Pc Computer Choice For Maya 2009?

[spazmonkeyy]

I've used Maya for 5 years now. but I'm a Mac guy and who is about to teach
an animation class but have only given the funds to using PC computers.

I'm looking for opinions on what PC LAPTOPS out there that is a good choice
for sufficiently running Maya and rendering. This is in the context of finding
used or refurbished prices of course. I have $500 for each laptop.

please help in recommendations for good choices in this price range.

thank you everyone.

ps-I'll be using Windows 7 beta probably.

[gmask]

for $500 I don't think any PC laptop is going to be a good choice

[spazmonkeyy]

I'm not looking for a "GOOD" choice here. I'm simply looking for an
affordable option that will be able to "handle" Maya.

please! anyone?

[gmask]

well you'll need at least a gig of ram and preferably an nvidia card or ati.. or something else that supports OpenGL

[spazmonkeyy]

how about the Radeon HD 3200??

for example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-DV3Z-2-1GHZ-4GB-320...%3A1%7C294%3A50

thanx ya'll.

[gmask]

Important Notes
• There are many cards based on GeForce

[spazmonkeyy]

ok. Not sure what you mean by that. ??

I just want to know if the previous link of the computer will
run Maya 2009.

[gmask]

oh sorry forum malfunction..

I was trying to quote ..

Important Notes
*There are many cards based on GeForce GPU chipsets. NVIDIA and Autodesk do not recommend these cards for use with Maya as you may experience various refresh, display and stability problems and inadequate performance. We suggest you choose from NVIDIA's workstation cards instead, such as the Quadro families which are much better suited to high-end 3D packages such as Maya. Nvidia GeForce VS Quadro White Paper [PDF]
*For the same reasons as the ones listed in note (1), ATI and Autodesk do not recommend the use of ATI Radeon GPU chipsets cards.
*Video Cards without Hardware Overlay Planes: Using video cards without Hardware Overlay planes (or Hardware Overlay planes turned off) can result in poor performance for certain operations within Maya including (but not restricted to) use of tools based on Artisan or Paint Textures technology. There will also be visual differences compared with Hardware overlays that may result in difficulty seeing or manipulating aspects of the scene or Maya interface. Examples of Graphics cards without Hardware overlays include (but are not restricted to): ATI Radeon Family, NVIDIA GeForce Family.(but are not restricted to): ATI Radeon Family, NVIDIA GeForce Family.

[gmask]

I dunno it might work and it might not work.. I don't have any experience with ATI graphics and maya except for some experience trying to use the hardware renderer and it was on a 1U render rack and the ATI chip did not support it at all.

I dunno if they are common in laptops but I'd try to get a Nvidia chip for the display if not then I guess ATI will have to do.

[thnkr]

Laptops are not be he best option if your budget is so limited. I would go for desktops if cost is an issue. Then you may be able to get away with a cheap geForce.

[joojaa]

QUOTE(mduvekot @ 06/08/09, 02:04 PM) [snapback]309093[/snapback]
Laptops are not be he best option if your budget is so limited.

Well i would say untill the budget is so high that you can buy a laptop AND a workstation then laptops arent best choice.

But theres a small not so known fact at play here. Even tough graphics cards for laptops have the same name as the ones for workstations, theya re not same. So not only are gforces/radeons a not recommended because of problems but also MOBILE vesrions of gforces/radeons have even more problems
QUOTE
I'm looking for opinions on what PC LAPTOPS out there that is a good choice

For 500$ id say forget it. Its better not to use the money alltogether. Itd be better to have one computer they share thats good than 4 crappy ones.

Have you considered leasing?

QUOTE
ps-I'll be using Windows 7 beta probably.

Yes but then get a minimum of 2 gigs of memory. And be prepared to do computer maintenance 24/7

[spazmonkeyy]

ok. so I'll try to stick to Nvidia Quadro cards then.

hows this deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=190313147693

or
what if I used this one below and just replaced the gpu with a Nvidia.?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=360159929765

[joojaa]

The first one is better in terms of screen estate

QUOTE
what if I used this one below and just replaced the gpu with a Nvidia.?

Laptop gpus are integrated on the board and not easily replaced. BUt crtainly the memory helps.

[spazmonkeyy]

great! I bought that one.

and I'll aim for others like it that have Nvidia Quadro or Geforce card in them.

thanx. you really helped.

cheers