Laptop for Animation student

G

guptavis

Adept
Hello all,My nephew is taking admission in a Animation course. He has the family's old laptop but its 5 years old and not even worth mentioning the config. CS4 doest even install on it. So he will need a new laptop.
The instructor had said some vague config like. atleast corei5, 4gb ram and 1GB graphic card. he says buy dell or hp for about 45k - 50k.So i need advice on what to buy.
What's your Budget? Upto 40k but the cheaper the better
What will be your primary usage for the notebook be? Animation (i guess photoshop CS, Maya etc) watching movies and net surfing.
What size and weight considerations do you have? It has to be carried to class and back home but i think 15.6" would be minimum for animation.
Any brand that you prefer, or any brand that you detest? Would prefer Asus slightly over the others but anything which is most suitable.
Any other considerations? I guess the screen is also important for this work.
Please advise the options.
Is the HP G6-2005AX still the only trinity available? (Cmon Asus what are you waiting for)
 
@guptavis Frankly there isn't any laptop with powerful enough config to juice up animation needs. Your nephew will feel the need for a new machine in a yr only. So, better increase your budget by 9k and get Samsung 5 series n550p.
 
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vivek.krishnan said:
Is a laptop needed? IMO, a desktop will be a better option.

If laptop, this seems a good deal ; Dell New Inspiron 15R 3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ 1GB Graphics/ Linux Laptop: Flipkart.com: Compare, Review Dell Notebook

Also, find out if CUDA support is needed, in which case, it might be wiser to get a 2nd gen SNB with nvidia GPU
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He has to take it to class so it has to be a laptop.
that model looks good but is expensive!
i have no idea of animation, but by what my nephew tells me neither does his instructor.
What is CUDA generally needed for? please suggest yourself if its needed for a 2 year animation course.

sam811 said:
Acer Aspire V3-551G. Another trinity based laptop but overpriced like hell.
under 35k there is another choice: HP Pavilion G6 2102TX ( HP Pavillion G6-2103TX (Red). 2GB ram and core i3 based. This one is priced really low for having Core i3 + 7670M. 3rd gen core i3 based laptops cost 42-45k.
many more are waiting for Trinity from Asus ;)
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yes, the acer is 4k expensive for nothing! do you think the dual core i3 will be able to handle animation?

JuGGa said:
guptavis Frankly there isn't any laptop with powerful enough config to juice up animation needs. Your nephew will feel the need for a new machine in a yr only. So, better increase your budget by 9k and get Samsung 5 series n550p.
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ohhh 50k for laptop! can you give link please?
i thought a trinity would happily do the graphic intensive tasks :(


PS: I thought i was the only idiot sitting up at 3AM! :lol:
 
A desktop would've been a good fit for op's requirements but for laptop i'd say a good Asus or MSI Laptop with Intel i3/i5 processor minimum 4GB ram and good GPU like HD6770 or more would be a good enough Laptop to use Photoshop and Maya.Though for rendering i'd suggest to take the files to a desktop machine cause a laptop can't take that much pressure.
vivek.krishnan said:
Strike out Trinity. You are better off with a Intel machine, IMO.
Jakob what are the requirements any idea?
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guptavis: I know you just want a recommendation on a laptop, & I'm sorry I won't be able to help you out on that one. But I'm just curious why the instructor is asking your nephew to buy a laptop in the 1st place? I wasn't aware of any institute requiring this. Or is this just an individual who imparts training? Or is your nephew himself wanting a laptop?

When your nephew says animation, does he mean animation per se? CG involves stages such as modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging, animation, rendering, vfx, compositing etc. Out of these, it's the rendering (i.e. the building of the image) & vfx calculations which require a good machine. The rest can be managed with a relatively basic PC (i.e. when you're just trying to learn, & not delivering to a client).

I started learning 3ds Max 2009 on a Pentium4, & it worked well for my purposes. So just be sure of your requirements at the current stage, because horsepower isn't going to be enough, no matter what you buy.
 
guptavis said:
ohhh 50k for laptop! can you give link please?
i thought a trinity would happily do the graphic intensive tasks :(


PS: I thought i was the only idiot sitting up at 3AM! :lol:
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50k is nothing :p (at least for an animation machine). My bro is an animator and I have seen how configs get outdated so soon in this (animation) world. So, take my word and don't compromise with the config. Trinity ATM is not at all competent for (serious) animation purposes. Head over here for full story: The Samsung Series 5 550P Laptops Thread - Digit Technology Discussion Forum

PS: There are many "nishachars" around here ;)

Jakob said:
A desktop would've been a good fit for op's requirements but for laptop i'd say a good Asus or MSI Laptop with Intel i3/i5 processor minimum 4GB ram and good GPU like HD6770 or more would be a good enough Laptop to use Photoshop and Maya.Though for rendering i'd suggest to take the files to a desktop machine cause a laptop can't take that much pressure.
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6770 is a desktop card. And an i3 will trail like snail for the purpose intended. And a laptop can take much pressure, given its made for that purpose. You just can't compare laptops and desktops directly.
 
