Large screen laptop / notebook comparison

I'm looking to buy a laptop, primarily for
running Pro/Engineer. I'm an advocate of big screens so my choice seems to be
narrowed somewhat. The following .zip file contains a .pdf and an Excel file
showing the specifications of my choices which all have a screen large than 19":

2007-01-08_120609_Laptop_Specifications_060108AB01.zip

The links to the dealers sites are shown below:

Alienware
Rock
Acer

As you can see, the Acer machine is about
half the price of the other machines but appears to be pretty well specified.
If anyone could offer any information on how they are likely to compare, particularly
while running Pro/Engineer, I would be extremely grateful.



I would also be interested if anyone has any thoughts on whether the screens
size on large laptop such as these is worth the size, weight and battery life
penalty. Most of the time the machine will be sat on the desk, but it will have
the occasional outing. Related to this is the screen resolution, which at 1680
x 1050, is less that some 17" screen laptops. I'm guessing the resolution
is still good enough at this size and the increased screen size is worth the reduced resolution?



Finally, if anyone has suggestions for other laptops that are available in the <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1lace>, or
any other comments, it would be appreciated.



Sam

Sam,

First off, none of the laptops you list is certified to run pro-e. That does not mean that it will not be able to, but it will have issues. Secondly, all of these machines are running standard nvidia graphic cards. There is little support for nvidia outside of the quadro series of graphic cards so you may have functional issues with these configurations.
Thirdly, at least two of these companies make laptops in ways that make them expensive without adding actual value. Maximizing some aspects and then running it through a bottleneck means you never see the full potential. I will not name who I am referring to because they do make great machines in their own right. Check the benchmark tests on some of these machines and don't believe the name hype or the cool logo. They rarely make any of the components themselves so take a guess who does make them.

Start with the list of certified workstation laptops, dell, hp, etc. running opengl graphic cards like quadro and firegl. The price may be no more than you listed and the performance nearly equal with pro e.

as for size...if you intend to work on this machine for long periods of time and not just show a quick model display on a projector, then go big. Or you can get a 50 inch plasma screen like I have.

Just my thoughts on the matter...

have a good one,

Magneplanar

Thanks for the comments.



Does it really matter that they are not certified to run Pro/Engineer? I
understand that it would be preferable, have never used a certified machine and
not had any real issues. My current machine is a Dell "Optiplex
GX620" desktop, with a 3.2 GHz P4, 1 GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon X600 SE
graphics card. Its not exceptionally quick, but I don't deal with huge models
and it generally does the job. More significantly, I

I've just spoken to Dell and the salesman recommended
an M90 with a Quadro graphics card. I don't think he really had much idea apart
from what was written on his screen but I'd be interested to hear if
anyone has any info on the ATI Radeon X1800 and how it performs with
Pro/Engineer.



Cheers,



Sam

Hi SW<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />


I'm currently using a HP Pavillion DV8000 laptop running WF2on Windows XP 32bit


17" widescreen, 1 Gig Ram, 1.7 GHz Core duo, Nvidea Geforce Go 7600, full size keyboard with number pad.


It seems to work fine, had no issues thus far and is very fast!. The laptop is a tad heavy if that is important for you.


I think Samsung has a new 17" widescreen laptop with the same graphics card, that is a bit lighter to carry.


There are other HP laptops with certified Quadro cards, much more expensive though: eg
HP NW9440 T2600 2.13/1Gb/100/DVDRW
Intel Core Duo T2600 2.13GHz, 1x1Gb RAM, 100Gb HDD
DVD+/-RW, NVIDIA Quadro 1500M 256Mb, 802.11a/b/g
B'tooth, 17" WUXGA+, FPR, XP Pro, 3yr Warranty


If you buya noncertified graphics card, I'd suggest that you rather go with NVidea


Thats my 2cents..

Hi Sw,

Simple answer, non certified systems will work. How well is another question. As Pro-Eek mentioned you can build a non-certified system that works. The brands I mentioned will steer you towards specific models which is to be expected. At my work none of the laptops are certified and they will run pro-e, albeit at a perfomance reduction.

