Laptop recommendation - Budget up to 1500 EUR

Hello vvvvers,

I want to buy a windows laptop, mainly for using vvvv for graphical stuff / visuals.
My budget is up to 1500 €.

Because up to now I’ve been working on bootcamp I don’t have a clue of windows laptops…
Maybe you have any recommendations / tips or experiences you can share? Thank You!

Does anyone have experience with Dell Inspiron Laptops?

Thank You!!
Gerrit

I’m very happy with my Schenker notebook. Just make sure, you don’t get one with Optimus / Enduro Technology.

http://www.mysn.de/

Hah, very good topic!!

Unfortunately the users of V4 are in a serious dilemma regarding this issue. Hardware and operating systems are constantly developing but V4 somehow doesn’t seem to move along.

If you buy a new laptop today, it very likely comes with Windows 8.1.
If it shouldn’t be too heavy and have decent batterylife along with graphics power, you will likely have Optimus built in.
And if you are willing to spend good money on the machine, it will also very likely have a high DPI display.

Allmost all top of the line machines are equipped like this, which is cool.

Now the bad news:

  • the current beta version of V4 is (still) not compatible with Windows 8.1. If you don’t like to wait for a beta release or if you need to jump between different V4 versions for some reason, you will probably need to stick with Windows 7 forever.(Note: many new laptops don’t fully support legacy OS’s due to a lack of drivers)

  • no version of V4 is currently compatible with NVidia Optimus + Windows 8.1. Windows 7 + Optimus seems mostly ok.

  • no version of V4 is currently usable with high DPI displays, unless you just set the display resolution to “normal” value.

This means, if you want a good laptop for V4, don’t go too excited with modern hardware features or contemporary operating systems.

nope. Mine doesn’t work with DX9. Tried evrything. Gave up, and bought a new laptop.

@zepi i think your statement about Windows 8.1 is wrong. I’m currently using vvvv with desktops and laptops based on Windows 8.1 and everything is working. I know dx9 render node has fullscreen issues, but you can use borderless mode anyway.

For laptop recommendation, Asus ROG line is good and i know some people from forums using it. I’m the owner of G55VW model - it’s heavy, has bad soft touch material, that is easy to scratch. Intel’s GPU is disabled on hardware level, so you can only use discrete card, that is good for professional usage, but bad when you need long battery life.

@gerrit, don’t get confused. in general i would say you take the machine you personally like and let us figure out how to run vvvv on high DPI, optimus, win8.1 and such things. you will most likely keep your laptop much longer than it takes us to fix the issues. we are currently into other things, but of course we will join the optimus quest soon again.

on the other hand, if the laptop is a dedicated machine for a specific project, you should choose one which runs the current beta smoothly. hope that clears things up.

@all Thanks for your replies.

It’s right, I am a little confused.

Can anyone confirm that dx9 is working in this Scenario (at least in windowed mode):
beta 31.2, windows 8.1, NVIDIA GraphicsCard WITH Optimus

Thank you

Just to add/confirm/suggest:

Using that device:
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/N56VZ/
(pretty much like the dell but with 650M and bit thicker overall)

It does not come with optimus.
Although provides same settings for telling programs to use the integrated graphics or the nvidia.
Is working flawlessly with beta 31.2, Windows 8.1

No issues with renderers fullscreen or windowed or on external display.

@gerrit

I can’t confirm, sorry. With 4 renderers open (windowed) my framerate drops towards 8 fps. I can use dx11 renderers, though.

@gerrit:

Sorry, this scenario is not working.
On my Dell XPS 15 / Windows8.1 the DX9 renderer stays black in windowed mode. See this thread for details:
forum-alpha/optimus-and-v4-behaving-differently-on-different-os-versions-%28win-7-win-8.1%29

Yes, this Asus laptop is good. One of my friends using it for vvvv. This laptop has switchable graphics, but you can force it to use 650m in settings.

The asus stated by “guest” seems to be a good solution for me. Thanks!

reconsidering my advise about the asus, one should additionally point out that this device is mid 2012. although it plays well regarding vvvv and its current optimus issues, it is obviously not the freshest meat.

I can recommend the ASUS N56VZ using it beside my MacBook Pro and didn’t had any trouble by vvvving with it

The Razer Blade:
i7-4702HQ 2.2GHz
GTX 765M
http://www.razerzone.com/store/razer-blade-2013

They also have the maximum possible Blade Pro, but it comes at 2200$:
i7-4700HQ 2.4GHz
GTX 860M
http://www.razerzone.com/store/razer-blade-pro

Something more conventional and within your pricerange:
MSI GE70
i7-4700HQ 2,4GHz
GTX 860M
http://www.warehouse2.de/shop/details.php?art=141670&artname=MSI+GE70-2PEi716SR21+43%2C9cm+i7-4700HQ%2F16GB%2F1TB%2FGTX860M%2FW8.

Dorian