Leonard Temko wrote:
> As for laptops, I have
> never enjoyed using a laptop for visualization or cad. Given that one
> can find respectable desktop systems for around the same price as a
> laptop that would run cad software, I would stick with
> desktop systems.
**Warning: Personal Opinions and Anecdotal Evidence Ahead**
I just recently abandoned my desktop machines for a laptop to do both CAD
and modeling/visualization work. I found that I could get a PC laptop with
a 15" screen (equivalent to a 17" desktop monitor) and a very fast Pentium
II processor for about the same amount of money as a comparable desktop
workstation (less than $3,000.00, including extra RAM and a ZIP drive). The
15" screen makes this practical for the first time, as the smaller screens
don't have enough real estate to really work. The convenience factor of the
laptop has been a huge bonus in my opinion and experience, and I will never
go back to the desk-space-intensive, non-portable desktop boat anchor.
I run several different CAD and modeling packages, and the laptop handles
them with ease (even faster than the desktop it supplanted, as the laptop
has special 3D optimizing hardware in it).
In an office where space is at a premium and travel is a way of life, the
laptop just makes more sense. I would think that this was even more true
for students.
My $0.02 anyhoo.
~g
J. Gregory Wharton
Architect
Seattle, WA, USA
> As for laptops, I have
> never enjoyed using a laptop for visualization or cad. Given that one
> can find respectable desktop systems for around the same price as a
> laptop that would run cad software, I would stick with
> desktop systems.
**Warning: Personal Opinions and Anecdotal Evidence Ahead**
I just recently abandoned my desktop machines for a laptop to do both CAD
and modeling/visualization work. I found that I could get a PC laptop with
a 15" screen (equivalent to a 17" desktop monitor) and a very fast Pentium
II processor for about the same amount of money as a comparable desktop
workstation (less than $3,000.00, including extra RAM and a ZIP drive). The
15" screen makes this practical for the first time, as the smaller screens
don't have enough real estate to really work. The convenience factor of the
laptop has been a huge bonus in my opinion and experience, and I will never
go back to the desk-space-intensive, non-portable desktop boat anchor.
I run several different CAD and modeling packages, and the laptop handles
them with ease (even faster than the desktop it supplanted, as the laptop
has special 3D optimizing hardware in it).
In an office where space is at a premium and travel is a way of life, the
laptop just makes more sense. I would think that this was even more true
for students.
My $0.02 anyhoo.
~g
J. Gregory Wharton
Architect
Seattle, WA, USA