I have heard of some problems with specific video cards. If you find a card you like, as in the ati you mentioned, then hopefully you can get feedback as to whether there are issues with that model.

I am shopping for a laptop as well...

A computer friend of mine said he will build me a desktop system in a briefcase that will smoke any laptop. I laughed at that but wouldn't it be nice. I guess portability would be out the window never mind the battery.

best of success to find your system.

Have you considered using a big desktop lcd, plugged into the laptop, for work and a 17" for the road?

cheers

Magneplanar

I believe the FireGL line in ATI is the MCAD series.





As far as hard drives in laptops, I would be more concerned with rpm than size. I would try to get the 7200 rpm as opposed to a 5400 rpm.

SW said:

I've just spoken to Dell and the salesman recommended an M90 with a Quadro graphics card. I don't think he really had much idea apart from what was written on his screen but I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any info on the ATI Radeon X1800 and how it performs with Pro/Engineer.

Cheers,



Sam

Click to expand...

Our PTC tech guy has an earlier M series Dell. (M70 I believe). It ran circles around my 32-bit desktop, mainly do to the graphics card. As far as I can tell the ATI x1800 is a card for gamers. Stick witht he Nvidia Quatro FX 2500 or bigger. Here are the comparison specs.


http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html


As for cerification, if you ever want tech support from PTC, it's wise to get certified equipment. Technically their service agreement says if you stuff isn't certified, they can refuse tech support.

I would prefer a different card, but my man at Dell says the X1800 is my only option on the M2010. If I could, I would specify a Quadro card, but I keep thinking the big screen on the M2010 will be worth meaning I have to opt for the ATI Radeon X1800 graphics card.

The Rock machine I mentioned in the original post is available with a NVIDIA Quadro 2500M, but for the same money as the Dell I only get an AMD TurionTL52 processor. I could get the TL60 for a couple hunderd pounds more, but this processor is apparently still slower than the more recent Core 2 Duos.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the M2010 and taking a hit on the graphics card as most of my work is on fairly small assemblies. Is this a particuarly bad idea?

Sam


Edited by: SW

I've just found the following test of the ATI FireGL V7350, which compares it to the ATI X1800XT and the NVIDIA Quadro FX1400.

[url]http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/articles/show/ati_firegl_v 7350_review/test_setup[/url]

I'm guessing the Mobility version of the X1800 will be similar to the X1800XT, which does not compare too well to the dedicated CAD graphics cards from both NVIDEA and ATI. Its looking like a swings-and-roundabouts job, big screen versus fast graphics card. I'm not totally sure its worth taking the graphics hit. Time for some coin-flipping...

Sam

SW,

Here is a thought, can you buy that XPS and switch the graphics card after purchase? Coworker says its possible. I personally don't like to open a new machine up, but... Warranty issues aside, it might be the best of both worlds. I wonder if dell has a service center that would do it or are they just not compatible physically or integratable?

just a thought

M

I like your thinking, sounds like a proper engineering solution. I'm a bit doubtful as I would have thought it would be worth Dell offering the option of a different card if it was possible. I'll try and find out if they will rip it open for me.

Cheers,

Sam

I have a Dell M90 that I picked up from Dell's Outlet. I paid about $1800 for the M90 with the 2.16 Core Duo 2 processor, 2GB ram, 512MD Quadro FX 2500 graphics and a 120GB hard drive. The only part that the laptop is slower on against the desktop workstation here at work is in write speed, the HD is 5400 rpm.


It happens very large assemblies very well, multiple open Pro/e windows. Handles Aglor, Mechanica, Solidworks great as well.


Save a little money and browse the DellOutlet, I know that the 17" display is smaller than your request but you might be able to find a M2010 their as well.


Peace and good luck.

I've just found the "M590K EMPEROR" laptop from Eurocom with a 19" screen

You can specify a Quadro graphics card and it comes in at around