Laptops - Dell M70 /Fujitsu Celsius H230

Well, Its time to upgrade my old Dell laptop, I was looking at:

A) Dell M70

Intel M770
15.5 WSXGA
256MB Quadro FX Go 1400
2GB RAM

But I've just read a review of the

B) Fujitsu Celsius H230

Intel M770
15" UXGA
256MB ATI FireGL V5000
2GB RAM

Benchmark Solidworks 2005 APC
Overall 1.47
Graphics 1.43
CPU 1.5
I/O 1.57

I have a couple (well 5 actually!) of questions you guys might be able
to help with:

1) Whats the difference between WSXGA and UXGA display

2) Is there any difference between ATI and Quadro graphics

3) Does anyone have the equivalent benchmarks for the M70

4) Has anyone personally compared these 2 machines

5) Are ther any other machines available for around the same pricerange
(Approx £GB 2K

Thanks,

Kev

 

WSXGA=1600x1024
UXGA=1600x1200

W = "Wide", so dvd movies will look better on it.

The ATI and Quadro graphics will likely give comparable performance, but
nVidia as a company has a much larger portion of the CAD market than
ATI, which has historically been a pariah for OpenGL cards/drivers. I'd
personally go with the nVidia.

In the "conventional laptop" arena, there are some other machines like
the HP nw series, Sager, and even some Toshibas.

I just recently bought a Boxx, but this may be out of the pricerange you
specify (about $4k US). Also not sure about how much extra they'd
charge to go to the UK (based in TX). It's built on a laptop chassis
that is almost half again as big as conventional laptop which several
mfgers are offering in different flavors. It's somewhere between
"workstation" and "laptop". It weighs about 13 lbs when most laptops
might go around 7, and has a 17" wide screen. Other mfgs that offer the
same chassis are Sager, Hypersonic, Alienware, Eurocom.

 

Hey Matt,
Thanks for the heads up, I'd discounted Alienware as last time I looked
they didn't have a UK office - but now they do and the MJ-12M 7700
model looks good at around £2.5K for the options I need, it only has a
17" widescreen SXGA display though 1680 x 1050!

I discouneted Boxx (although a great spec.), Sager, Hypersonic and
Eurocom because I couldn't find UK dealers which would make delivery
very expensive and any RTB's a bit long winded.

The only HP's and Tosh's I found didn't have OGL graphics cards so that
now leaves 3 options:

Dell, Fujitsu or Alien.

So, has anyone out there used these machines and can compare and is
there anyone who has comparable benchmark results to compare.

I think I'm personally favoring the Dell or Alien, the only thing
putting me off is the weight of 6.5kg.

Thanks,

Kev

 

On the screen issues. My M60 has the highest res screen below, and if
your eyes are real good, you might like that resolution for the amount
of image you get on the screen.

1680 x 1050 pixels = ratio 1.600 = 8/5 WSXGA+
1920 x 1200 pixels = ratio 1.600 = 8/5 WUXGA

Bo

 

Dell has reportedly announced it is coming out with a hi-end or
professional line of desktop and maybe laptops given the success of the
Apple, HP and other wide screen "desktop replacement" laptops.

I would guess this means the next rev of the M70 will be a 17" wide
screen, and I believe it will have to be released within a month or so
to catch the fall buying season.

Bo

 

Yes the Dell 15" WUXGA screen resolution is better than the Alien's 17"
WSXGA but at this moment we can only speculate that Dell will offer
that resolution at 17" wide and also at what proice point they will
position the product.

Kev

 

Be careful with the Fujitsu. They seem to put in cheap motherboards. My
company had 3 laptops blowout their motherboards within a month.


