Best video card for a laptop?

[chulse]

Could anyone make a recommendation?

I'm looking to spec a new laptop soon and I'm not too savvy with what's out there...
Will be using AutoCAD Map and hopefully Civil 3D soon...

Thanks

[Ritch7]

I would say go with a "nvidia" they seem to the dog's ..........

from what I know and use anyway

[mrbucket]

If you can spend the money, get the latest out there. Anything in the 8 family, and if you can, get the new 9 series.

[afielder45]

Like the SLI Dual GeForce 9800M GT?

[MaxwellEdison]

I doubt you'll see SLI in a laptop anytime soon...The most important thing with a loptop video card, in my opinion anyway, is that it has dedicated memory. Especially for AutoDesk products, as they'll usually use all the memory you can give them, and sharing some for the video card is only going to decrease performance further.

[afielder45]

The SLI is in Dell's XPS M1730 laptop. They have 1GB with 512 being dedicated

[MaxwellEdison]

Mein Gott im Himmel...what's the battery life, 45 minutes?

[Tankman]

At this moment, should be workin' not surfin', I'm usin' one of my older laptops.
Thinkpad™ T42P with an ATI Mobility Fire GL T2.

Runs AutoCAD '05 and never misses a beat.
Battery is a 9 cell, battery life is approximately 3-4 hours.

I have four Thinkpad™ laptops, all different models, all run CAD.
Best laptops I've ever owned, ditched Dell and HP. Will never go back.

Have you seen the newer Thinkpad™ with two screens?
The smaller screen slides out to the right, slides in for travel. Nice but pricey.