Ultrabook for coding + modeling

[t0n1zz]

Hi.. i'm looking for ultrabook/laptop (i prefer a thin and light one, don't want to take around bulky laptop/ultrabook) with price range less than $800... i just using it for coding (XNA, maybe unity3D someday if i can afford it) and modeling + animation (blender or other similiar program) and win8 pro(but i think no laptop/ultrabooks out there that come with w8 pro) oh and also more battery life if possible within this price range

and here what i found almost capable (except price)
* asus s46cm ci5
* lenovo u410 (not really sure about this lenovo brand laptop... )


any other recomendation?

 

[GodspeedFx]

Lenovo is owned by IBM, so they aren't a small company.. they have gotten pretty big in the retail market lately.

This Lenovo u410 is $799 and has an i7-3537U (2.0ghz) and 8 GB of ram and a 1TB HD+24GB solid state cache.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312445

If your budget is $800, those are the best specs you are going to get for a 14" ultrabook. It even has a discrete graphics card, although the i7's integrated HD 4000 may be about the same performance.. haha.

 

[t0n1zz]

Lenovo is owned by IBM, so they aren't a small company.. they have gotten pretty big in the retail market lately.

This Lenovo u410 is $799 and has an i7-3537U (2.0ghz) and 8 GB of ram and a 1TB HD+24GB solid state cache.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312445

If your budget is $800, those are the best specs you are going to get for a 14" ultrabook. It even has a discrete graphics card, although the i7's integrated HD 4000 may be about the same performance.. haha.

owh well in my place indonesia lenovo not so popular and yes i ever read about that lenovo have something to do with IBM hahaha... just making sure is this brand can be trusted... 😀

oh... so HD4000 have the same performace with G610M? oh i didn't know that... i think all of discrete graphics card are supposed to be more supperior than GPU from processor.... can it really handle my need? especially in modeling + animation side? and anyone know how to upgrade your win8 version to PRO? because microsoft requirement to run wp8 emulator / visual studio 2012 for wp need win8 PRO..

oh and i don't really understand about ssd cache... from what i know this is for making windows work faster.. , is windows instaled into ssd to make it faster? 24gb will be enough?

 

[GodspeedFx]

Unfortunately, if you want an ultrabook, you're not really going to be able to get one that is optimal for 3d modeling + animation for that price =( If you are willing to get something a little bigger in size than an ultrabook, you can get something a lot more powerful.

The HD 4000 is actually very good for an integrated GPU and performs a little better than the GT 610m in most games. It will do ok for basic modeling and animation but it won't do well for rendering very complex objects in real time.

A solid state cache simply stores the most commonly used files for quick access, but it is all done automatically. It gives you performance similar to solid state without having to give up lots of storage space =) I have a 32gb solid state cache and my computer starts up in 10 seconds.

Here is a link which explains how to upgrade to windows 8 pro.. you can do it right from within windows 8.

http/windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/feature-packs

 

[k1114]

Lenovo is not owned by IBM, Lenovo bought IBM's pc branch. They are completely separate companies. Lenovo has stayed in the top 5 pc vendors by market share and for the last 2 years is closing the gap for first. I'd still say asus is better quality wise but it's going to cost more. While you can find a decent performance ultrabook, you would have to be looking in the $1000+ range, $800 is the low end for ultrabooks as you are paying extra for the thin form factor. You really wouldn't want to do this work on integrated or low end components. The hd 4000 will only handle small projects.

 

[t0n1zz]

Unfortunately, if you want an ultrabook, you're not really going to be able to get one that is optimal for 3d modeling + animation for that price =( If you are willing to get something a little bigger in size than an ultrabook, you can get something a lot more powerful.

The HD 4000 is actually very good for an integrated GPU and performs a little better than the GT 610m in most games. It will do ok for basic modeling and animation but it won't do well for rendering very complex objects in real time.

A solid state cache simply stores the most commonly used files for quick access, but it is all done automatically. It gives you performance similar to solid state without having to give up lots of storage space =) I have a 32gb solid state cache and my computer starts up in 10 seconds.

Here is a link which explains how to upgrade to windows 8 pro.. you can do it right from within windows 8.

http/windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/feature-packs

what about GT635M that come in asus s46cm, is it better? oh and i wondering about battery performance s46cm have... it only 4cell while most of laptops have 6cell....

Lenovo is not owned by IBM, Lenovo bought IBM's pc branch. They are completely separate companies. Lenovo has stayed in the top 5 pc vendors by market share and for the last 2 years is closing the gap for first. I'd still say asus is better quality wise but it's going to cost more. While you can find a decent performance ultrabook, you would have to be looking in the $1000+ range, $800 is the low end for ultrabooks as you are paying extra for the thin form factor. You really wouldn't want to do this work on integrated or low end components. The hd 4000 will only handle small projects.

but from what i find out most of $1000+ ultrabook come with no so much difference spec and what makes it more expensive are SSD and some full HD resolution...

 

[k1114]

The 635m is decent enough but the s46cm does have poor battery life.

 

[t0n1zz]

The 635m is decent enough but the s46cm does have poor battery life.

oh so what i think is right... s46cm have a poor battery life than lenovo....

hmm by the way... i think i found another better option U310.. since i7 hd4000 have same performace with G610M... and come in smaller form factor (13" which is my best size of ultrabook) and also cheaper..... is it a good choice?

 

[k1114]

What do you work on now, just to compare performance.

 

[GodspeedFx]

Lenovo is not owned by IBM, Lenovo bought IBM's pc branch. They are completely separate companies. Lenovo has stayed in the top 5 pc vendors by market share and for the last 2 years is closing the gap for first.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me! Good to know =)

 

[t0n1zz]

What do you work on now, just to compare performance.

hmm
working with visual studio 2012 express for wp (i'm a windows phone developer), blender (for my project), adobe ilustrator + photoshop, and some video + music editing..... and sometimes playing online games (which i know not too demanding)

 

[t0n1zz]

I meant hardware.

oh... desktop computer with:
core2duo 2.8ghz
4gb ram ddr2
vga asus eah4670 (RADEON HD4670) 512mb ddr3
320gb HDD SATA

 

[k1114]

The 4670 is twice the performance of the hd 4000. Will this be enough for you?

 

[t0n1zz]

The 4670 is twice the performance of the hd 4000. Will this be enough for you?

wow... i didn't know that.... how can you guys get the comparison of performace?

 

[Squander]

The 4670 is twice the performance of the hd 4000. Will this be enough for you?

wow... i didn't know that.... how can you guys get the comparison of performace?

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

[t0n1zz]

The 4670 is twice the performance of the hd 4000. Will this be enough for you?

wow... i didn't know that.... how can you guys get the comparison of performace?

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

oh.... thank you...
hmm i think i will get u410 with touch that will come next few month... hope it come with hasswell processor and with same price range...

oh and i want to know how big is the performace difference between corei5 and corei7 in lenovo u410 configuration? since it come with GT610M which have a almost same performance with hd4000(i7) so i think with i5 configuration i will get a better price...

 

[k1114]

It's such a small difference in speed, I'd say unnoticeable.

 

[t0n1zz]

oh okay thank you for your answer.... i will wait until u410 touch released .... since i love the design and it have a better battery than s46cm.... hahaha because i'm not saving enough money right now and maybe will be enough at august or so....

once again thank you for all your answer.... i learn so many things from here