needs to do it at her college?

fourstaff has a point tho, I'm already leaning toward the desktop idea?

Does anyone know if 3D modeling is more CPU intensive than GPU intensive, or RAM intensive? If it's CPU intensive I'm getting the desktop, GPU I might consider the laptop, RAM I'll get her a laptop.

Thanks for your time guys!

EDIT: and oh because of me she's kinda addicted to gaming (yeah I introduced her skyrim and Dishonored and now she wants something new that would play those titles on max settings..... feels like I'm gonna get her a desktop)

 

[PLSG08]

Well guys I'm already vouching for her to get a laptop. I'm getting her the HP envy 3870x2 sent me.

as for me, well I'm also getting a laptop (after hard thinking and deciding, it was the clear winner) I'm getting me this nice HP: Refurbished: HP Pavilion dv6-6047cl Notebook Intel...

Sure the GPU is only a 6770m, but look at the other features: Core i7, 8gb ram, 1tb hdd

 

[3870x2]

6770 can play anything out there ok, my 6850 maxes everything out at 1080p, so long as there is no anti aliasing involved (BF3 has a bit of an issue, have to drop back on the shadows a bit)

 

[PLSG08]

Yeah I can live with low quality shadows and no AA (I use FXAA on any game available with it)

I'll just put BF3 on high Texture settings then everything else on low/medium running at 1280x720 and I'll be happy.

Is HP's warranty worldwide? or just in the US? My old compaq cq40-416au had a worldwide warranty. And why is it that most refurbs are HP?

EDIT: and According to notebooktech.com, the 6770M is faster or just 11% slower than the 6850 o.o can anyone confirm this?
HD 6850m http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6850M.43079.0.html
HD 6770M http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6770M.43955.0.html

 

[PLSG08]

Hey guys, sorry to being a dead thread to life again.

Just a question, is it better to order a laptop straight from the manufacturer's site than getting from online shops? (like buying from newegg vs. buying from lenovo directly) I saw a good lenovo (Packing a Core i7 3630qm, 8gb RAM, Win8, GTX 660m) and on lenovo's site its priced as 849.99 (save around 450 from orginal price) and on newegg its 899 but it has only 6gb of ram and a 750 GB HDD

thanks for the replies guys (oh and I'm still researching and shopping, just wanna know where is it better to buy. If possible can you link other sites I could buy a lappy?)

oh and my sis already ordered the suggested lappy. Thanks :-bd

 

[Jetster]

It depends. Its all about the deal you get. For some of the manufactures you can find promo codes or outlets on line. Other times Amazon, Newegg, and otehr places have the deals. Walk in stores are rarely a good idea howevr Ive seen an occational good deal. Its all about doing your homework

 

[PLSG08]

It depends. Its all about the deal you get. For some of the manufactures you can find promo codes or outlets on line. Other times Amazon, Newegg, and otehr places have the deals. Walk in stores are rarely a good idea howevr Ive seen an occational good deal. Its all about doing your homework

Thanks for the quick reply! well the only deal here is that there's a $50 difference between the prices. And also this i7 (the 3630qm) is already a quad core, pair it with HT you got yourself a 8 core. I did some research back then and it's performance is near a desktop i7-2600k meaning 3d would be quick and easy.

I'm waiting until the last week of november to see if lenovo's $450 off deal would hold out (Since lenovo's site offers 8gb ram and a 1tb HDD) if not then I'll just set in for Newegg's deal (6gb RAM and 750GB HDD). Both lappy's are the same with the pretty much everything else. (it's a Lenovo Y580 btw C: )

 

[Pegas-x]

So my sister is looking for either a laptop or a desktop. She can't decide which since she's not so good at computers.

I suggested a desktop for performance (since she needs 3D modeling, Photoshop, lite gaming, Sony Vegas, Blender, 3DS and CAD, and the likes) but then her problem would be she can't bring the desktop to her college because her college is 2 hours away from our house.

The laptop now comes in but as the problem persist it's not that powerful. (she doesn't do HEAVY 3D modeling, just basic one)

on a $850 budget here, I thought for the laptop she'll get the Lenovo Ideapad Z480 (Core i5 3210m, 4GB RAM, Nvidia GT630m/540m. The desktop would be easy for me to figure out

So laptop or desktop? thanks for the help guys!

Desktop best

 

[eidairaman1]

You could always get a Desktop Replacement Laptop, however battery and weight will be the issue. Plus the Mobility model GPUs are no where near as capable as the Desktop Counterparts.

IIRC most Graphics Design schools have Workstation class Machines (Used to be Dual CPU Machines. Mainly those with Quadro or Fire GL/Pro Graphics cards)

Does See know if that school has the proper tools because if not she will need a Laptop with some grunt, Other than that In her dorm or place of rest a Desktop will be more capable of graphics production. GF and R series cards are good at gaming but dont have the grunt for Graphics Production compared to their Quadro and Fire GL/Pro Counterparts.

 

[PLSG08]

My sister already ordered the lappy, and as for me I'm set to get a laptop. It seems as though getting a desktop would hinder me in college (I'm an industrial Design student anyways)

$900 bucks is as far as I can go. Is there any good Ultrabooks/Desktop replacement laptops anyone knows?

NOTE: I wouldn't want to go higher than 15.6" for the monitor, since carrying it between classes would be a pain.

 

[PLSG08]

So far, I've came to a conclusion between two laptops, Both Lenovo.

First is the Y500 (with GT 650m 2GB) http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y500/
then the Y580 (with the GTX 660 2GB) http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y580/

I'm not sure if the y500 is the DDR3 version of the GT 650. if it is then I'll stick with the Y580. If it's not, I'm going with the Y500 so I could overclock that GT 650 to crazy speeds

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Changed links

 

[Melvis]

So far, I've came to a conclusion between two laptops, Both Lenovo.

First is the Y500 (with GT 650m 2GB) http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...#overview-y500
then the Y580 (with the GTX 660 2GB) http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...AC7A#techspecs

I'm not sure if the y500 is the DDR3 version of the GT 650. if it is then I'll stick with the Y580. If it's not, I'm going with the Y500 so I could overclock that GT 650 to crazy speeds

What do you guys think?

Your links dont work.

Id go with the GTX660.

 

[PLSG08]

@Melvin: I've changed the links now, thanks for the fast reply!

 

[stinger608]

Id go with the GTX660.

+1 on that choice!