Laptop shopping

CS4 as you know is very processor and memory hungry, but I believe it also runs in 64 bit, so you may want to take that into consideration when choosing what to buy.

I don't think I would want to try to mix a laptop with graphics production work.

I'd buy a more powerful desktop, and a very light laptop with a solid state drive.

GotoMyPc works well if you need to access the heavy stuff while on the road. It also now works on a Mac.

I like Thinkpads, been buying them for over 10 years and never had an issue with them.

Good luck on your search.

 

Under $2500 you may want to look at the more conventional laptop brands like Dell or HP. A significant chunk of the Alienware price is the name and the pretty lights on the keyboard.

Just looking on the Dell website I found the Studio 17 with a core i7 at 1.73ghz, 500GB at 7200rpm, 1GB Radeon 4650, 8GB ram at 1333, and 7 Ultimate all under $2000 and I'm sure there is a better deal to be had there too.

Not to mention the Dell probably has a decent battery life whereas you might be lucky to get 45 minutes out of the alienware.

 

Ever thought about an iMac? I realize its a desktop but a very portable one. The power on the new ones is pretty impressive and if you're looking at a larger screen laptop I doubt the iMac would be much harder to transport and you'd get a much bigger and better screen.

 

+1 to whomever mentioned ThinkPads. Check out the ThinkPad W700, I just spec'ed out one with a Core 2 Duo T9600 proc, 6 GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX GPU, and a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive and it came to $2600. It has a RAID capable drive controller and an extra drive bay so you can double them up and mirror them of you want. 17" screen and Windows 7 64-bit Professional plus a 9-cell battery. Should fit the bill for what you want to do.

 

What about a Mac Book / Pro?

You appear "open" to the idea of Apple kit - What's your "hangup"?

Maybe "we" can garner another convert

Cheers,
Ian

 

I think power, and I'll agree, it does seem the entire Macbook line is underpowered compared to other machines on the market. Though I'm happy to deal with my underpowered MBP.

 

+1

I agree - There's no question you pay more for Apple kit, and it doesn't have the HP of "high end" (gaming) PC's - But the question becomes, "so what?".......

How often nowadays do we see a legitimately pegged CPU? [Unless it's running Flash of course ]

Nothing in the OP suggests high end compute power is needed, and Mac's "just work" - No need to spend $ (and endless hours - How much is your time worth?) on anti-[virus|spyware|crap] S/W.

Get a Mac and be happy

Cheers,
Ian

 

In general, yes. In this specific case, I wouldn't buy one right now. Apple is due to roll out new Macbooks very soon.

 

Unbelieveable, nice call 8. New MBPs this morning with i5s and i7s. Great timing.

I think it's a sign.

 

I agree on Windows based laptops - 2-3 years and replace. But, Mac's last a lot longer - My newest is now ~5 years old and is still going strong(ish)..... My old G4 is in the family room as a "guest" system and still plods along nicely.

At least that's (partly) how I justify their higher cost - you can amortize it over a much longer period.

Cheers,
Ian

 

One thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to buy all the extras from Apple. I know you mentioned 8GB of Ram which is $400 on Apple's config, I bet you could get it at about half that from a 3rd party. The same goes for a hard drive. What were you looking at that was $3200?

 

I'm guessing he upped the CPU speed, went for the faster drive and so on - Which is, IMHO, totally uncalled for!

4G of RAM is plenty (wish I could up mine to that - I'm maxed at 2G!) - In a few years, when an additional 4G is about $50, maybe upgrade, but for now, I honestly wouldn't bother.

Same thing for the optional, high speed CPU's - I bet even with CS4/CS5 you won't see any difference in real world performance.

Hard drives - Add a 3rd party external or two for next to nothing - RAID if you want, TimeMachine to do backups on another - Cheap!

Cheers,
Ian

 

FWIW, I've heard not-so-great things about Alienware quality of late. Basically the criticisms revolve around poor build quality, high cost, and no significant edge in performance over comparable competitor units.


I'm a fan of my ThinkPad's ruggedness, though it isn't by any stretch of the imagination ultra-high-performance. My dell laptop (again, not a killer by any means) has been only okay.

 

Fair enough..... You did sort of open the door to Mac's in the OP, and I would have thought with this release (i5 & i7) HP wouldn't be an issue. But, its obviously your choice!

I think I'm gonna start another poll asking "who buys extended warranties?" - I've never bothered in the belief that if it's gonna break, it'll do it in the first 12 months - Only bit me once with an iPhone that died after ~13 months. Is it "cheap insurance" or a waste of money? I dunno......

Cheers,
Ian

 

I have an Alienware laptop from before they were Dell owned, and I also have a brand new Alienware desktop. My laptop fried it's motherboard the first week I had it and it became a problem getting it fixed as Alienware was only in Florida and I had to ship it to them to fix it.
They told me it would be about a month with shipping both ways and the repair time. I complained, a lot, overnighted it there and they had it back to me in a week (ish). But now that they are Dell owned, I don't think that same situation would occur. The problem with Alienware now, is that they have very limited graphics card options. When they made my laptop, (which is (was) a mobile desktop monster (20lbs, 40 minute battery when new)) you could get CAD cards instead of gaming cards. Now that they are basically Dells gaming division, they only have gaming options. This may not be a problem for CS4/5, but I had to buy a separate card when I recently bought my desktop.

The persons comments about MAC's lasting longer has not been the case in my house and particularly since anything before they switched to Intel chips is now almost worthless as you can not run their latest OS and therefore can not run the current "i" applications. (I guess, technically, you can upgrade to the last OS and run the current apps, but upgrading to an old OS seems like it's time for a new computer) My Alienware laptop is now 5 years old and is still fast enough (having some heat issues though) and the case is indestructible, my wifes 3 year old MAC laptop, the last model before the switch, is slow and falling apart. One benefit of Windows making lousy operating systems is that XP is still current.

 

On the other hand, MAC and Adobe have always gone together. Anyone who is used to using PhotoShop on a MAC, hates it on a PC. CS4/5 is what MACs are built for.

 

Stay away from laptops designed for home use...this excludes all Alienware garbage, most Dells and Apple stuff; these devices simply cannot withstand getting their asses kicked by life on the road, airport or bus station.

Take a look a Lenovo's Thinkpad (formerly IBM Thinkpad) line. I have the R series with a small SSD and it's a stout little ****er...strong screen hinges, metal and CFRP chassis makes for some damned durable gear.

The W series looks up your alley, just make sure to splash out for an SSD for your OS drive...pricey but monumentally worth it. Toss in a few max life batteries, a good travel case and you will be good to go.