Laptop for 3d modeling etc

jibberishballr

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
6
0
10,510
1. What is your budget? $1000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

I actually prefer a 15.6 inch screen unless i can find a super light compact 17 inch screen

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1920x1080 or better

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? It needs to be very fast at running applications such as Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, Zbrush, and a few others

5. How much battery life do you need? The more the better, but I am fine with charging once a day if I need to. I'll be using it around 8 hours a day

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Some games, but not much, medium settings maybe, I only play path of exile and a couple online shooters.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Photoshop is a must, video editing occasionally, but mostly 3d applications like Autodesk Maya

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Not much. I have plenty of externals, I'd actually prefer an SSD

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

pretty much just browse slickdeals.net or newegg/amazon most the time.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? I'd like one that lasts 5 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Very basic, a dvd drive is pretty much it

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

No preference as long as the computer is powerful and runs smooth.

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I'm computer capable, and have done computer repair and desktop builds for the last 10 years. I won't ever need techical support or anything like that. I just want a powerful, smooth computer, that doesn't break the bank.

 

wannabepro

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2011
52
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18,590
You'll need to bump the budget up by around $300-$400 to get into the good cards + SSDs.
However, I'd highly suggest Xotic PC for laptops. Clevo makes a beastly chassis for a lowish price. (Xotic PC rebrands and sells laptops) (You get their warranty plus more customization, not much more expensive.)
http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-15416-laptops-ct-95_51_149.html
^ Their fifteen inch laptop lineup.
 

jthill909

Honorable
Nov 6, 2012
8
0
10,510
The specs you want for this laptop are pretty picky, especially the 8 hours of battery life (I personally don't think any laptop with any power [i.e. not Atom] can go that long), but here's one that I think will do great for what you need.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009M2X8OW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009M2X8OW&linkCode=as2&tag=squidmarkets-20

It's 1080p, has a dedicated gpu, an i7, and is 15". The downside is it doesn't have an ssd and won't get 8 hours of battery life. Also, I'm a fan of Asus because they have rock solid products.
 

cbrunnem

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Dec 19, 2010
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18,960


i doubt he will being doing anything that will need that strong of a gpu especially in Maya.

OP i agreed to you are asking for a minimum of a 1.5k laptop for 1k. not going to happen, that ssd really kills your selection. you might have to upgrade that yourself.

 

ipwn3r456

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Mar 21, 2012
151
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10,660
Well, there are pretty much no laptops that will come with a SSD (very rarely laptops that comes with one), so I am going to put the laptop, and the SSD as seperate:

Laptop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200695

Pretty good CPU, decent amount of RAM and decent GPU, plus 1080p screen as you wished, should be enough for your needs.

SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239045

I don't know if 120GB is enough for you, I just put it to match your budget. If you need more storage, you might have to add another $100 for a 240 - 256GB SSD.

PS: You probably won't get 8 hours of battery with most laptops, not even just for web browsing. Especially you are doing intensive programs, I don't think it's going to last 2 hours. Even if you just want to web browsing, I would say 4 - 5 hours? Not totally sure about that.
 

jthill909

Honorable
Nov 6, 2012
8
0
10,510

Well, it's about the best he's going to get for his budget he's not going to need the best just to do so 3D CAD/Modeling work.
 

jibberishballr

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
6
0
10,510
I probably should have stated that I really don't need this laptop to be used for rendering. I have a home desktop that is plenty fast for that. Also the battery thing is not the biggest issue, and the SSD I can always just buy and install myself.

I guess I really am just looking for a laptop that is 15ish inches with the fastest I7 possible, decent video card, good keyboard, and the rest I can upgrade myself.

Something not super bulky is always a plus.
 

ipwn3r456

Honorable
Mar 21, 2012
151
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10,660


What about the ones that I listed?
 

jibberishballr

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
6
0
10,510


It's not bad but I've seen faster i7 laptops for similar price. They had that one at my local costco and i didn't like the feel of the keyboard either.
 

ipwn3r456

Honorable
Mar 21, 2012
151
0
10,660

wsx123_34

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
24
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10,570
For your budget and preferences, I recommend you check out the lenovo IdeaPad Y580 http://wuggee.com/laptop/lenovo-ideapad-y580-59353260.html the ASUS N56VJ-DH71 http://wuggee.com/laptop/asus-n56vj-dh71.html or the MSI GE Series GE60 http://wuggee.com/laptop/msi-ge-series-ge60-0nc-006us.html all of which have excellent resolution and superfast memory to run all the programs you mentioned. If you feel the need to check out more options check http://wuggee.com/find-a-laptop.html#1920x1080orbetter= good luck!
 

jibberishballr

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
6
0
10,510



I don't use autocad but I assume it takes similar hardware to run. I have a desktop that I use for rendering but need to be able to do work on the go.


I'll check out some of your guys suggestions, and if anything comes up as a good deal for what I'm looking for, I'd appreciated a heads up :)