On the lookout for a laptop for AE, any recommendation ?

[yingtaoshenfu]

Hi gentlemen,

I'm now looking for a laptop to do some editing work. Although I used to be pretty tech savvy, I've not kept up with the development of the laptop for a long time and the nomenclature of the models is maddeningly complicated and misleading.

After researching for a while, I narrow my option down to two model:
Asus G73SW-XT1 and DELL M6600. specs are listed here:
Asus G73SW-XT1
Screen Size: 17.3"
Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Capacity: 500G
Hard Drive Speed: 7200 RPM
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core i7
Processor Type: Quad-Core
Processor Number: 2630QM
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Video Memory: 1.5GB DDR5 VRAM
Memory: 8G

DELL M6600:
17.3 inch UltraSharp 1920x1080 Wide View Anti-Glare LED Backlit
9 cell battery
Backlit Keyboard
Intel Core i7-2720QM Quad Core Processor (2.2GHZ base frequency)
4GB RAM -

Hard Drive: 500GB SATA 7200RPM

2.0 Nvidia Quadro 3000M GDDR5 Graphics



I can get a new asus for 1100usd while a refurbished M6600 from Ebay will cost me 1500usd.

since I can install ram and hard drive myself, they are not the deal breaker in each case.

so the comparison boils down to a simple showdown

2630qm+gtx460m vs 2720qm+quadro 3000m

I understand quadro is a touted "professional" video card, but as far as the benchmark test is concerned,it is more or less the same as gtx460, so what makes it "professional" or it's just another marketing ploy? I'm still a student, so the cost-effective performance is first priority for me.

The application I will use:

After effects &Premiere(Everyday),cinema4d &photoshop (sometimes), maya(rarely)



Your advice is appreciated!

 

[story2rewrite]

i7 processor
Graphics card - I have a 470 and it works great. Best bang for buck. Not sure about some of the new ones. I bought my a year ago. Things are always changing.
Usually the bottleneck is the disk. So it's a good idea to have 2, 3 is better. But you can get a laptop with 2, one for programs and one for scratch disk. Then you can get an external for cheap enough nowadays to offload the data once you start filling up.
8gb of memory is good but 12 would be better. AE will eat up as much ram as you can throw at it. I configured this over at sager website. It's a little over - about 1600 - but you get 12 gb of 1600 ram, a good i7 processor, windows professional, 2 500 gb hard drives, an nvidia 560 graphics in a 17 in. laptop. You can get rid of some of the things to bring down to a lower price. I've heard really good things about Sager though.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP8170


I'm looking for a mobile workstation and I'll probably go with these guys when I'm able. Hope this helps.