Laptop of Power!

Because I plan on pursuing some kind of computer science field in college, I'll need a mobile PC and it has to be powerful because I plan on doing 3D design, among other things. Plus, the laptop will be used for gaming (of course) and other multimedia. Since laptops can't be cheaply and easily upgraded, it will need some staying power. I've never looked at laptops before so I'm pretty ignorant here. I want it to have a cost of not more than $3,000 unless there is a strong justification for spending a little more. I also want a big and high quality screen and the ability to connect to sound systems (which I think is standard anyway) and possibly PC monitors (which I don't think is standard).

One big problem is that I have a lot of stuff on my PC and I want to know the easiest and most efficient way to transfer that info, preferably WITHOUT using a network since I don't have one. But I'd also like to know how to do it with a network if that's the best way (and then I'll need to know how to make the network).

Ideas? Thanks in advance for your help!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Ok in my opinion you have two ways to do this... First way is to buy a top of the line Dell. It'll get you the most for your money and you'll have one hell'a powerful system.

But if your willing to pay a little more for looks, i would get an asus. Take a look at this beauty http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusw2vphotos.html ... amazing laptop, wish i had it. You can buy it at newegg by the way. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220066

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Instead of spouting my typical pro-Dell spill here, I will comment on your data migration issue.

Sure, it is fairly easy to do with a network, but because you want an alternative to that, there are a couple of other methods you could use. If you have a large amount of data that you want to migrate, the best solution would be by using a crossover cable. Simply connect one end to one PC and the other end to another PC {network card to network card}. Then manually set the IP address on each machine to be on the same network { for example 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 } and you will be able to access any shares that you have set up on each machine. Or if you're really cool, you can simply open Windows Explorer on one machine and type \\PCNAME\c$ and then sign in using the admin username and password on the other pc. This will take you to the root of C on the other machine, and allow you access to all files located on the C drive of that PC.

If you have less data, a USB flashdrive or harddrive would be sufficient. Just copy data from the PC to the USB drive and then sneakernet it to the other pc. Repeat until all data is transferred. Or burn DVDs if you have a DVD burner.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'm going to agree, network is the fastest and easiest way to transfer data.

But if your going to go into a hardcore Gaming/3D processing PC, you'd best stay away from Celeron M and Centrino. It horribly underpowers the PC especially with Dell.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Slash

I'm going to agree, network is the fastest and easiest way to transfer data.

But if your going to go into a hardcore Gaming/3D processing PC, you'd best stay away from Celeron M and Centrino. It horribly underpowers the PC especially with Dell.

Celeron M, true. Centrino, NO. CENTRINO IS NOT A PROCESSOR. It is a platform.

Get a Core Duo-based laptop. It's the updated, dual-core Pentium M, which is a fantastic processor. Powerful without being power-sucking like a Pentium 4. Do not, under any circumstances, bother with a laptop that uses a Pentium 4. Your battery life and mobility will be compromised for not an especially great improvement in performance.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances I am now in, I won't be able to check my thread often. This will continue for several weeks, so don't despair and think I'm not paying attention.

Now it seems that I will in fact get a network so I'll probably just use that for data transfer. Of course, since I'll have a laptop (and my brother will, too), we'll get a wireless network but we've never played around with those before so we don't know what to do. We'll be connecting one desktop and two laptops.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

To transfer stuff from your PC to your Laptop all you'll need is a Crossover Cable and to set both PC's up on a static IP.

FELIPE NO

The Dell XPS laptops are good for gaming at reasonable prices, but if you're doing a lot of rendering I'd look at the Precision M70. It's video card (Quadro FX 1400) doesn't have as much raw power as the 7800 Go GTX (in the top of the line XPSs), but is optomized for OpenGL rendering.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Slash, I meant that my parents decided to get a network so I'll use that for data transfer.

Why must processor manufacturers name their chips in a confused manner? There's the celeron M. There's the Pentium M. What's the difference? I assume M just means Mobile. So I'm okay with a Penitum M instead of Celeron M.

