I need a laptop for autocad, a program which needs alots of calculation (so i chose a powerful 64bit) and the best graphicscard a notebook can get, and this is the point I don't know if it is the best... I need autocad running smooth on it, so is this configuration enough and are the graphics decent?



Operating System Genuine Windows XP Home Edition           
Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Mobile TL-60 (2.0 GHz/512KB)           
Display FREE Upgrade to 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen!           
Graphics Card 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200         
Personalization HP IMPRINT Finish + Microphone + Webcam           
Memory 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)        
Hard Drive 100 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive         
Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade - LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer       
Networking 802.11b/g WLAN       
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control       
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery         
Productivity Software Microsoft Works/Money       

$1,183.99   -  HP DV6000z


Little note: autocad is heavier than the heaviest 3D games...


This should help too

My dad works with AutoCAD too.

Anyhow; my dad suggests the more RAM you have; the faster it'll be.  Also, a 64-bit won't matter because AutoCAD doesn't use 64bit.  he suggests a good dual-core Intel processor.

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Originally posted by brian
My dad works with AutoCAD too.

Anyhow; my dad suggests the more RAM you have; the faster it'll be.  Also, a 64-bit won't matter because AutoCAD doesn't use 64bit.  he suggests a good dual-core Intel processor.

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you picked a 64 bit dual core processor, and then said dual core won't be useful?

AMD X2 = dual core afaik

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Originally posted by kao
you picked a 64 bit dual core processor, and then said dual core won't be useful?

AMD X2 = dual core afaik

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Originally posted by Exca
But dualcore is for running 2 programs at the same time, as i will only use 1 it will have no advantage...

Which graphics do I need to run the 2007 version? I need 3D modeling with shades and much layers and everything...

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Originally posted by ShawnZ
dual core is for running two threads at the same time, and autocad (if its as resource intensive as you make it out to be) obviously uses dozens of threads=p

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dude, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200 is nowhere near the best graphics card for a laptop. Perhaps if you searched for a dell inspiron, alienware, etc., gaming laptop you would find that pretty much all mid-range pc graphics cards are avaliable for laptops. For example, it is easy to find a gaming laptop with a 256 nVidia 7600, which kicks the 7200's ass. I would recommend cyberpowerpc.com, or if you have a high price range, try dell and alienware.

RAM is nice, but it is incredibly expensive to get 3 or 4 gb in a laptop (ie. an additional $1000-$2000). Stick with 2 gb.

I wouldn't suggest to buy a HP though. HP is in general, and compared to others, too expensive for what it actually is (you buy more the name HP than you would buy actual features)...

acer, dell, toshiba, fujitsu, sony, msi, ... are among lesser known laptop brands but have quite often killer laptops in their ranges (and configurable like you whish) for nice prices.

I would step away from the configurations and promotions you find in the shops, as they are mostly aimed at an average audiance, and look brand per brand what they can offer.

Once you've found your brand and config, call some resellers. Quite you can make a deal with them to sell you the laptop of your choice below the street price, especially if you say store X or Y offers the same config for a lower price.

At least, that is the experience I recently had when searching and buying mine... (which I get tommorow... hopefully )

Also what I've noticed about so called promotions: from all the magazines I went thru with promotions and stuff, only 1 actually had a price below the street price. All others where just the same as the recomended street price listed by the vendors. So, they weren't actual "promotions" at all. So be carefull to not fall for "promotions" and check on the vendor's site for the recommended street price.

The GeForce Go 7200 is indeed not the top notch of laptop graphics cards, just a normal average

I eventually bought an HP, and i'm very pleased with it. Runs autocad super-smooth and it's a very powerfull and well-built machine. Haven't got problems with HP in 2 years with 2 different laptops by now. Acer might be cheaper, but I learned 'Paying for the name' is only partitially right. I haven't got good experiences with Acer, and the difference in quality with HP in example is big and obviously noticeable.
Also almost everyone at school uses HP for autocad, a few dell's and a couple of acer's, that's it

http://shoutbox.menthix.net/showthread.php?tid=49560

PS, it has a GeForce go 7600 256mb

I like to claim the opposite though. Acer is an extremely good brand, compatible with everything and very stable. Acre does not use cheap alternatives for its components (HP doesnet either though). HP on the other hand... they have a bad name of sometimes being not-so-compatible with other stuff, expensive (you do buy the name) and although not much severe problems with it, I have experienced many faults, breakdowns, etc with HP machines.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
I like to claim the opposite though. Acer is an extremely good brand, compatible with everything and very stable. Acre does not use cheap alternatives for its components (HP doesnet either though). HP on the other hand... they have a bad name of sometimes being not-so-compatible with other stuff, expensive (you do buy the name) and although not much severe problems with it, I have experienced many faults, breakdowns, etc with HP machines.

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in the end an "Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8210E8120"...
1gb mem, 120gb hdd, T7200 dual core2...

Acer's 646x was my first choice, but that wasn't available yet (only next week) and I needed a laptop before I went to America.

In the End, this Lifebook has more stuff I needed (eg: parallel port), and was cheaper to get (at least I got it cheaper than the retail price)

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8210

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Most awesome (for me that is) about it is that it is almost the only laptop brand which still provides rs232 and centronics ports on the laptop itself (together with all the modern ports of course - no comprimises). It is also one of the very few which has a pointingstick on the keyboard (I rather wanted a trackball, but that is even more rare, if not non-existing anymore). It is therefor also considered a "professional" notebook, not a consumers one...

