nukefault
11-08-2007, 04:47 PM
Just got hired for a new production/design job (yay!) and it turns out I can telecommute half or more of the time. The good news is I'm finally making decent money; the bad news is I'm pretty busy now and it'd be a huge help if I could take my work with me. Hence, I need a laptop.
Primary apps I'm using are Quark 7.3 and CS3 Web Premium (mostly Illustrator), the problem is that most of what I'm doing is print work and therefore nasty high resolutions. I'm wondering about how much a laptop that could handle up to 2000dpi on an 11x17" doc of maybe 20 pages max would cost me.
I'm thinking an Inspiron 1720 with the 17" screen, 250GB hard drive, 2GB DDR2-667, and a pair of 9-cell batteries might fit the bill - only thing that worries me is whether the onboard X3100 graphics will hurt performance. I don't really know how much the graphics card helps for 2D performance, but I figure I should at least grab a solid Core2 processor.
The only graphics upgrades they have are a 128MB GeForce 8400M GS for $100 or a 256MB GeForce 8600M GT for $200 - both seem like a ripoff considering the weak performance of those cards. When my g/f got her Inspiron 9300 (I think that was the model at least) about a year and a half ago they were selling a 6800 Mobile for like $150. What gives? Is there an 8800GT-based mobile part underway at all?
My CPU options are:
-T5250 is included (1.5ghz/667fsb/2mb cache)
-T7250 for $100 extra (2ghz, 800fsb)
-T7500 for $175 extra (2.2ghz/800fsb/4MB cache)
There's also a T5450 and a T7700 but they're just minor mhz bumps and don't seem worth the money.
I can upgrade the screen from 1440x900 to 1920x1200 (1080p) for $150 - that seems like a good choice considering my work. It's a 17" wide either way, and I don't mind things being on the smallish side (was using a 21" CRT at 1600x1200 until recently).
Last question is the hard drive... I can choose between a 250GB 5400rpm or a 160GB 7200rpm - how much would the 7200rpm help? I'm not really concerned about space and they cost the same... but of course if I *do* happen to have space for all my music I certainly wouldn't complain...
Looks like I'm at $1279 plus any CPU or GPU upgrades. It comes with 2GB memory standard - that seems to be enough on my desktop so no worries there.
Recommendations? Different brands/models that might fit my needs better? I'd like to avoid the XPS lines if possible - they seem like more of a high-end/mobile gamer tax than anything. I have had good experiences with Toshiba and Lenovo so either of those might be worth considering.
Primary apps I'm using are Quark 7.3 and CS3 Web Premium (mostly Illustrator), the problem is that most of what I'm doing is print work and therefore nasty high resolutions. I'm wondering about how much a laptop that could handle up to 2000dpi on an 11x17" doc of maybe 20 pages max would cost me.
I'm thinking an Inspiron 1720 with the 17" screen, 250GB hard drive, 2GB DDR2-667, and a pair of 9-cell batteries might fit the bill - only thing that worries me is whether the onboard X3100 graphics will hurt performance. I don't really know how much the graphics card helps for 2D performance, but I figure I should at least grab a solid Core2 processor.
The only graphics upgrades they have are a 128MB GeForce 8400M GS for $100 or a 256MB GeForce 8600M GT for $200 - both seem like a ripoff considering the weak performance of those cards. When my g/f got her Inspiron 9300 (I think that was the model at least) about a year and a half ago they were selling a 6800 Mobile for like $150. What gives? Is there an 8800GT-based mobile part underway at all?
My CPU options are:
-T5250 is included (1.5ghz/667fsb/2mb cache)
-T7250 for $100 extra (2ghz, 800fsb)
-T7500 for $175 extra (2.2ghz/800fsb/4MB cache)
There's also a T5450 and a T7700 but they're just minor mhz bumps and don't seem worth the money.
I can upgrade the screen from 1440x900 to 1920x1200 (1080p) for $150 - that seems like a good choice considering my work. It's a 17" wide either way, and I don't mind things being on the smallish side (was using a 21" CRT at 1600x1200 until recently).
Last question is the hard drive... I can choose between a 250GB 5400rpm or a 160GB 7200rpm - how much would the 7200rpm help? I'm not really concerned about space and they cost the same... but of course if I *do* happen to have space for all my music I certainly wouldn't complain...
Looks like I'm at $1279 plus any CPU or GPU upgrades. It comes with 2GB memory standard - that seems to be enough on my desktop so no worries there.
Recommendations? Different brands/models that might fit my needs better? I'd like to avoid the XPS lines if possible - they seem like more of a high-end/mobile gamer tax than anything. I have had good experiences with Toshiba and Lenovo so either of those might be worth considering.