[Noah]

Thank you for the mention Dave. We’re working hard on updates in the near future to improve the number of available trees and their rendering quality. Would love to see some of your designs sometime.

[Noah]

These days the hardware in a mac is the same as a PC. The only reason to buy a mac is if:

1. You need software specifically designed for a mac
2. You are already invested in the apple eco-system
3. You want the most stylish computer on the market

Unless a software package (not just a version of it) it’s typically better to go with a windows computer. You can generally get the same or more computing power in a laptop for 1/3rd the cost.

[Noah]

I’d suggest a laptop with at least an i7 processor, a nvidia GTX 760, and although 8GB of ram is good 12GB would be better if you could stretch your budget.

You may be able to find some good deals on laptops since the new generation is just coming out.

This one is the lowest I would go for your price point:
Acer Aspire V3-772G-9656 17.3-Inch Laptop (Sophisticated Black)

For just a couple hundred more, this one is much better (maybe 40% faster)

MSI GE70 Apache Pro-012

If you compare the specs of those, you may find some better deals.

Hope this helps!

[Noah]

When you say “Locks Up” do you need to restart sketchup, or is does it delay momentarily?

What are the biggest factors? Technically, all of them. Software will only run as fast as the slowest component.

Processor = Determines how fast it can process commands, loading files, templates, tools etc.

Ram = How much geometry, objects, and textures you can have open in a file. When this runs out sketchup is highly dependent on the hard drive which is much slower.

Hard Drive = How fast files, objects and textures loads into ram when opened from the drive.

Video Card = Since sketchup is 3D, a great 3D video card will make all difference with complex files and textures.

[Noah]

Hi Dave, I’m glad to hear you are enjoying Pool Studio. 

We’ve made a lot of progress in the last few months. In our next update we you will see a totally new way of creating slopes. They are now super versatile, allowing you to import topographic plans, and create your 3D property in a few clicks. Let us know you you like it when it comes out (hopefully in about a week).

With the recent release of the totally re-designed 64bit 2.0 version, the lot size is quadrupled. The software is now only limited by the amount of ram on your computer, feel free to load up on plants and trees!

We’re also working on more landscape design software features for the very near future. Here is one from our blog. Also for VizTerra, plan selections are zone specific, if you would like to check it out sometime let me know. 

Thanks!

[Noah]

Hi Andrew:

Unfortunately a touch screen will come at a large sacrifice to, processing and graphics power. There simply aren’t any powerful touchscreen computers yet (that I know of). So we have to hang on to the Wacom tablet (for now).

Are you more interested in power or size? For software you probably want at least a 17″ laptop screen. Although I’m personally not partial to any brand, right now MSI’s latest models have both the best hard drives, and the best raid setups which will give you a very noticeable boost in software and file load times.

This is the best small form factor 17″ laptop on the market:

MSI GS70 17.3″ Notebook – GS70 StealthPro-024

It’s light, solid, and powerful. It supports 3 external monitors, supports 3 Raid SSD’s… and has the second most powerful mobile video card.

If form factor isn’t a big deal I’d suggest:

MSI Computer Corp. GT70 DOMINATORPRO-889;9S7-1763A2-889 17.3-Inch Laptop

It’s thicker and heavier, but has a better processor and video card.

Hope this helps! 

[Author]

Posts