(and the fingerprint reader/security is plain cool )

@Cookie: Well good that you haven't bought the acer tough!
You would be sorry at the end

I know the internals are not bad, and yes in most cases the notebooks are stable. Specs look very attractive (for the price), and everythings's fine... for the first few months...
But you pay for what you get, they have the lowest price on the market and it has a reason.
Build-quality sucks. You can actually twist the things in the diagonals, and if you have an issue... don't send it, it only gets worse . Don't call tech-support, you have to wait 2 hours on the phone before someone bothers to answer. They might be lazy, or everyone's computer is blowing up...
Many people can confirm the situation I had with their machine..., by the way it was acer who's battery's exploded some years ago. And they get freakin hot!
That's the big advantage with HP, HP is built many times as good, stay cool, you can actually put trust in it can you believe that Haven't experienced any hardware-compatibility issues, everything works fine, even with vista every piece works perfect.

Doesn't this all boil down to personal experience?
Dell own alien ware just to let you know.

I've used Dell for quite sometime in fact,  I went from building my own laptops/Desktops to buying Dell XPS M1210(Laptop)

and buying a Dell XPS 700 (Desktop)

Run vista on both and run it very well might i add.

With no faults what so ever. Also worked in company n purchased 30+ dell PCs and 10 + laptops. and 10-15servers now.

With very little faults and awesome support when needed.
But then i do like dell.

Work for company now that has alot of HP/Compaq(same company now of coursE) Machines. With out any faults.

IBM/Lenovo our also very good for business laptops. I rate them as the best quality i've ever seen. stable reliable and well built(very well built) That well built you could throw them on the floor and they'd still work(seem it done with my own eyes)

My 2 cents, Also just proving its the users end opinion so when people ask for tips they generally end up going with what they think is better rather than what some one else suggests. Infact they wait for some one to backup there opinion then go with there own idea.

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Originally posted by Exca
@Cookie: Well good that you haven't bought the acer tough!
You would be sorry at the end

I know the internals are not bad, and yes in most cases the notebooks are stable. Specs look very attractive (for the price), and everythings's fine... for the first few months...
But you pay for what you get, they have the lowest price on the market and it has a reason.
Build-quality sucks. You can actually twist the things in the diagonals, and if you have an issue... don't send it, it only gets worse . Don't call tech-support, you have to wait 2 hours on the phone before someone bothers to answer. They might be lazy, or everyone's computer is blowing up...

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Originally posted by Exca
by the way it was acer who's battery's exploded some years ago. And they get freakin hot!

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Originally posted by joemailey
Doesn't this all boil down to personal experience?

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hey im looking for a good laptop to use for an architecture degree.  i use a few different programs so far - autocad, rhino, photoshop, microsoft office, and hope to add a few more.  i was wondering if anyone can direct me to the right specification i should be on the watch for. 
a salesman today told me to look out for processor and dedicated video memory [graphics card?]

these were the specs he gave me...

Intel 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo Processor
2GB RAM minimum
250 -320GB Hard drive [ and probably an external hard drive later on]
256 Dedicated Video Memory

Does anyone have an recommendations?
Thanks

Buying a brand is basically buying into their way of marketing.
HP computers are always more expensive, as Cookie said, but it's important to mention why they are so expensive.

1- Support.
HPs support has the #1 tech support for computer machines, it still sucks, it still takes a long time, it still is a pain in the ass, but it's much better than other brands. For example, here in Canada, to get an Acer laptop repaired, you actually have to fill up a ticket on www.fixmyacer.com so they call you back. Kind of sucks if your computer is broken. Yes, there is always a backup hotline that you can call, but you can't compare HP's tech support to it.

2- Publicity : last time I've seen an Acer commercial was.......................... never. HP's on the other hand, got JayZ, Fergie and so many stars doing their commercials on TV, someone's got to pay the bills, and the consumer's that person.

My point was simply to say that yes, some brands, as HP and Apple in many cases, are going to cost you more, and you ARE paying for the BRAND. But that brand includes different things, including support, commercials, warranty coverages, etc.

What you should do is really check these things out when buying a computer. For instance, if you take an extended warranty or a service plan from FutureShop or BestBuy for instance, it might not be that important to have that good of a tech support, as the shops have their own HP, Acer, Toshiba certified technicians that will fix the computers themselves.

Something to check out when buying a computer.

old thread is old.

Anyway, if you're concerned about performance more than looks, I would recommend a ThinkPad. The upper range ones are definitely well powered, but aren't pretty at all and can get pricey.
Take a look at some examples

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Originally posted by albert
Buying a brand is basically buying into their way of marketing.
HP computers are always more expensive, as Cookie said, but it's important to mention why they are so expensive.

1- Support.
HPs support has the #1 tech support for computer machines, it still sucks, it still takes a long time, it still is a pain in the ass, but it's much better than other brands. For example, here in Canada, to get an Acer laptop repaired, you actually have to fill up a ticket on www.fixmyacer.com so they call you back. Kind of sucks if your computer is broken. Yes, there is always a backup hotline that you can call, but you can't compare HP's tech support to it.

2- Publicity : last time I've seen an Acer commercial was.......................... never. HP's on the other hand, got JayZ, Fergie and so many stars doing their commercials on TV, someone's got to pay the bills, and the consumer's that person.

My point was simply to say that yes, some brands, as HP and Apple in many cases, are going to cost you more, and you ARE paying for the BRAND. But that brand includes different things, including support, commercials, warranty coverages, etc.

What you should do is really check these things out when buying a computer. For instance, if you take an extended warranty or a service plan from FutureShop or BestBuy for instance, it might not be that important to have that good of a tech support, as the shops have their own HP, Acer, Toshiba certified technicians that will fix the computers themselves.

Something to check out when buying a computer.

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