Development Laptop Under $900 USD

Ilfirin

Regular
Well, I've got a task I could use some help on - I need a new laptop for graphics development purposes at $900 USD or below and I'd obviously like the best bang I can get for this little bit of bucks :)

This is a graphics oriented machine so I need the most capable DX10 graphics configuration I can get for the money.

I'm more of a desktop man myself that likes to avoid laptops at all costs but in this situation it's unavoidable, so I could use some suggestions.

The main specs I need met are:
- Dual Core processor
- Vista
- Highest performance DX10 Capable Graphics Card I can get (it can be only mediocre at DX10, but I'd definitely prefer it to support it)
- At least 2GB of memory
- At least 80GB of Disk Space

Any particular place, brand, store or what not I should be looking at in particular?

This is my current favorite:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220286

ASUS F3 Series F3KA-X3 NoteBook
AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60(2.00GHz)
15.4" Wide XGA
2GB Memory
200GB HD
DVD Super Multi
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 512MB
 
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I doubt you will find a laptop with a videocard capable of even mediocore dx10 for 900dollar let alone one that is good at it.

But what do you mean by graphic oriented machine? Something like photoshop? that wont need a good gpu. 3d modelling? wont need a very good gpu either unless you do very heavy scenes but than you cant settle for 900 bucks anyway.
 
Barring waiting until the next generation graphics chips start hitting you really won't outperform a 2600 for under $900. You're currently looking at a $5-600 premium for an 8800m.
 
Barring waiting until the next generation graphics chips start hitting you really won't outperform a 2600 for under $900. You're currently looking at a $5-600 premium for an 8800m.

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. I just wish I could find a system that was just 100$ cheaper than that F3KA-X3 I quoted in my original post.

And I need to buy it sometime this week, probably tomorrow or tuesday so waiting another generation isn't really in the cards.
 
I doubt you will find a laptop with a videocard capable of even mediocore dx10 for 900dollar let alone one that is good at it.

But what do you mean by graphic oriented machine? Something like photoshop? that wont need a good gpu. 3d modelling? wont need a very good gpu either unless you do very heavy scenes but than you cant settle for 900 bucks anyway.

I mean, I'm a 3D graphics programmer and I need DX10 support for testing and prototyping the current (and all future) projects I'm working on.
 
You might want to check out staples. I know here they were blowing out a lot of their HDDVD equipped media laptops some of which might meet your needs.
 
If I'm willing to go down to a GMA X3100 I can find a whole host of laptops in the 700-800$ range. I'm just not completely sure I'm willing to go that low. It is just for development, so it doesn't have to be lightning fast but from what I've been seeing it seems like the X3100 would be about 1/6th the performance of the 2600 which seems like an awfully steep falloff to save 100$.
 
If I'm willing to go down to a GMA X3100 I can find a whole host of laptops in the 700-800$ range. I'm just not completely sure I'm willing to go that low. It is just for development, so it doesn't have to be lightning fast but from what I've been seeing it seems like the X3100 would be about 1/6th the performance of the 2600 which seems like an awfully steep falloff to save 100$.

Well there should be 8400 and 2400 chipsets in between that range of performance.
 
Surprisingly the 2400s are actually more expensive, at least out of the ones I can find.

As for 8400s, this is the only one I've found cheaper than the 2600:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115410

CPU Type AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 1.9G
Screen 17.0" WXGA+
Memory Size 2GB DDR2
Hard Disk 160GB
Optical Drive DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G

I'd take a hit in all specs except for the screensize for 50$ less :/

[edit] Scratch that, seems I had some extra filters on my results.

There's another one that's the same as the one above only the screensize is reduced and the price is 100$ less:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115411

and one with a 8400 GS for 800:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...c3watch-_-Notebooks-_-Acer+America-_-34115412
 
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After weighing everything, I think I'll just go ahead with my first decision of the ASUS F3KA-X3. From what I've been able to gather even the 8400GS would still be about 1/3rd the performance of the 2600, couple that with the lesser overall system specs of the systems with it in this price range and I just can't justify all that for saving a measly 50-100$.