Many seem to be of the opinion that AMD is better than Intel. But I don't know of any major manufacturers that use AMD except for Alienware but they're too expensive. I'll probably get Dell.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Celeron is the shittier version of the Pentium M. Intel chips are the stronger of the two in the notebook market right now, but they also cost significantly more. However, Dell laptops are still less expensive than most of their competitors, so the higher cost of Intel processors shouldn't affect your decision (seeing as you pay for a bundle rather than the chip) when buying a laptop.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Interesting, I thought AMD was better. My brother and I keep arguing about am AMD-ATI setup versus an Intel-NVidia setup. I say to go with the latter because it's cheaper since Alienware is overpriced and an equivalent Asus seems to cost more than a Dell counterpart. He says AMD-ATI setups are way better but judging from reviews I've seen I personally don't think it makes so much of a difference anymore. There's not as big a split as there used to be. Now I'm something of a Dell fanboy but I'll just get whatever gets me the most performance and reliability for my money. Nvidia is releasing the new 7900 GPU soon so if I wait a bit the 7800 will become cheaper and drive down my laptop's price a bit. Then again, ATI is (of course) countering with their own chip so the same will happen with them.

I think I'm pretty set on getting a dell with an Intel Core Duo chip and Nvidia 7800 but I'm still open to other options. However, Dell is reliable so I don't think I'll switch to another manufacturer.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Gunner K2

Because I plan on pursuing some kind of computer science field in college, I'll need a mobile PC and it has to be powerful because I plan on doing 3D design, among other things. Plus, the laptop will be used for gaming (of course) and other multimedia. Since laptops can't be cheaply and easily upgraded, it will need some staying power. I've never looked at laptops before so I'm pretty ignorant here. I want it to have a cost of not more than $3,000 unless there is a strong justification for spending a little more. I also want a big and high quality screen and the ability to connect to sound systems (which I think is standard anyway) and possibly PC monitors (which I don't think is standard).

One big problem is that I have a lot of stuff on my PC and I want to know the easiest and most efficient way to transfer that info, preferably WITHOUT using a network since I don't have one. But I'd also like to know how to do it with a network if that's the best way (and then I'll need to know how to make the network).

Ideas? Thanks in advance for your help!

You mentioned you wanted a mobile PC and one that's powerful. It's unlikely you can get both at once because a big screen isn't going to make it very mobile. Core Duo might get you close, but I'm not sure what 3D design would be highly dependent on. Right now Intel is the choice for a laptop chip, in my opinion. AMD so far have established themselves in the desktop market. As for transfers, if you have a router, it's just a matter of hooking it up and messing around with some file sharing issues. You can always have an external hard drive and move between those.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Cless

Celeron M, true. Centrino, NO. CENTRINO IS NOT A PROCESSOR. It is a platform.

Get a Core Duo-based laptop. It's the updated, dual-core Pentium M, which is a fantastic processor. Powerful without being power-sucking like a Pentium 4. Do not, under any circumstances, bother with a laptop that uses a Pentium 4. Your battery life and mobility will be compromised for not an especially great improvement in performance.

LISTEN TO HIM.

Trust me, I know. I have a P4 laptop. The heat it puts out is enough not only for me to warm up my room, but also cook a helping of sausages and eggs.

As further testament, the battery would only last somewhere under an hour. It's dead, now.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm just wondering one thing: How come Dell's high-end gaming XPS-series laptops (which use Pentium M 740, 750, 760, 770, and 780, depending on the model) do not have dual-core processors while their lower-tech Inspiron line all use Core Duo processors of Intel's T-line? Does it not make sense to use a dual-core processor in a gaming laptop? Apparently Dell feels a single-core M chip is better for gaming than a dual-core T-chip. The T-line also has a faster FSB. I don't get it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm going to go out on a limb here with a second option and opinion here. I'm not sure about 3D Design, but Gaming, these computers are VERY nice. Check out http://www.abs.com. If you're budget is $3,000, I think the G5 Vangaard is a nice choice....

