Laptop suggestion for a graphics design student

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DanniBoy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
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My sister is a graphics design student and needs a laptop. She is in her 200 and 300 level courses in college and I am not sure what type of specification her laptop needs to run all her projects and stuff for the remaining years of school. No Macs please. Thanks in advance.
 
I would recommend her the Quadro series from Nvidia or the Fire GL from ATI. Ati a the moment will be the cheaper buy, but you will see more options from Nvidia. Thinkpad, i know offers one of their notebooks with a Quadro. Not sure your price range, but be sure to pay a premium for these Graphic Design prone cards. eNjOy
 
Note that the above recommendations refer to graphics chipsets. If she's doing graphic design she'll want a powerful graphics processor, such as the Quadro and FireGL mentioned above, but you will need to find laptops, such as the Lenovo Thinkpad mentioned above, that contain these chipsets.

The Quadro and FireGL are "workstation" graphics processors, meaning they're oriented towards the sort of demandingly precise work required in graphic design as opposed to the more intense, high-speed action graphics that "gaming" graphics processors are good at. I don't know how hardware-intensive your sister's classes will be, but if she's doing 3D modeling or lots of Photoshop work, a workstation graphics processor is right for her.
 
Note that Photoshop doesn't use your video card. 3D graphic design will use your graphics card, but it's your CPU speed, RAM, and hard drive read/write speed that help with InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.

That being said, I love the Mac interface and framework for working in InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Along with the Finder UI, it lends itself very well to doing graphic design. With the excellent screen of the Macbook Pro, as a graphic designer myself, I would recommend no other laptop.
 
I second the MacBook Pro. I just bought one for my video and simulation work. It's an incredible machine. The new Intel processors run the Mac OS and Windows so you get the best of both worlds.
 
I'll third the Macbook Pro. Nicest laptop I've ever owned.

And what eabandit said about Quadro and FireGL type cards is correct. For graphic design, you are not using the 3D features of your video card. You should have as much video memory and system memory as possible to work with multiple large images at one time. A Quadro or FireGL would be best for CAD and 3D Modeling.
 
What is the difference between the 8600M GT and the Quadro FX 570M. Why does MacBook Pro go with the 8600M GT vs the Quadro?

Oh, btw I think I will go with the Lenovo Thinkpad Mobile Workstation for about $1650 after tax and shipping unless I change my mind. Thanks again.
 
DanniBoy said:
What is the difference between the 8600M GT and the Quadro FX 570M. Why does MacBook Pro go with the 8600M GT vs the Quadro?

Oh, btw I think I will go with the Lenovo Thinkpad Mobile Workstation for about $1650 after tax and shipping unless I change my mind. Thanks again.
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The FX 570M is geared towards OpenGL 3D design, and the 8600M GT is a "standard" Multimedia/gaming card.

For a person that does Graphic Design Work, using Adobe and Macromedia products etc It makes no difference whatsoever.

What you need to focus more on is Ram, Processor speed and the fastest, largest HDD you can afford.

I also recommend the macbook Pro btw.

(Graphics Pro since 1988)
 
All the professional graphics designers I know use macs. When your sister gets out and starts looking for a job she's going into a mac world.
 
Was looking into the MacBook Pro but it was way over my budget thats $1500. Any benchmarks for CAD programs like Maya and such for the 8600m gt and Quadro FX? Why no option for the Quadro in the MacBook Pro?
 
DanniBoy said:
Was looking into the MacBook Pro but it was way over my budget thats $1500. Any benchmarks for CAD programs like Maya and such for the 8600m gt and Quadro FX? Why no option for the Quadro in the MacBook Pro?
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Because must serious 3D design studio's do not use laptops for programs like maya.
The 8 core mac pro has a NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB (Stereo 3D, two dual-link DVI) option.
 
DanniBoy said:
Was looking into the MacBook Pro but it was way over my budget thats $1500. Any benchmarks for CAD programs like Maya and such for the 8600m gt and Quadro FX? Why no option for the Quadro in the MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...
The main thing for her is going to be Color reproduction, cpu speed, and memory, and HD Space. Here would be my recommendation. 12inch Ultra portable like a thinkpad X61 and then a nice 20inch S-IPS LCD for when she is back in her dorm room.
 
I just ordered from AVADirect the MSI MS-1719 notebook.
Here are the specs:
-17" WSXGA+ TFT LCD
-Bluetooth
-NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT 512MB Graphics
-Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz Processor, 800MHz FSB, 4MB L2 cache, 35.0W, 65nm
-CORSAIR, 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM SODIMM, CL5, Non-ECC
-SEAGATE, 120GB Momentus 7200.2, 7200 RPM, 8MB cache, 9.5mm, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s
-Super-Multi DVD±RW Optical Drive
-Built-in 4-in-1 MMC/SD/MS/MS Pro Media Card Reader
-Wireless-N WiFi Link 4965AGN, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/Draft N, 11/54/300 Mbps, Internal PCIe Mini Card

$1470 total (final)

Thanks for your help.
 
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