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3D on the Laptop Computers Added on: Tue Jun 04 2002 |
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Some of you might notice a couple of other CPUs in laptops, notably the Crusoe chips. These are not good multimedia CPUs, so stay away from them also. In my searches, I have discovered that p3s and p4s perform almost identical. The p3 1.1ghz will perform on par with a p4 1.6ghz.
However, as I have said, there are known heat issues with the p3, so I say spend the extra money and just go with the p4. Dell supposedly has a great custom heat sink for its procs and GeForce4, so if you are going to buy a laptop with a p3 then you might want to give Dell a try. Im not too familiar with the heat-eliminating aspects of laptops from other companies however.
The Holy Grail: the BEST laptop graphics card
NVidia has this title. However, ATI is close, close behind. Both make a stellar chipset. Both come in 16, 32 and 64mg flavors. Both are great for Max. They are about the same amount of money and depending on who manufactures your laptop, most use exclusively one or the other. TomsHardware.com has a great expo on the differences and similarities of the two chipsets...I recommend you read their review.
Most of the big makers like Dell, Toshiba, HP, Sony, Compaq, etc give you the option of versions of the ATI or the NVidia, but none allow you to choose between the two makers. Maybe this will change in the future, but I doubt it. Due to the lack of upgrading/flexibility of laptops, most manufacturers just commit themselves to exclusive contracts with one company or the other.
Soon, both ATI and NVidia will be releasing professional versions of their chipsets. Yes, you will be able to buy a Quadro for your laptop, or a FireGL. I don�t know enough about these to warrant further comment. If anyone has info, please feel free to share it. Laptops with these pro chipsets should be out in the next couple of months hopefully.
Some other laptops
 Alienware makes a good laptop for as little as $2400. However, these are monsters. They are big, bulky, heavy and loud machines that are not very portable and have very limited battery lives. They also have the option of featuring desktop p4s up to 2.4mhz. These machines are loud and sport many cooling fans.
I recommend against a purchase of one of these as you can buy a cheaper one from Dell or a major manufacturer that is as powerful or even more powerful. Besides, Alienware only uses Radeons from ATI.
There are also a lot of lesser-known manufacturers making good quality laptops. Do your homework before buying from them. Buy from a reputable company like Sager or ProStar. Customer support is an issue with all laptop makers.
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