Forum - General Discussion - Cheap(ish) laptop

Forum - General Discussion - Cheap(ish) laptop - Messages http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Forum - General Discussion - Cheap(ish) laptop - Messages en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jitbit AspNetForum Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:05:34 GMT Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:05:34 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from pyrrho http://sites.amd.com/us/fusion/apu/Pages/fusion.aspx - however I am interested in innovations that bring desktop-grade graphics to affordable laptops/notebooks, which is where Fusion comes in. The Fusion stuff is low power-consumption, too, which is a bonus.

Anyhow, Jamie has been putting the machine through its paces and he's very impressed, which if you know Jamie is really saying something. It runs Muvizu like a dream, certainly better than the laptops that we use for demos. He's also tried it out as a gaming machine and it gets big thumbs-up on that count, too.

Our eval kit is an MSi-branded 15.6-inch laptop with an AMD A8-3500M APU, that's the Fusion bit, and came with 4GB of memory. I asked AMD what Fusion stuff was available in mainstream UK retailers that would give an equivalent performance and their guy told me that Comet, Currys and John Lewis already have some, chiefly by HP and Toshiba. The 3500M APU, in our laptop is at the low end of the A8 series. We're told that the high end of the A6 series should also perform well, but we haven't tried that. If anyone has, please post your findings here.

So, anyone thinking of buying a laptop with high-end graphics grunt without the fancy prices may want to pump Jamie for some proper technical info. Fusion really does seem to be where it's at.]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:05:34 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim
i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
4096MB (2x2GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M Graphics Card
500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000 (EUR
1 year of Collect & Return 10 day coverage included with your PC
6-cell 56Whr Lithium Ion battery
XPS L502x Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Metalloid Aluminum Cover
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB - 1 year licence
15.6"(40 cm) HD WLED TL (1366x768) 720p with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated
Power Supply 130W AC Adaptor

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/dell-xps-l502x-intel-i7-2630qm-processor-4gb-ram-2gb-graphics-only-559-delivered/985382

If I hadn't already purchased a new PC this month I would be buying this!

-Jim
edited by glasgowjim on 28/07/2011]]> Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:31:32 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim
For those of us who are UK-based Dell have reduce the Alienware MX11 to £415.99

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n00w1101&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&model_id=alienware-m11x

Apparently it is capable of hitting 45-60 fps at max settings in Unreal 3 so it should have no trouble running Muvizu.

The three downsides are; it's pretty garish, the screen is small (11.6") and it has no DVD drive.

Take it easy,
-Jim]]> Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:24:10 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from ziggy72 glasgowjim wrote:

Coincidentally, I have just bought a new PC and, for the techy users, here are the specs:

Intel i5 2500k Quad Core 3.3 GHz (I am hoping to overclock it to 4.5 GHz)
Geforce 460 GTX 1GB
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Ram
MSI P67A-GD3 Motherboard (Compatible with both SLI and Crossfire)
Low-noise Modular Cooler Master PSU
OCZ Sata-3 60GB Agility 3 SSD
WD Caviar Black Sata-3 1TB HDD
Asus Xonar 5.1 Surround sound PCI Card
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Cooler
LG Super-Multi Blu-Ray/DVD Drive
2 Low noise fans
Screwless case

Thats more than you need to run Muvizu, but it never hurts to test for the high-end users (that's how I have been justifying the purchase to myself but it hasn't really worked).

I am looking forward to getting the bits and putting it all together - now that PC cases don't try to eat your hands like they did in the '90s.

Having almost the same spec (ASUS rather than MSI though) I can tell you that the 2500k will clock up to 4.3 without any problem, and using just the stock cooler. I can edit and animate everything in Muvizu with all the lights and effects turned on all the time, which is a time saver actually. Beyond 4.3Ghz, you're into the realm of voltage tweaks which, personally, I'd recommend against unless you like pain

]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:39:55 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from Wizaerd glasgowjim wrote:

Oops, that's a typo - it's actually the 560 that I have ordered

- I didn't see the point in spending more than £150 on a graphics card as once you go higher than that you are into the area of diminishing returns.

I've been pricing new comuters as well, but besides Muvizu, I also play a lot of games, do some 3D, and muck about with graphics all the time, so to get the machine I really want is a pretty penny, and just not in the budget right yet. Sad, because I really wanted to start using HitFilm Ultimate for post-production and editing, but won't run on this machine, even though it should be powerfil enough. Dua Core 2.66, 3 GIG RAM, and 2 Geoforce 8800 GTS cards...

But Muvizu runs, Cinema4D runs, Vegas Home Studio runs, and all the games I have thus far works, so I'm not too bad off...]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:13:37 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim mysto wrote:

I found this laptop at newegg and have been thinking about buying one. Seems like a fairly powerful laptop for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120

Hi Mysto - that machine seems to be a better spec than the one I was using - so it should be ok.

Take it easy,
-Jim]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:53:52 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim - I didn't see the point in spending more than £150 on a graphics card as once you go higher than that you are into the area of diminishing returns.]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:46:40 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from Wizaerd glasgowjim wrote:

Luscan wrote:

This is one of the most thinly veiled 'Guys look at my new computer!' posts I've seen in a long time

It does look good though... :I

Isn't the 460 a rather old card? Of course, with graphics cards they're obsolete within 6 months, but the 590s were relesd not too long ago, and the 460 is old.]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:09:48 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from mysto
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:08:21 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from mysto glasgowjim wrote:

I am looking forward to getting the bits and putting it all together - now that PC cases don't try to eat your hands like they did in the '90s.

I still have scars from those old cases!!!]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:01:16 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim Luscan wrote:

This is one of the most thinly veiled 'Guys look at my new computer!' posts I've seen in a long time

It does look good though... :I

If I was going to go "Hey guys look at my new pc" I would wait until I bought one of my own rather than showing off my work laptop.

Coincidentally, I have just bought a new PC and, for the techy users, here are the specs:

Intel i5 2500k Quad Core 3.3 GHz (I am hoping to overclock it to 4.5 GHz)
Geforce 460 GTX 1GB
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Ram
MSI P67A-GD3 Motherboard (Compatible with both SLI and Crossfire)
Low-noise Modular Cooler Master PSU
OCZ Sata-3 60GB Agility 3 SSD
WD Caviar Black Sata-3 1TB HDD
Asus Xonar 5.1 Surround sound PCI Card
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Cooler
LG Super-Multi Blu-Ray/DVD Drive
2 Low noise fans
Screwless case

Thats more than you need to run Muvizu, but it never hurts to test for the high-end users (that's how I have been justifying the purchase to myself but it hasn't really worked).

I am looking forward to getting the bits and putting it all together - now that PC cases don't try to eat your hands like they did in the '90s.]]> Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:41:54 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from Luscan

It does look good though... :I]]> Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:12:09 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from Jamie Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:14:25 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic1128-cheapish-laptop.aspx Message from glasgowjim
I just tested out Muvizu on my work laptop to see if it can run and I had pretty good results - it was usable with multiple light sources (with individual shadows) and multiple characters. It won't replace a good desktop or a high-end laptop but it gives decent results as the frame rate only started to suffer when I put individual shadows on.

It's the HP 625 Turion which is normally about £400-£450 but Misco are doing £100 cashback until the end of the month, so you can get it for £331.99

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=508574&CatId=3589

Cheers,
-Jim]]> Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:11:55 GMT