Mac Or Pc??

I'm looking to buy a laptop to use for CAD and 3D modelling....I can't decide between a Macbook pro or a PC????? I want to make sure I get the best laptop for efficiency and reliability but have no idea which way to go???

Also, apple's an easy one, but where do you start if you want a laptop bearing in mind I would be able to use the budget for the apple for a PC...please please help. I'm historically a mac person so have no idea what to look for in a pc...or should I just stay mac?

PC by far, since Autocad does not work on a mac natively. If you get a mac, not only are you paying roughly 2-3x for the same spec'd PC based laptop, but now you also need to buy a copy of windows to install on it. If you are looking for a highly durable laptop, I would look at lenovo (IBM) or sager pc (Clevo).

PC for sure. Kevin posted some good brands, but if you want real performance then check out HP's Workstation level laptops that have certified Autodesk hardware installed, especially since you mentioned you will be using it for 3D Modeling.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF04a/321957-321957-64295-321838-3329741.html

If you get a mac, not only are you paying roughly 2-3x for the same spec'd PC based laptop

This is true and whilst im definitely not an advocate of mac's you must realise a mac utilises its hardware very differently to a pc. it is actually much more efficient with its resources thereby making them difficult to compare.

However i wholeheartedly agree with your advice

Thanks for your advice. I think I knew the answer was going to be PC, I think I'm just concerned that there's so many models out there and a lot of conflicting advice yes to vaio no to vaio etc...

Sounds like hp might be the way forward!

Thanks for your advice. I think I knew the answer was going to be PC, I think I'm just concerned that there's so many models out there and a lot of conflicting advice yes to vaio no to vaio etc...

 

Sounds like hp might be the way forward!

If your budget allows, look at getting a laptop with a "workstation level graphics card". Any brand will do, because most of the specs are the same (same processors, amount & speed of RAM and Hard Drive, etc). But the graphics card is what really gives you optimal performance when dealing with 3D. HP is just one of many brands available. That is what my entire office uses, and they work great. Our I.T. admin likes their brand and has decent support.

Check out the line of workstation level graphics cards from Nvidia here:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_go.html

And here is the ATI's line of cards:

http://ati.amd.com/Products/mobile.html

Just go with this first, the rest will fall into place.

This is true and whilst im definitely not an advocate of mac's you must realise a mac utilises its hardware very differently to a pc. it is actually much more efficient with its resources thereby making them difficult to compare.

 

However i wholeheartedly agree with your advice

Please explain this. OSX is simply a customized version of Mach BSD style unix called Darwin. It in fact has always been developed on cross platform machines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)

Today's Intel mac use the exact same hardware as Window's based machines. With a simple hack you can even use OSX on a PC.

Since they are the same inside they use the hardware the same way. Same hardware, same performance. The only time you will see any difference is when you are not booting directly into Windows on a Mac (using either vmware or parallels) and then you will not be using 100% hardware and only using software to simulate true hardware. Not trying to cut you down just laying down the facts as I have seen them. I own a few macs as well as PCs so I have 1st hand knowledge of them. They are not bad solutions and if they fit your situation they work fine but there is simple no "aura" to them of being better. They do in fact crash and have problems just like any other computer. The only thing going for them is that with a 5% market share there are not as many people writing maleware for them. Security through obscurity if you like :wink:

....They do in fact crash and have problems just like any other computer.....

My best friend is a Web Developer and Graphical Artist, and a damn good one. He works on a Mac, and he gets about 1-2 crashes and/or lock-ups every few days. He hates it that people say Mac's don't have this problem because they really do.

My best friend is a Web Developer and Graphical Artist, and a damn good one. He works on a Mac, and he gets about 1-2 crashes and/or lock-ups every few days. He hates it that people say Mac's don't have this problem because they really do.

At least he admits it. They are a machine, they will break just like any other.