Thanks for the suggestions AlphaWolf :)
 
I did the same recently switched to a laptop as my main pc.

One of the very best tricks I came up with is using 7200rpm My Books as my working space.
When you get your laptop if it has a lot of add-ons pull out the recovery disk and do a clean install.
First create a dedicated Virtual RAM partition, then install the OS to the next partition.
Under Vista's default settings 60 GB is barely enough space to last for a whole year.
I managed to use a partition of 40GB over for most of the past year by changing various settings and exporting data.
I also have XP Pro on a separate 20GB partition.

Use an application called Acronis True Image 11 to create a backup after running only updates.
Create an additional separate backup after installing any licenses content.

Now attach an external 7,200rpm HDD. Partition it into at least two sectors.
One being 5GB, the other whatever is left. Use the 5GB as your virtual RAM.
Working from this external drive is faster than using the laptops own drive.
Additionally the Mean Time to Failure for 3.5" drive is nearly twice as long as that of 2.5" drives.

There are quite a few other things I've tried but you are more experienced in the software field than I.
So I will simply relax and look forward to you sharing and insightful power user tips you might have.
 
I mean, I'm a 3D graphics programmer and I need DX10 support for testing and prototyping the current (and all future) projects I'm working on.

So its a very important piece of hardware for your work? than why set yourself on such a budget? I know you might not have the budget, but if its for your work I'd really get those couple of hundred dollars more because you will be happy you did in the long run when everything just runs nice instead of only so-so.
 
If you want to get a laptop for graphics development purposes, apple macbook can be a nice choice. And recently apple is offering a sale on the macbooks, a 13.3" macbook priced at $849, or you can go to dell.
 
I looked up that notebook and the nice thing is it supports 4 gig of DDR2 ram. If more ram is needed then for $70 you can get a 4 gig Sodimm kit too.
 
Aye, I considered that as well. I've been looking around at reviews and looking at comments from people who have bought them and it seems like it's a pretty nice system. It also doesn't seem like I can get a significantly faster system for less than twice the price, so it seems like a fairly good buy. The battery life seems to be the only real complaint with it and that's not a problem with me as I keep my laptops plugged in more than 99% of the time I use them.

I'm holding off on my purchase until next Monday, so I'm still open to suggestions for better systems but so far I'm not having much luck. I'm eager to see what kind of notebooks come out sporting the Puma platform, but I'm betting that that's going to land just outside my purchase window :/
 
Dunno if you've already bought, but I got a dell Vostro 1500 with C2D@2.0Ghz and 8600GT for ~$800.

Of course, its only a 15", but...
 
No, actually I haven't. My dad ended up needing a loan for a bit so I put it off until, hopefully, the 24-25th. I'll take a look at that, thanks!
 
Do you happen to have a link for where you bought it from? I'm building it on the Dell site and the only way I can get it at $800 is to leave it at a 1.4GHZ C2D w/ 8600GT. If I bump it up to 2GHz it's $930.

[edit] And just my luck, the price for the ASUS laptop just shot up 50$ so it looks like the Dell is the winner now.

[edit2] Also, after taxes are calculated in the Dell laptop ends up being the same price as the ASUS F3SA-A2 that has a C2D 2.2GHz and a Radeon 2600 512MB vs C2D 2.0GHz and a 8600GT 256MB in the dell. Ugh, I wish there was a way to order Dells without paying 100+ in taxes :/
 
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I keep a watch on slickdeals.net or www.gotapex.com

They have coupons, etc. and "the right config" to order pretty regularly. The current one is expired, but will probably have another in a week or so.
 
Thanks, that's definitely helpful.

[edit] I find it fairly interesting (and odd) that I can configure the exact same laptop (with all the exact same options) using 3 separate sections of the Dell website and reach 3 separate prices at a max of 50-75$ difference. Good thing to keep in mind, I suppose :)
 
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