Choosing A Good Graphic Arts Laptop

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Choosing A Good Graphic Arts Laptop Researching computers for graphic art and my minds about to explode

#1 blueskies2fly

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Posted 29 December 2011 - 12:39 PM

Hi all. Not sure if this is where I should be asking this or not. But I'm a graphic arts student and I need a laptop that can handle having brower's & graphic software open at the same time, etc. I was thinking of getting a gaming computer as I figured it would have good resolution, dedicated graphics card, lots of memory and a fast processor. However, my budget is only around $800.00 (think starving student

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanx~

This post has been edited by Andrew: 29 December 2011 - 12:43 PM
Reason for edit: Mod Edit: Moved From Graphics & Photo Editing to Q&A about buying a PC; edited title - AA

#2 amythompson172

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Posted 29 December 2011 - 03:32 PM

I would suggest the ThinkPad X120e! Check it out on amazon:http://www.amazon.com/ThinkPad-X120e-05962RU-Notebook-1-6GHz/dp/B004PILTA8

AMD Fusion E-350 Dual-Core 1.60GHz Processor
4GB Ram
320GB HD
AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics Card
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Webcam

I have had the x120e for nearly 3 weeks and it has withstood everything I could throw at it, including games such as Modern Warfare 3. Believe it or not I am a graphic design student as well, and the adobe creative suite runs like a charm.

#3 blueskies2fly

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 10:05 AM

Hi Amy. Thanks for the reply. I will definitely check the link. Sorry for the delayed response I forgot to set my messages up to notify me when someone responds. Can I ask where your going to school? I just finished my first semester at my local community college and although I made A's across the board I felt the courses very lacking

#4 blueskies2fly

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 10:41 AM

Hi Michael (aka Rotor123), I, too am looking for a gaming computer, but not for gaming. I'm a new member and just posted my first thread in the forum (blueskies2fly). I'm a graphic arts student and thought a gaming computer would have everything I need to design nice resolution images. I was given the following criteria for:

A dedicated (not integrated) video card

At least 1 GB video memory

A core i5 (or the better i7) processor

Minimum of 4 GB of RAM (6 or 8 even better)

300-500 GB Hard Drive space

Michael, can you tell me a little more about this Qosmio?

I thought about going to Newegg and trying to build my own, but the thought of researching each piece and price made my eyes roll back in their sockets

I found this post on another forum. Do you agree or disagree with it?

"The most important part of a laptop in Graphics design is the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) as a matter of fact, its actually, debated most important part of any computer system right now.

Avoid Lenovo because its now a Chinese manufacturer and they overcharge by such a huge margin!

Avoid apple, they are NOT professional quality! they just look pretty thats all, the best GPU they have is now over 8 months old! and they overcharge.

IBM and HP are currently the 2 top Buisness Computer manufacturers in the world, they constantly build "Super computers" and nearly dominate Server sales world wide and for good reason, hence its best to go with the big boys who really lead in this department."

*Sorry for hijacking your post Deadboy 619. I just need to make a decision and buy SOMETHING before I blow the money ear-marked for a computer

This post has been edited by hamluis: 31 December 2011 - 01:36 PM
Reason for edit: Merged post into topic initiated.

#5 rotor123

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 11:26 AM

http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio

"Elite Performance
When it comes to power, Qosmio® laptops leave the rest of the field fighting for second place. They come with 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, delivering visibly smart performance when you need it most. These PCs also offer dedicated NVIDIA® graphics. So go ahead: savor the hottest FPS-intensive games, HD movies, seamless photo and home movie editing, hyper-realistic 3D visuals, along with vibrant, lifelike scenes and dynamic character effects. And you’ll experience blazing-fast peripheral performance through a USB 3.0 port. "

Optional BluRay burner instead of player, Option for 3D, Subwoofer etc.

BTW Micheal and I are different people, No AKA there.
He's in Melbourne, Australia and I'm here in the USA.

