Buying a Mac for School...

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Comments

  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    I thought it was the other way around.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    That's what they'd like you to think. Check the developer blogs if you want to get an idea what's really going on. It gives you more controls, but defaults things to open.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    Oh, wow. Now it makes sense.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    So, what is the difference between a ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 (512MB VRAM) with Intel AMT and a ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 (512MB VRAM)? The difference in price is $0.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    You don't need Intel AMT.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    Okay, thanks.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    I am considering both the W500 and the W700. For the price, I am thinking that the W700 may be amazing. The Digitizing Pen looks good, but is it? I need some knowledge.
  • photodudephotodude Salt Lake, Utah Member
    edited December 2009
    I know people who love their watcom's I've never personally used one.

    one of the other big differences is the 15.4" screen and FireGL5700 on the W500 vs the 17" screen and QuadroFX 2700M on the W700. (both are last gen workstation cards but still very nice)
    The w700 has the better LCD

    Take a look at the HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation it has one of the best LCD's you can get on a laptop. choice of NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M or ATI Mobitilty FireGL V5725 mobile workstation cards (some might have an option to use on-board graphics while on battery) and integrated Monitor profiler (downside DDR2 memory rather then the faster DDR3) the (FN035UT) model of the EliteBook 8730w comes with a 1920 x 1200 screen
  • photodudephotodude Salt Lake, Utah Member
    edited December 2009
    ps buy your extra ram from newegg or some other online retailer you'll save a lot of money (sometimes that will void warranties so check first)
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Checkmate, is there a specific reason why you're looking at workstation-esque laptops? They're not the most portable of things (the W700 is 11 lbs). So many people hate lugging around these types of laptops that they end up just leaving them at their workdesk. At that point, you're better off getting a proper PC with a big monitor.

    The Wacom Intuos4 Medium is what we use at my office. It's roughly 6"x8" for the drawing area.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    If you go back through the ticket, I believe it's because he's looking for one for school and he's going for graphic design. Wants it for the Adobe and whatnot. IIRC.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    ardichoke wrote:
    If you go back through the ticket, I believe it's because he's looking for one for school and he's going for graphic design. Wants it for the Adobe and whatnot. IIRC.

    That would be correct.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    ardichoke wrote:
    If you go back through the ticket

    Help desk on the brain!
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    I think I've decided on the W500 with these specs. I was given an amount of money that these specs fit in the range of. What does everyone think?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    How much would it cost you to upgrade the hard drive. That laptop has very nice specs. With the 5400RPM hard drive, it's like putting half inflated tires on a Corvette. Get a 7200RPM drive. It will make an immense performance difference.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Help desk on the brain!
    Oh god... I didn't even realize what I'd said. My work life has invaded the forum lobe of my brain.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
  • photodudephotodude Salt Lake, Utah Member
    edited December 2009
    Leonardo wrote:
    How much would it cost you to upgrade the hard drive. That laptop has very nice specs. With the 5400RPM hard drive, it's like putting half inflated tires on a Corvette. Get a 7200RPM drive. It will make an immense performance difference.

    QFT

    my only complaint with the w500 is the ccfl backlight on the LCD (it might blow out your blacks and cause some other color accuracy issues)
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, I understand that he wants something for school and for Adobe work. I want to know the reasons behind going for a laptop.

    The HDD is too slow and too small. The screen is WAY too small. The CPU is underpowered.

    With that kind of budget you should be building a Core i7.
  • NLichtmanNLichtman Spring Valley, CA
    edited December 2009
    Buddy J wrote:
    Yeah, I understand that he wants something for school and for Adobe work. I want to know the reasons behind going for a laptop.

    The HDD is too slow and too small. The screen is WAY too small. The CPU is underpowered.

    With that kind of budget you should be building a Core i7.

    Portability.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    W700ds?
  • photodudephotodude Salt Lake, Utah Member
    edited December 2009
    ^ If I was looking for a new laptop for location work I would be looking at the W700ds with the HP EliteBook 8730w (FN035UT) model as an alternate option.

    The integrated Monitor profiler and 1920 x 1200 screen (extended color gamut LCD so it covers the full adobeRGB (about 102%NTSC) but not the full 133%NTSC of a 30bit monitor) are the primary considerations. I would also go for a laptop with an i7 quad with a good LCD, if I could get the workstation graphics card as an addon; but all the discrete workstation cards only come with the workstation laptops no after market options.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    W700ds?
    Yeah, I scratched my head as well.

    It's a Lenovo Thinkpad.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    Apologies, I assumed those following the thread that noticed he had looked at the W500 and W700 would catch on. Yes, the W700ds is a dual-screen version that has a slide-out monitor, still with the embedded digitizer and all that other fun jazz.
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