laptop

hi

I would like to get a new laptop to run solidworks. I am looking for
15.4" screen, under 8 lbs and of course under $2500. recomendations?
anyone running without an approved video card with good results?
I also would like to know which lcd to go with?
wuxga?
wsxga?
wxga?

right
now carrying around 17" alienware to customers, too heavy, too short
battery life, too expensive.


thanks
greif


Reply

 

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Would you like to offload the
Alienware cheap? I've got it's cousin the Hypersonic, and it's not
light, but it blows the doors off of most desktops I sit it down next
to. I grew up doing a lot of manual child slave labor, so not being the
"pampered" type, toting a rather unstylish 20+ lb bag doesn't bother me.

Most of the higher end portable workstations or desktop replacements
seem to be going the route of the 17" screen. Can're really blame them,
who wants to squint when running cad? You might be able to get one of
the Dell M65s for that price. As always, check the refurbished
machines, might get more bang for the buck.

The M65 has WUXGA (1920 x 1200) and WXGA (1366 x 768). I think the 1920
resolution might be a bit too high for a 15.4" screen (it's not too big
on the 17"), and the 768 just seems so low... I guess if you go for the
higher resolution you can always adjust it so it's visible or use large
icons and fonts.

Here's a great reference for screen resolution:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

Anyway, good luck, and let me know if you want to get rid of that
paperweight.

Matt

 

I have used a Dell Inspiron with 1600 pixels and that is pretty good on
a 15" screen, and the 1900 pixels wide on my existing Dell M60 I have
makes for very smooth CAD images, but you definately have to be 20/20
with glasses or better to do good snaps & see those fine lines.

The new Dell M65 and its more expensive M90 will use the Core Duo Intel
chips like the new Apple MacBook Pro (<6 lb) and ought to perform real
well at about 8 lbs.

A used or refurbished M60 or M70 direct from Dell would have a good
warranty, if you can get one on their Special Offers (left side of
screen w/"Dell Deals" at top, but I'ld call their customer order line
and ask if they have refurbished an M70 available), and you could
probably get one w/lots of options for around $2000 as soon as the M90
ships.

Bo

 

Of course, if you are a daring designer...you just buy the MacBook Pro,
load the free Boot Camp from Apple, then Win XP SP2 & SolidWorks, and
away you go with the lightest high speed laptop you can get.

Then any internet activity is free of the Windows security mess, as you
run Mac OSX, in a minute anytime, or within some seconds in a
virtualization scenario (but currently lower screen resolution in
Windows).

Admittedly Boot Camp is the first public beta, but it is already
running SolidWorks 2006 SP 3.4 for me without any hitches for demo &
field work.

Boot Camp now on the MacBook Pro is more stable than any SWks SP0
release I've had, if that counts for anything. I have yet to freeze or
crash Win XP or SolidWorks on the MacBook.

Bo

 

has anyone used a dell M65 laptop? what do you think of it?

 

Haven't heard of anyone using the M65 & not sure if it has actually
shipped.

I would have to expect that this lower speed version of Dell's
top-of-the-line laptop would surely match the prior M70 performance. I
didn't see anyone posting comparisons yet.

If you need a top notch PC Laptop, I can't imagine anything better than
the M65 (6.2 lb) or M90 (8.6 lb) plus a charger @ about 2 lbs.

Dell is even offering a Lease-Purchase $1 buyout option to lower the
upfront costs. Doubt others are doing that.

I personally would buy the top of the line M90 maxed out on a
lease-purchase.

Bo