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Laptop Advice
- Thread starter mmorse
- Start date
choucove
New Member
For professional design work, I highly recommend the HP EliteBook series of laptops. I have had dozens of customers order these laptops, own one myself, and have never had anything fail on one yet, they are amazing. These laptops are known for having some of the best build quality for business laptops in the industry, and they are built using hardware specifically intended for professional content creation, graphics design, and 3D CAD/Rendering. The good thing here too is that these laptops come in a broad range to fit your budget and intended usage.
I have been so impressed with the HP ProBook and EliteBook series of laptops that it has become almost exclusively what we recommend and sell at Cumulus Computers for laptops and mobile workstations.
I have been so impressed with the HP ProBook and EliteBook series of laptops that it has become almost exclusively what we recommend and sell at Cumulus Computers for laptops and mobile workstations.
Move In Media
New Member
Well, there's always the Macbook Pro line, favorite among designers, editors, hipsters. I'm yet to be convinced that one needs to overpay for a design computer, but to each his own. You can actually get some decent used MBPs that are 3-5 years old that should still be powerful enough to run design programs, but you have to be be careful and picky when buying used...
As far as PC, pretty much any laptop line will work, I highly suggest that you spend the extra money on a business line, regardless of manufacturer, as they usually put higher quality hardware in those, so technically should last you longer. If you're buying new, I also do not recommend that you try to save money and get cheapo models, youll pay for it in computer repair. I personally prefer Lenovo and HP, but really as long as you're getting a business line computer, it doesnt matter who the manufacturer is. I know that Toshiba used to have horrible overheating issues, perhaps they've resolved it by now.
If you've got the money, I suggest you install a SSD drive to use as your work/scratch drive as it will help files load faster. And for storage just use an external HD. As far as computing power, you'll want nothing less than a Dual Core, at least 1.5Ghz, and as much RAM as the laptop will fit. I'm not a designer, but I do fiddle around in PS, and I find that my Lenovo W510 (with Intel i7 1.6 Ghz, 12GB RAM) is plenty fast for what I do. Try to stay away from AMD chips, as they tend to have more overheating issues than Intel chips.
As far as PC, pretty much any laptop line will work, I highly suggest that you spend the extra money on a business line, regardless of manufacturer, as they usually put higher quality hardware in those, so technically should last you longer. If you're buying new, I also do not recommend that you try to save money and get cheapo models, youll pay for it in computer repair. I personally prefer Lenovo and HP, but really as long as you're getting a business line computer, it doesnt matter who the manufacturer is. I know that Toshiba used to have horrible overheating issues, perhaps they've resolved it by now.
If you've got the money, I suggest you install a SSD drive to use as your work/scratch drive as it will help files load faster. And for storage just use an external HD. As far as computing power, you'll want nothing less than a Dual Core, at least 1.5Ghz, and as much RAM as the laptop will fit. I'm not a designer, but I do fiddle around in PS, and I find that my Lenovo W510 (with Intel i7 1.6 Ghz, 12GB RAM) is plenty fast for what I do. Try to stay away from AMD chips, as they tend to have more overheating issues than Intel chips.
Move In Media
New Member
Yes! The Elitebook series are definitely a good product, a buddy of mine had one and it's a great, sturdy reliable machine.
Dennis422
New Member
Once you go Mac, you never go back!
I am a Mac person, but due to their pricing, few years ago I have bought a PC laptop just for a customer visits.
If you are to do a design work on it, I would sugget you to go with at least i5 processor and plenty of RAM for a PC.
If you have enough money, go with a Macbook Pro
I am a Mac person, but due to their pricing, few years ago I have bought a PC laptop just for a customer visits.
If you are to do a design work on it, I would sugget you to go with at least i5 processor and plenty of RAM for a PC.
If you have enough money, go with a Macbook Pro
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Been there and been back (happily I might add).
I agree with going with the business line. My mom and sister both use Lenovo.
Now, having said that I do have a Toshiba Qosmio (no overheating issues to date) that had done very well and still running strong. Only 8 GB of Ram though, but the one that I have can be outfitted with 16GB. Never saw the need for it running the Master Suite CS5 and EmbroideryStudio E2 Lvl 3. It does support two monitors and my second one is a Cintiq 12WX.
If you are doing this for work, don't cheap out. That's probably the biggest thing is don't cheap out.
I should add that if you are considering a Mac (and they are good machines, don't think my first comment is saying that they aren't), make sure you don't have a program that requires windows or a different OS. My embroidery program (as most embroidery programs that I am aware of) is Windows only, so at the very least I would have to run a virtual drive as a work around. That takes up resources, resources that are more precious on a laptop. Just in case you have any programs that are OS specific and it's not the OS of the laptop you get.
I love Dell! I got a latitude d830 back in early 2008. Had a few issues over the years and my warranty has covered everything. I get to speak to english speaking tech support (pro tech support) and next day fix. My hard drive went and they had a replacement the very next day and a service tech her to install it. If i get another, it will definitely be a dell cause of the service i have had with the issues i occasionally get. Hope this helps
mopar691
New Member
I use a ASUS G75.
GTX 670M, 16 GB RAM, i7 Quad and a SSD.
Thing screams, but is rather large.
I have been using the ASUS ROG series for about 4 years now, I try to get a new one every year and pass off the old on my kids or employees. I have never been happier than with these machines.
GTX 670M, 16 GB RAM, i7 Quad and a SSD.
Thing screams, but is rather large.
I have been using the ASUS ROG series for about 4 years now, I try to get a new one every year and pass off the old on my kids or employees. I have never been happier than with these machines.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Damn. How could I forget my dad's rig. Asus VX7. Awesome machine. Little unnecessary, but awesome none the less.
Of course, for full disclosure, Alicia uses a Mac Air for Painter.
omgsideburns
New Member
I was going to write something long about what I had and what you should look for.. but it's all preference and everyone has a different idea. Just look for the fastest thing you can get that has the features you want. Go look at as many as you can. Use them, hold them, fold them, pick them up. Some look nice and feel cheap, some look cheap and are solid as a rock. Avoid gimmicky buttons and stuff.
Watch out for that new thing where the stick the track pad way left of center.. I'm really confused by it, but I'm a right handed mouse/trackpad user and it makes me cross under my other hand and I hate it.
You probably want a Windows computer if that's what you use daily. Switching to OSX can disrupt your workflow until you get accustomed to it. If you were a mac guy, you wouldn't have started this thread because you don't have that many options.
Watch out for that new thing where the stick the track pad way left of center.. I'm really confused by it, but I'm a right handed mouse/trackpad user and it makes me cross under my other hand and I hate it.
You probably want a Windows computer if that's what you use daily. Switching to OSX can disrupt your workflow until you get accustomed to it. If you were a mac guy, you wouldn't have started this thread because you don't have that many options.
4R Graphics
New Member
Oncce you go mac you cant afford to come back! LOL
Not a mac fan they were great years ago but ever since 64 bit computing and the design companies getting on board the playing field is level.
Not a mac fan they were great years ago but ever since 64 bit computing and the design companies getting on board the playing field is level.
fixtureman
New Member
Our design people use Mac's at work but use PC's at home. They say the new PC's will blow the Mac's they did a teat rendering a large Trade show display on each and the PC was more than twice as fast