This post has been edited by rotor123: 31 December 2011 - 11:33 AM

My first Computer had a Whopping 16K of memory @ 0.89MHz
My first hard drive held 20 Megabytes and never got filled up.

#6 killerx525

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 12:12 PM

I have would have to disagree with some of the sections in that post from another forum. I believe the most important for graphics design is the processor because software's like Photoshop are more of the cpu then the gpu. Chinese manufacturer aren't necessarily bad and Lenovo has some great value laptops. Lenovo owns IBM and the "big boys" don't exactly mean they make the best product especially HP/Compaq.

>Michael
System: CPU- AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Oc'ed to 3.8GHz, CPU Cooler- Noctua NH-D14, RAM- G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1600, HDD- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATAIII, GPU- Asus EAH6950 1GB Crossfire Oc'ed 900/1310mhz, MB- Gigabyte 990FXA-D3, Case- Coolermaster HAF 932, PSU- Corsair TX-750 V2, Soundcard- Realtek High Definition Audio Sound, OS- Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit

#7 killerx525

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 12:20 PM

ASUS A53SV-NH71 -$750 - This laptop is a quad core and it will rip apart the E-350 in that Lenovo suggested before. The dedicated graphics card, is decent for graphics software.

#8 rotor123

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 12:46 PM

OTOH HP servers are nice as well as easy to setup using their setup disk. Just fill in all the boxes in one shot that you would have to do interactively and pick your server OS, Then it goes to work and when it asks for the OS disk. then you are almost done. when that finishes the OS is loaded with drivers and utils.

Cheers
Roger

My first Computer had a Whopping 16K of memory @ 0.89MHz
My first hard drive held 20 Megabytes and never got filled up.

#9 killerx525

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 12:51 PM

I have never worked or bought a server before, so i wouldn't really know they perform or function.

P.S- Check your PM

#10 blueskies2fly

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 09:47 PM

Oops...........Color me embarassed. My apologies. But THANK's for taking the time to read and respond. I really appreciate it!

rotor123, on 31 December 2011 - 11:26 AM, said:

BTW Micheal and I are different people, No AKA there.
He's in Melbourne, Australia and I'm here in the USA.

p.s. I just looked at that Qosmio link. They definitely look sleek, but starting at $1,200 +tax on up is a little out of my reach right now

This post has been edited by blueskies2fly: 31 December 2011 - 09:53 PM

#11 killerx525

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 12:16 AM

Did you have a look at the laptop i suggested?

#12 blueskies2fly

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 09:18 AM

Killer are you talking about the Asus?

Let me tell you a short story. I was in my local Target around Thanksgiving and stopped by their electronic dept to see what they had in stock. In talking with the sales guy (who was a huge gamer & definitely seemed knowledgeable) and he told me I should shop Newegg(first time I'd ever heard of them). He also told me that he had purchased an Asus about a year earlier and it had all kinds of internal problems and they had NO customer service after the sale. He wound up with a lemon and had to buy a new one which he purchased through Newegg. Stories like that tend to make me nervous. Know what I mean?

p.s. I will be away from my computer for the next 7-10 days. I don't want anyone to think I'm being rude if I don't respond to your post right away. I will all a Happy(ier) New Year!

This post has been edited by blueskies2fly: 01 January 2012 - 11:57 AM

#13 killerx525

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 07:05 PM

That generally does not happen to all Asus laptops and it can actually happen to any laptops.

#14 Monty007

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Posted 02 January 2012 - 04:13 AM

blueskies2fly, on 01 January 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

The PC industry is so competitive for price that the first thing to go was customer service to off shore, although I have had 4 laptops over the past few years, 2x Acer 1x Asus 1 1x Dell(current) I have been lucky so far. The Dell shipped with a faulty wireless card but once I called Dell it was booked into the service centre and fixed within 2 working days wich was fine.

MCP
MSDST