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Advice On Getting a PC

Z

Zarkizon

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2011
62
0
I'm looking into getting a PC for school; I would be using it for very high resolution digital paintings, using Photoshop and Sketchbook Pro; 3D modeling/animation with Maya and Mudbox; and 1080p HD video editing/rendering/encoding with Premiere Pro and After Effects.

I've never owned a PC before, but I would really like a laptop as I'll be moving from my dorm to studio pretty often. I'm looking for something that is high performance, reliable, 17-inches, but less than $1,500.

What might be a good PC brand or machine for the kind of work I do? What PC brands are reliable?

I'm really liking this machine here
As well as this one

Thanks!
 
I have a Dell Vostro 3450 laptop, and it's fantastic. I spend $1000 on it last summer, and it plays Diablo III perfectly. It's also got an i5, 6630m, bronze metal exterior, backlit keyboard, more ports than I could ever ask for, and on-site warranty service for 2 years.

I wouldn't buy anything until Intel gets their 3rd gen core CPU's to the OEM's though. 3rd gen Core iX's should be out in June or July.
 
I've seen the Asus you linked to and it is a beast. The cooling setup looks like something from a Ferrari or Lamborghini. From what I've read, it is pretty quiet too. It is heavy and thick, but if lightness isn't a major concern, this thing is powerhouse. You can check out different configurations at http://www.gentechpc.com/ and http://www.xoticpc.com/.

If you buy an Asus from anywhere but Best Buy, you get the 2 year global warranty and 1 year accidental damage protection included. Check out the two links above and you can also read more at http://forum.notebookreview.com/

They are a good bunch at that forum and very helpful. Several people there own the Best Buy model.
 
dont buy a Asus g3jh

the republic of gamers laptop are great, but i had to recently replace a GPU on a g3jh ROG because the ATI GPU overheated. the way the fans were set up it would collect a lot of dust and heat up the laptop. the GPU alone was $299 before markup and it cost him around $450 to fix. Dell XPS are nice. HP elite books are built nice, but the docking station peripheral will burn out. Hell who knows after fixing computers as a job you dont trust anything anymore. So my best bet is you get what you pay for as long as you take care of it.
 
rocknblogger said:
Which Asus are you referring to?
Click to expand...

The G75 gaming laptop. ROG, Republic of Gamers.

----------
SimonWiesner said:
the republic of gamers laptop are great, but i had to recently replace a GPU on a g3jh ROG because the ATI GPU overheated. the way the fans were set up it would collect a lot of dust and heat up the laptop. the GPU alone was $299 before markup and it cost him around $450 to fix. Dell XPS are nice. HP elite books are built nice, but the docking station peripheral will burn out. Hell who knows after fixing computers as a job you dont trust anything anymore. So my best bet is you get what you pay for as long as you take care of it.
Click to expand...

The current G75 is easy to clean. The majority of the underside comes of with one screw allowing access to the RAM, hdd bays and cooling fans.
 
What about Alienware, they offer performance. I'm not a fan of their designs but they do throw a lot of horsepower under the hood
 
maflynn said:
What about Alienware, they offer performance. I'm not a fan of their designs but they do throw a lot of horsepower under the hood
Click to expand...

Ever since they were bought by Dell, I have felt Alienware have declined to slightly more powerful Dell machines with a glowing alien on it and a hefty price.
 
roadbloc said:
Ever since they were bought by Dell, I have felt Alienware have declined to slightly more powerful Dell machines with a glowing alien on it and a hefty price.
Click to expand...

I was wondering that myself but I thought (or hoped) they'd still have some quality machines.
 
roadbloc said:
Ever since they were bought by Dell, I have felt Alienware have declined to slightly more powerful Dell machines with a glowing alien on it and a hefty price.
Click to expand...

Nah, the Alienware quality is still there for sure, whats gone from Alienware is the ole Alienware Way, which means to stuff desktop parts into a laptop that weighs 11 pounds and call it portable. I miss that :(
 
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