new computer

[dan paul]

hey designers my stupid dell xps m1330 is dying on me, it has been a half decent laptop in its time but lately it seems like something is wrong with it everyday and I am considering a new computer laptop or desktop.

so my question is does land8 have any suggestions?

[ida]

If your considering buying a laptop, the minimum specs should be, i5 with 2.4ghz (not the ultrabook version with 1.7ghz), at least 8gb ram, SSD or 7200rpm hard drive (you can always upgrade the hard drive later), and dedicated graphics card with at least 1gb. If you can afford it, a laptop with a bright screen that can show a high sRGB gamut is ideal for graphical work. Also, research heat management. You want a computer that stays cool under load so it won’t crash on you when you open a 1gb psd file!

Hope this helps. For reviews, I usually like to go to notebookcheck.net. You can do research, buy a great laptop and save money, or if your unsure about these things and you’re swimming in cash, just buy a Macbook Pro 😉

[Tanya Olson]

DON’T buy an HP! What a piece of junk – and won’t run AutoCad no matter what they tell you. Well, it will half run it and make you want to throw it out the window the other half of the time. 

Consider this – Puget Systems makes custom computers with prices similar to Dell and quality that easily surpasses Dell. http://www.pugetsystems.com.  We just got new desktops from them (and had laptop from them in the past) – they offer lifetime tech support and understand the system requirements for the kind of software we typically use. I appreciated that they could guide us through the selection of the optimal system to work with the software we use, maintain expansion capability, but aren’t focused on the upsell, It seems like they are making computers to last a long time…

Our new machines are nearly silent, use liquid cooling, and are really really fast. Lots of room for memory expansion and addition, lots of usb ports, wireless, proper video cards, etc etc. We got ours in less than 2 weeks from custom ordering to delivery. The prices were very reasonable for what we got. 

I was dubious, but my partner had a Puget laptop at his previous employer and loved it. The customer service aspect convinced me and the computers seem flawless so far. Their business model appealed to me too – small custom shop as opposed to giant multinational corporate conglomerate. We ordered on a weekend and had an email that night that the order was starting to be processed. A Sunday night! This company is not about the logo – they’re about the quality of the product. BTW,  I upgraded from a Dell that ran SOLID for 8 years too, so I was initially convinced Dell was the way to go. 

Something to check into at any rate!

[Author]

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