3/27/2006 3:05:00 PM

I've been researching for over a month what laptop option is the best for SSP v5.5 (and future).  We have successfully run as our primary projection system a Dell Latitude laptop for 3 years and it is time for an upgrade.

Posts on this forum  seem  to discourage laptops - yes, our AV team is 2-3 conscious users that take care of the laptop (no games, junk allowed).  So, it is really convenient to build on the same system that will render the same results (all of us have dual monitors as home to demo our builds).

Based on my research, three Dell systems are close to the recommended specs:  (NOTE: All base specs have been met with RAM, HDD, Processor, etc...these below are the key ones for us to consider)

1) Dell Latitude D810 - ATI Radeon x600 - 128MB video ($)
2) Dell XPS M170 - NVIDIA GeFORCE Go 7800 - 256MB video ($$)
3) Dell Precision M70 - NVIDIA QuadroFX Go1400 - 256MB video ($$$)

Based on these models, have any of you tried these unsuccessfully?  Obviously, if you are running a laptop config that works well, then let me know!  Thanks!

3/27/2006 3:12:49 PM

While I haven't tested a laptop myself I know there are many users who do use them and enjoy them.

Of the options listed there I would strongly recommend the 7800Go processor.  I say this because the x600 is on the bottom end of what's going to work and the Quadro cards are workstation class cards that are geared towards 2d work like drafting. 

The reason we recommend against the laptops is mostly a driver/hardware issue.  With a normal PC you can always pop out your video card and upgrade it when the time comes.  Also, you can just download the latest drivers straight from ATI/nVidia and update them as you need.

With a laptop there is no upgrading the video card.  It's part of the laptop and it'd be cheapter to buy a new laptop than to upgrade the GPU.  Also, in most cases, you can't download the latest drivers from ATI or nVidia.  You have to get them from the laptop manufacturer.  ATI and nVidia are both punching out a new drive every 4 to 6 weeks right now.  Most laptop manufacturers are running between 6 and 12 months for an update. 

Those two issues are the main problems with laptops.  Other than that, you're doing just fine to run SSP on one. 

3/27/2006 3:13:25 PM

Did you check out the specs needed to run SSP on this page?

http://ssplash.com/_sspsupport/System%20Requirements.html

3/27/2006 4:35:04 PM

One with the laptops, usually the hard drives are 5400rpm, not 7200rpm. So you might inquire about that and make sure you can get at least the 7200rpm. Other than that, laptop should be fine.