OS: Windows XP Home (+$50 for Pro)
Processor: Pentium M 770 2.13GHz 533MHz FSB 2MB L2
Video: GeForce Go 7800GTX w/ 256MB
RAM: 2x1GB Kingston DDR2 533MHz
HDD: Seagate 120GB 5400RPM
Optical Drive: Dual DVD Burner
Wireless: 802.11a/b/g

Price: $2,742

FELIPE NO

Well, Dell finally upgraded to Core Duo, but along with it came a bunch of pigeonholing that means that it costs too much for me. I posted this in another thread:

Quote:

Well guess what, buddy, the new dual core XPS just came out. However, it is expensive. Just for fun, I configured an XPS M1710 to the max with stuff like 4 gigs of DDR SDRAM at 667MHz and a 2.26GHz Core Duo at 667MHz bus, etc. It costs over $6,500. Dual core is nice, but it's retardulously expensive. The cheapest M1710 laptop is $2,600, mostly because the processor is now dual core (the cheapest is a Core Duo T2400 with a 2MB cach and 667MHz bus) and the only video card available is the new Geforce 7900. You can pay big bucks for the 512MB version.

What really iffs me is that I had configured a laptop before they upgraded the M170 line to M1710 that cost $2,400 and was loaded. Sure, it wasn't dual core and the video card was a 7800 but it's probably not too much of a difference between what I had configured and the entry-level M1710. Dell should offer some more flexibility with customization. For example, why can't you put a real video card (the only option I had was integrated Intel) in the M140 and yet you can put in 2 gigs of RAM? What if I want to buy an M1710 but I don't want to pay for the latest and greatest and I'll settle for a Pentium M and a GeForce 7800 GTX (which seems to be more powerful than the 7900GS)? Why does it cost $400 to upgrade your video card from the 7900GS (which, as I mentioned based on Nvidia's specs, seems to be less powerful than the 7800GTX. WTF?), which will push the price to 3 grand? Dell might think they'll get more money by limiting your choices and forcing you to pay more but I'll bet they'll get more sales if they give customers more options. Dell might be the best, but they cost too much now. I'm looking elsewhere, like WidowPC.

Ideas?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Double Post! (I didn't make an edit since this is on a different subject than the previous one)

The Core Duo chipsets are not 64-bit. AMD has 64-bit notebook chips while Intel's (code-named Merom) are coming in the near (I hope) future. However, I have heard that 64-bit doesn't make much of a difference in gaming unless the game is optmized for it. But most PC games (if the developers are smart) are designed to work on a variety of machines because not everybody has an ubermachine. Thus one should expect that games should be playable on 32-bit computers for several years yet. Add in the fact that 32-bit only hits a limit where 4 Gigs of RAM is needed and it strengthens the case for 32-bit platforms being able to handle games for 3 or 4 years or more. On the other hand, future-proofing can be a good idea. But even though AMD offers a 64-bit CPU, my impression is that the Intel Core Duo is better, even if it's not 64-bit.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I will never buy/own a dell again. One: some of the hardware pieces sometimes begin to loosen up, and sometimes will not start unless you either hold this piece in till it starts up. It will prompt you to restart with a white screen. Two: Had 3 dell laptops and 2 of the touchpads went from useless to broken.

Lately I've been buying Vaio's and I've rarely experienced hardware problems with them. I trust these Vaio's. I bought a Sony Vaio FS920 awhile ago and it's a decent laptop. I did a service call for someone and they requested a laptop under $3,000, much like your scenario. I suggested a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ1200 (had to reserve one, was hard to find it) which was bluetooth ready & came with Windows XP Pro. I would get XP Pro since you're going into computer science. It's a dual-core laptop and I've heard good from these laptops.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

How does it make a difference whether I choose XP Home or Pro as far as computer science goes?

I thought Sony laptops were crap. But I've heard of at least two cases (saw them on the Dell forums) where Dell XPS M170 owners reported hearing a whirring or buzzing noise while gaming and lowering the laptop's power consumption solved the problem. It seems that Dells are not as ironclad as they used to be.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.