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Suggestions for a new laptop?

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by bringjustn, May 24, 2013.

  1. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    Well my 7 year old laptop decided to die... which is a good and bad thing seeing how I wanted a new one, but I wanted to wait for the next round of chips to come out... oh wait that's on June 4th :) (luckily I found this out before I bought an i7, though I might still get one if I can get it cheaper)

    Here is what I am looking for, and maybe you might be able to help. Remember I don’t mind waiting another few weeks to buy if I can save some money, or get a better computer.

    Price: $700-1200 usd range

    What I want to do with it:
    · Run the robot printer and my current 3d printer (if I ever get her working)
    · Run Solidworks or AutoCAD for some 3d designs. I’m not sure which I want to use yet, but can get an education version of each through my mentoring/coaching of a F.I.R.S.T. Robotics team (if you have some time in the first part of the year and want to help some young fellow nerds look into volunteering www.usfirst.org ), and while running it not bog it down too much.
    · The normal surf the web, watch movies, and the other things we do normally on a computer.

    Some features I think I might need (I guess the area I want opinions on):
    · Dedicated graphics
    · A full keyboard with numeric key pad
    · Would like a 15” screen so I do keep a bit of portability
    · At least 8gb RAM, would like it to be upgradeable to 32gb, but can live with upgradeable to 16gb
    · Somewhat decent speakers
    · Quad core (if supports 32gb RAM) or Dual core
    · I7 or what I am guessing will be an i9 when it comes out, or AMD
    · A power brick that I can’t fry and egg on (my last HP laptop had one that kept your feet warm while sitting outside in Antarctica with just a pair of sandals on, don’t judge me on how poorly I pack for vacation)
    · Some USB 3.0 ports, and a HDMI, guessing it would be hard not to find these
    · Under 8lbs if it can be (not a deal breaker)
    · If it is running windows 8 I would like a touch screen (not a deal breaker, but why not have the novelty of it, as of right now Acer is the only one that seems to have something with touch and dedicated graphics, and I had 2 bad experiences with Acer a few years ago that left me not liking them, but I might try them out)
    · If it is a pricier computer, one of the sites that do financing would be great (like 12 months interest free so I can spread out the pain a bit more)

    Anything I missed that I might want to look for in my ramblings? Like I said before I’m kind of sort of waiting for the June 4th announcement from Intel on what their new chip will be and to see what some of the companies do with their older product’s prices. Thanks for reading through this (I am bored on lunch at work).
     
  2. Harry

    Harry Team ROBO 3D
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    Windows or Mac?
     
  3. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    I knew I forgot something... Windows... though I have an iPhone, I have given all my friends and family so much razzing about them owning a Mac, I can't turn over to the other side :) plus I'm pretty sure that would push me further into joining the Mac Cult or is it iCult?
     
  4. Harry

    Harry Team ROBO 3D
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    haha. I am a user of both. I'll get you some good recommendations, I do this as part of my job for my company I own, but wouldn't mind helping anyone with anything on the forums!
     
    2 people like this.
  5. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    There is a an interface that many of us are implementing on our own printer called VIKI that has the Repetier coding running on it so it can take GCode directly from an SD card to run print jobs on your 3d printer thus eliminating the need for a PC to act as that part of the puzzle it costs about $75 and would allow you to focus on a more robust system just make sure you can export GCode to an SD card throw it in the VIKI and you are set. That way you don't have an expensive system tied to your printer.

    A word about Solidworks it requires a lot of resources and there are so many options that I find mine 20 LCD screen on my 3.3Ghz desktop system barely suffices I am running on 4Gof ram right now simply because I haven't had a chance to upgrade but I will be maxing it out as soon as I can to help run solidworks smoothly

    SOLIDWORKS = LOTS OF POWER , LOTS OF MEMORY , BIG SCREEN, GREAT GRAPHICS CARD
     
  6. Matthias

    Matthias Member

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    I'm happily using Thinkpads at home and at work for the last 20 years. Even though I hate the new keyboards (apple-like), because there are some important keys missing and the space between the F-keys is missing as well, it's still a recommendation.
    BTW, Linux (Ubuntu) is also worth looking at.
     
  7. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    Someday I might get a LCD interface for one of my printers, but in order to use it I still need a computer to use to design what I want to print. Though the printer just plugs in and doesn't use much computer resources to run it, at least my current one running Repetier doesn't, so I don't think I need to factor that in to get a more robust system. I prefer to do my CAD work while sitting on my couch, or else I would build a much better desktop for half the price. I'm not to worried about having an expensive system tied to my printer since most of my prints happen while I am at work or sleeping.

    I know Solidworks is very taxing on a system and know I won't be able to use it to its full potential on a laptop, but for normal designing it will work fine. At a minimum of 8gb RAM and a 2gb dedicated graphics card I'll be able to do rendering just fine, you can tweak your settings to help it work smoother on lesser computers as well if need be.

    I just hope next week will bring some announcements of what the next gen laptops can do.... darn waiting... but the story of my life with this summer’s new electronic toys to play with
     
  8. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    Do thinkpads still have that red dot mouse like when IBM had them?

    And I have used Ubuntu for recovering info from a virus ridden harddrive, but not sure I could use that every day, but I might give it a try if I get bored. :)
     
  9. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Solidworks does require specific graphics card for their rendering tools to be even available so if rendering is a big issue with you, please double check the graphics card you are planning to get is one of the ones they recognize. They have an entire page dedicated to just that so it can not just be assumed that any high power graphics card sill suffice. I have read critiques mentioning just this issue. So to be on the safe side what ever you end up please double check the graphics aspect.

    Just a bit of advice, I hope you end with a kick ass system.
     
  10. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    I might just go back to AutoCAD and have things just work.... I can just print something and check fitment and not worry about the fancy rendering. I have been looking at the Toshiba Qosmio line with a 3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M at the $1000 price mark
     
  11. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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  12. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    I hated that little red dot
     
  13. Matthias

    Matthias Member

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    Can't live without it. I hate touchpads, I always disable it. Good you have a choice tho.
     
  14. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    problem was my fingers are so big I could never control it. that sucker would fly across the screen and go anywhere it wanted except where I wanted it to go and I did adjust the sensitivity but it just didn't work for me and then I would be typing bump it an my words got screwed up yep I know I could have probably turned it off but just liked to dislike it I guess LOL
     
  15. bringjustn

    bringjustn Member

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    Looks like I had the right idea to wait for the new intel chips. Toshiba looks like it will be able to fill just about all my requirements including a touchscreen that I really don't need but would like to play with. And best of all looks like they are coming out in Q2 and Q3, and unless they changed it, June is the last month in Q2 :)

    Now to wait for the final prices and details to come out, most of what I am reading is UK reports.

    If anyone sees a update/press release on US release dates for any of the new laptops coming out please post them.

    Example of one I'm excited about :)

    http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/121...ps-launched-with-new-intel-haswell-processors
     

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