Well, Its time to upgrade my old Dell laptop, I was looking at:

A) Dell M70

Intel M770
15.5 WSXGA
256MB Quadro FX Go 1400
2GB RAM

But I've just read a review of the

B) Fujitsu Celsius H230

Intel M770
15" UXGA
256MB ATI FireGL V5000
2GB RAM

Benchmark Solidworks 2005 APC
Overall 1.47
Graphics 1.43
CPU 1.5
I/O 1.57

I have a couple (well 5 actually!) of questions you guys might be able
to help with:

1) Whats the difference between WSXGA and UXGA display

2) Is there any difference between ATI and Quadro graphics

3) Does anyone have the equivalent benchmarks for the M70

4) Has anyone personally compared these 2 machines

5) Are ther any other machines available for around the same pricerange
(Approx £GB 2K

Thanks,

Kev

 

WSXGA = 1650x1050 pixel resolution ~ 16:9 aspect ratio
UXGA=1600x1200 resolution 4:3 ratio

I've not seen SWx on a 16:9 display so am not sure what it would look like.
Some apps simply skew their display to fit the widescreen format and look
odd. However with a 16:9 display the overall ergonomics (sp) of the
computer may be a better fit based on your personal preferences (ie.
keyboard layout and comfort)

 

Yes,
I hadn't thought about that
Does that mean for example a circle would appear on screen as an
ellipse etc.

C|an anyone comment on their experiences of SWX on a 16:9 display.

Kev

 

I think in my mind I've already discounted the Fujitsu.

Down to Dell or Alien

Kev

 

The GoBoxx that I bought is essentially the same as the Alienware MJ-12m
7700, with the 16:9 display. Everything displays as it should as long
as you use a 16:9 resolution. If you use 4:3 resolution, it is
obviously distorted. These machines come with cards that have drivers
that support the 16:9 aspect ratio.

By the way, my ship-in-a-bottle score was coming in at 26.5 on the
GoBoxx (48 on the old Dell M50).

 

also, did you see a benchmark comparison between the Alienware and the
M60? The AW was spec'ed $1000 (US) less than the Dell.

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/spec_popup.aspx

 

I have used Apple PowerBooks and Dell M60 & now M70s, and in each case,
the reason I choose these suppliers, is I get a 3 year extended
warranty, because sooner of later, hard use causes a key on the
keyboard to stop working or a screen to flicker or go out or something
else like that.

Dell has always been at my place with parts to replace whatever was
wrong in less than 24 hours. I can't see buying 2 laptops to always
have a spare, so paying the extra for Dell has seemed worth it to me.

Obviously, if a team of people had an Alien or Boxx, then there might
be a reasonable choice of buying 1 extra machine so a spare was
available, so it would cost less overall. Its a guessing game.

Bo

 

Well, I've used Dell laptops for the last 3-4 years and the only parts
I've had to replace are 1 hard drive and 2 sets of batteries - So from
that point round one to the Dell.

However, I'd like to see a benchmark comparison of the Dell M70 Vs the
Alien. or even just the M70 in comparison to Matts Goboxx.

The Price/17" screen are mighty tempting on the ALIEN.

Anyone out there using one with SWX?


Kev

 

Search "Alienware" on the comp.cad.solidworks group and you will find
earlier user's comments on use with SolidWorks.

I recall one shop saying they had something like 5-6 Alienware laptops
and they ran fast and lasted without problems for a long time. I don't
remember how long back that was, though.

Bo

 

Hmmm.... Faulty memory is a possibility.

I think it might have been Sager, and since Sager has NOT been
mentioned in this thread, I think you will find some more valuable info
if you search for Sager in comp.cad.solidworks.

Bo

 

Thanks Bo, I'll give it a go - tried searching alienware - not much
came up

Kev

 

"33 results for alienware" in comp.cad.solidworks and there were the
same for "Sager" when I checked.

Bo

 

34 now

A quick scan shows that they all look the same - nothing indepth about
the Alien though AFIK.

Think I'd better check the spec's out in depth and then maybe call the
guys at Alienware UK.

In the meantime if anyone's using an Alien Laptop for SWX I'd like to
know what you think.


Kev

 

Dells website often offers discounted "Specials" or something similar
where they offer full warranty bought directly from Dell.

An M20 or M70 might be offered, given that the newest Intel Yonah
processors are now in newest "Centrino" mobile packages coming in the
newest laptops this months starting at the CES in Las Vegas in a day or
two.

That means unloading last years M20 and M70 demos, returns & overstock
etc. The only M20 on the "Dell Outlet" is about $1600, and there may
be M60s & M70s, too, though I didn't check them.

Bo