I know it's a desktop gpu but i was suggesting that the gpu caliber of HD6770 or more should be inbuilt in the laptop,I've suggested that the laptop should e that good that's all,Cheers.:)
JuGGa said:
50k is nothing :p (at least for an animation machine). My bro is an animator and I have seen how configs get outdated so soon in this (animation) world. So, take my word and don't compromise with the config. Trinity ATM is not at all competent for (serious) animation purposes. Head over here for full story: The Samsung Series 5 550P Laptops Thread - Digit Technology Discussion Forum



6770 is a desktop card. And an i3 will trail like snail for the purpose intended. And a laptop can take much pressure, given its made for that purpose. You just can't compare laptops and desktops directly.
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@Jakob No issues :cheers:

PS: For serious animation, even a 6770 would lag miles behind. I'd say 7850 :p
 
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Jakob said:
A desktop would've been a good fit for op's requirements. Though for rendering i'd suggest to take the files to a desktop machine cause a laptop can't take that much pressure.
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The thing is my nephew stays around 60KM away. He is coming here for animation course and would be staying in a PG with shared room. A desktop would take too much space in the small room. Also the instructor wants him to bring a computer with him to class, so he cannot carry a desktop ;)

kidrow said:
why the instructor is asking your nephew to buy a laptop in the 1st place? Or is this just an individual who imparts training? Or is your nephew himself wanting a laptop?
When your nephew says animation, does he mean animation per se?
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It is a small institute with 3-4 batches of 6-8 students each. I dont know what exactly he is going to do (neither does he) but i guess a general 2 year animation program would touch upon every aspect?
JuGGa said:
50k is nothing :p (at least for an animation machine). My bro is an animator and I have seen how configs get outdated so soon in this (animation) world. So, take my word and don't compromise with the config. Trinity ATM is not at all competent for (serious) animation purposes. Head over here for full story: The Samsung Series 5 550P Laptops Thread - Digit Technology Discussion Forum

PS: There are many "nishachars" around here ;)
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Point well taken, i see the config with 650M is really good.
But problem is i dont think his parents would want to spend that much on a laptop considering that he might just not like it and drop out of the course in a couple of months. He is not going to take it up as a profession. He is just doing it for knowledge and fun. A few years from now he is going to run his family business.

PS: must be something with the geeks, everyday i think im gonna sleep early tonight, and again Its 2AM
 
guptavis said:
It is a small institute with 3-4 batches of 6-8 students each. I dont know what exactly he is going to do (neither does he) but i guess a general 2 year animation program would touch upon every aspect?

But problem is i dont think his parents would want to spend that much on a laptop considering that he might just not like it and drop out of the course in a couple of months. He is not going to take it up as a profession. He is just doing it for knowledge and fun. A few years from now he is going to run his family business.
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Then I wouldn't really advise spending on a juiced up machine at all. In fact, I'd recommend he stay at home & learn off the net. You can learn enough from the web for free to even go professional, if required.

As regards the machine, I started off by running 3ds Max 2009 on the Pentium4 with about 2gb ram. & that was enough to get started. So I'd ask him to try out any older version of the 3d s/w he wants to learn on his current machine & go from there.

If he's considering it as a career, this thread might help (esp. Q. No. 7). & as to what level of skill he can achieve through self-study solely off the net, he can check those links in the 5th para in that thread I've linked to.

HTH. All the best!
 
kidrow said:
Then I wouldn't really advise spending on a juiced up machine at all. In fact, I'd recommend he stay at home & learn off the net. You can learn enough from the web for free to even go professional, if required.
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His whole point of going for a course is going out of his home and spending a few years 'out in the world'.
Like most children these days he has had a very comfortable and pampered life and his parents want him to 'go see the world' before he joins the family business.

JuGGa said:
+1, if that's the case, don't spend much money. Instead get HP G6-2005ax, bang for buck machine.
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Okay, will suggest that this is the best option for him.
 
hello all,

got a call from my sister today. inspite of our best efforts and me mailing the models suggested above, they visited chandigarh yesterday and decided to "get the laptop done with".
She said they got a Lenovo laptop for 45k from croma.
When i asked the configuration she said " core i5, Windows 7 and 2gb graphic card and dont know the rest"
I hope they didnt get taken for a ride with some useless outdated model with a 520M or something. Will have to appreciate whatever it is when i see it.

wonder how people are so confident and spend 45k on something without even knowing what they are getting !
 
^Its Z580 (i5 + 630M). Frankly, she got ripped off.

---------- Post added at 03:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 AM ----------
guptavis said:
wonder how people are so confident and spend 45k on something without even knowing what they are getting !
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:(

"extra" money?
 
JuGGa said:
^Its Z580 (i5 + 630M). Frankly, she got ripped off.

---------- Post added at 03:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 AM ----------



:(

"extra" money?
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oh god, that looks bad, there was a 650M available at that price from a better brand :(
I guess 'extra' money is it.
 
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