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Resolved Question

how can i get a good laptop?

Dec 12, 2011 6:59PM PST

im using 3d max an autocad and photo shop and i really want a pefect laptop that meets my needs and can provide rendering without problems what kind of laptop is suitable for me?and which brand do you suggest?

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aryayi has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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It's called a desktop
Dec 12, 2011 10:10PM PST

It's called a desktop. Just like gaming, laptops are particularly ill suited to high end graphics work. Smaller, lower resolution, displays, slower and lower powered CPUs, slower and lower powered GPUs, not to mention the fact that there is physically less room for all the waste heat from the CPU and GPU to go. So it just sits around inside the case, raising the ambient temp, and slow baking everything inside the unit.

What you want is a desktop, and not some dinky little slimline unit or all-in-one unit either. You want yourself a full fledged mid-tower case.

As for brands... Personally I'd suggest staying away from anything made by HP or Acer, so: HP and Compaq, then Acer, Gateway, and eMachines. I'd also be a bit wary of Asus. From what I'm hearing about some of their back end things, like dealing with repairs, they're making stuff up as they go... Right now. That says something about the company to me, and it's not anything good. Beyond that, don't go into a place like Best Buy or Fry's and buy the cheapest thing on the floor. Any desktop sub-$500 should be avoided like a leper with the plague. Something in the $1,000-$1,500 (or higher) is where you probably want to be looking. Otherwise, there's little to no profit margin on the unit, and it's what you call a loss leader. Companies produce them with the hopes of making up the losses they take on the back end. So they load them with all kinds of crap software, there's little to no upgrade potential (so you have to buy another one soon), and just about every little dirty underhanded trick they can come up with will get pulled on you. Plus, if you're getting paid say a few pennies for every unit of a particular model you inspect, and a couple of dollars to inspect units from another model... Which one are you going to spend more time on? Quite probably one of the best and worst things to happen to the world was the sub-$2,000 computer.

That said... Dell is pretty good... Apple's Mac Pro would be an excellent choice if you can swing that kind of cash. You could probably even reconsider HP if you're paying $1,500+ for a unit. I'd still stay away from Acer. There just aren't that many companies left in the market. Years of deregulation and ever narrowing profit margins have reduced the playing field considerably.

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thnk you
Dec 13, 2011 8:16PM PST

<span id="INSERTION_MARKER"> many <span id="INSERTION_MARKER"> thanks but i want to know your opinion about msi laptops i heard they are good and in expensive?

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Never used them
Dec 13, 2011 9:16PM PST

Never used them, but when the word "inexpensive" enters into the discussion, it's usually a warning sign. That's not to say that you have to spend a lot of money to get a good quality system, or the converse that inexpensive systems are poor quality... But there is a lot of truth to the old saying: You get what you pay for. It's not an absolute, but if you think about all the electronics and other devices that are still around today, and working well, from the 1970s and 1980s, it was pretty high end and expensive stuff at the time. As opposed to the stuff rusting and leaking all kinds of toxic chemicals into the ground from the same era that was built cheap and failed rather quickly.

This doesn't really change the fact that your stated uses are particularly ill suited to laptops... ANY laptop. Even so-called desktop replacements or high end gaming laptops. I often call those the Phoenician Class laptops, meaning that like the mythical Phoenix, they are consumed by the very fire from which they are born. Or less poetically: The high end components used means that they tend to burn out even faster than lower end laptops. Most high end laptops have a useful lifespan of about six months, and while they're still under warranty, getting them serviced is usually such a nightmare that ultimately most people just give up and buy a new laptop.

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Answer
If it simply MUST be a laptop ...
Dec 13, 2011 9:21AM PST

then, for what you have indicated you will use it for, you should look at what are marketed as Desktop replacement laptops.

Here are some links to get you started -
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/1659/top_10_power_laptops.html
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-desktop-replacements/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2361010,00.asp

After reading up on each check the manufacturer's site for variants that they offer that interest you.

As has already been stated an actual desktop workstation would be best suited but a laptop configured as these are might be a satisfactory change off. Battery life is usually not very long for this type and they tend to be a bit heavy to lug all over creation but they are indeed more portable than the old "luggables" back in the good ol' days.

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many thanks...
Dec 13, 2011 8:13PM PST

hi,many thanks for your help
but i hears msi laptops are good and inexpensive whats your opinion?

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Regarding MSI ...
Dec 14, 2011 12:00AM PST

I don't have "an opinion" on them other than that they do make laptops and some are good while others are not so good depending on what one is looking for in a laptop. There is absolutely NO WAY for anyone but you yourself to know exactly what you are looking for and what compromises you are willing to make to get done what you need to get done with a computer because each of us sets different priorities on everything (I couldn't really tell you nor could you really tell me whether or not Applebees makes a good steak dinner because what we view as good will probably be quite different.

MSI is one of the desktop replacement laptops listed in one of the links I offered you and my advice still stands - look over the reviews then check the manufacturer's sites for the ones you think might do the job for additional information and variants offered.

If, as it seems, you are really interested in learning more about MSI laptops that might suit your needs them maybe a slightly more pointed search would help. click this link then read a few -
http://www.google.com/search?q=msi+desktop+replacement

Do the same for other brands you may be interested in by substituting the brand (Dell or HP or Compaq, or Asus, or Alienware, etc.) for msi in the search

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desktop replacment...
Dec 14, 2011 9:33PM PST

many thanks for your help but i want to know more what is desktop replacement exactly? and want kind of processor or graphic card and etc. is powerful and suitable for me? one of my friends has gateway and she says its good for us but im not sure because she cant render files (3d max) quickly? i dont want to have problem with my laptop about its speed?and im really confused is there any good laptop except apple???

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Like I said
Dec 14, 2011 9:58PM PST

Like I said, you want a DESKTOP not a desktop replacement, not a gaming laptop, a DESKTOP. Any kind of laptop will be very bad at the things you say you want to use a computer for. And then you also don't want some all-in-one desktop or a slimline desktop. The bigger the case the better in your situation.

If you get a laptop and want to use programs like 3D Max, Photoshop, etc, then you will be disappointed pretty much no matter what laptop you get. So to borrow a phrase from one of our past presidents: READ MY LIPS: GET A DESKTOP!

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I have desktop but i need portable system...
Dec 15, 2011 3:25PM PST

many thanks for your help but I have two questions?
1- please help me about a good desktop i have one but it doesn't satisfy me. what kind of GF , CPU and etc. is good for me?
2- i need portable system as well and which brand is the best?? <span id="INSERTION_MARKER">

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Re: best brand
Dec 15, 2011 4:37PM PST

There IS no best brand. There isn't even a best laptop for you requirements.

And even brands that are - on the whole and on the average - 'good' do have the occasional laptop that breaks down during warranty. I assume you would call that 'bad'.

For your desktop: can you tell what you have now and why it doesn't satisfy you?

Kees

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my current system is
Dec 16, 2011 6:28PM PST

GF 615M-P33
i cant render my files because reduction of my system speed

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Re: slow rendering
Dec 17, 2011 3:52AM PST

Any medium priced graphic card in your desktop would do.

Kees