Looking for new laptop for Unity3D, Blender

[Rxanadu]

Hello, everyone:

I'm looking for a good laptop for making 3D games on. I primarily work with Unity3D (like the rest of the world) as my main middleware game development program and Blender for my 3D model art, which is usually very low-poly due to my modelling skills (or lack thereof). My current laptop is having some very intersting issues. For example, it sometimes takes about 30 minutes to change to a different tab on Chrome. Here are the general properties for the computer I'm looking for:

• between $400 - $500 in price
  
• around 13"-15" wide (my back's been killing me with carrying around my current laptop)
  
• uses either Nvidia or AMD graphics (I've heard Intel is not good for games)
  
• has a HDMI port
  
• can run Saints Row the Third at low or medium settings at around 60 fps (I heard that game's pretty great)
  
• NOT an HP computer (not a fan of these computers, thanks to my experience with my current laptop)
  

I'm not so concerned about HD space or memory, as most laptops come with a minimum of 500 GB of HD space and 4GB of memory these days.

If anyone can help me out with this, I would much appreciate it.

[osmosisch]

From the $ I assume you're in the US?

[Squid Division]

Don't really think you'll find much in that price range. Lenovo makes good laptops, but this is about the closest I could find for you http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/l-series/

[osmosisch]

Yeah I've not been able to find anything that fits your requirements below ~$650 and even then I'd personally prefer to up my budget a little. It doesn't help that I couldn't find anything equivalent to the Dutch pricewatch for the US market - there it's all search wizards.

 

Whatever you do, try to get a model with a Haswell CPU (Intel's newest generation). They are a very nice step up in terms of performance/power usage.

[Dualhammers]

Be on the lookout for refurbished models at Amazon warehouse. 

[Thrik]

Dell Outlet is often used where I work because you can get top-class stuff for really cheap. Because they build their laptops in such a modular way, even a refurbished one is virtually new — and they also sell some that are literally new with some superficial damage.

It almost seems like madness to buy new after seeing the difference.

[Frenetic Pony]

Hello, everyone:

I'm looking for a good laptop for making 3D games on. I primarily work with Unity3D (like the rest of the world) as my main middleware game development program and Blender for my 3D model art, which is usually very low-poly due to my modelling skills (or lack thereof). My current laptop is having some very intersting issues. For example, it sometimes takes about 30 minutes to change to a different tab on Chrome. Here are the general properties for the computer I'm looking for:

• between $400 - $500 in price
• around 13"-15" wide (my back's been killing me with carrying around my current laptop)
• uses either Nvidia or AMD graphics (I've heard Intel is not good for games)
• has a HDMI port
• can run Saints Row the Third at low or medium settings at around 60 fps (I heard that game's pretty great)
• NOT an HP computer (not a fan of these computers, thanks to my experience with my current laptop)

I'm not so concerned about HD space or memory, as most laptops come with a minimum of 500 GB of HD space and 4GB of memory these days.

If anyone can help me out with this, I would much appreciate it.

 

Uhhhh... good luck?

 

I just, JUST bought a computer for my little sister, similar requirements. Less than 2 weeks ago, here's what I got for her: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AM7MM84/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

That's about as good as you're going to get. Play Saints Row 3 on medium settings? You're basically going to have to get a bigger budget. The good news is the above comes with, as far as I can tell, an empty MXM (Mobile PCI Express) port. Meaning I'm going to be upgrading my sisters laptop for christmas with something bought off Ebay (the only place you can buy MXM cards) so she can play Just Cause 2. And I was lucky enough to pick up a returned Amazon item from Amazon warehouse for $400 so the price for the laptop was pretty good too.

[Rxanadu]

Uhhhh... good luck?

 

I just, JUST bought a computer for my little sister, similar requirements. Less than 2 weeks ago, here's what I got for her: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AM7MM84/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

That's about as good as you're going to get. Play Saints Row 3 on medium settings? You're basically going to have to get a bigger budget. The good news is the above comes with, as far as I can tell, an empty MXM (Mobile PCI Express) port. Meaning I'm going to be upgrading my sisters laptop for christmas with something bought off Ebay (the only place you can buy MXM cards) so she can play Just Cause 2. And I was lucky enough to pick up a returned Amazon item from Amazon warehouse for $400 so the price for the laptop was pretty good too.

What kind of games could she potentially play on this machine?  I'm not that informed in the type of games that can be played on certain PC machines.  I just started playing more PC games during the summer, so any help for what these type of machines can play will help with my expectations.  Whenever I ask for advice on buying new computers, I tend to ask for a (unintentionally) high-power game to use as a benchmark.  This was previously used when trying to decide which type of middleware to use when I started out in game development.

 

Also, as a brand, is Dell generally regarded as reliable?  The last two computers I've had were HP laptops, and both experienced crippling performance issues by the time of their "retirement".

[osmosisch]

I have had HP, MSI, Toshiba and Asus laptops in the past decade and have had by far the best experience with Asus. HPs were clunky, Toshibas were flimsy and overpriced, MSI build quality was bad. This varies per model of course.

 

Besides this, the Thinkpad line also gets recommended a lot by people I trust.

 

The linked laptop has only the integrated Intel graphics processor so that's not going to get you all that far. Further, it's a previous-generation CPU. I would not buy that except if I were really budget-conscious as it's not very futureproof. FPony is intending to put a dedicated graphics card in as I understand it which should help things a bit.

[JonCole]

Your requirements are fairly unusual. Laptops at that price generally don't have discrete graphics because Intel 3000/4000/5000 are more than sufficient for Windows 8 and 1080p video rendering so there's no need for much more until you get closer to $800-1000. One place I'd look is perhaps refurbished business-class laptops from Dell, Lenovo, or Toshiba, as they often have discrete GPUs that may be capable of what you're looking for. I'd normally recommend Slickdeals, but I did a casual search of recent popular computer deals and virtually none of them in the past 6 months meet your needs.

 

I usually like to make a couple recommendations for topics like this, but due to the unusual nature of your request I only have one. It goes a little above your $400-500 limit ($530 isn't too bad, right?), but otherwise seems to meet all your requirements except maybe Saint's Row at 60fps. That's going to be super hard for an open-world game like that, but you'll definitely have 30+ at Medium with this laptop. You could also do a little bit of upgrading in the future to make it more than just adequate - upgrading the RAM to 8GB and swapping in a SSD (you could use the included drive down the road in an external USB 3.0 case) would do this laptop wonders. Anyways, here you go - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314119

[Thrik]

I don't know how they compare to other brands, but I've had a Dell 24-inch monitor which still looks as good as new (and better than most current-day consumer monitors) six+ years later. I've also been using a Dell laptop for the past year and it feels pretty solid and looks good. No component problems to speak of.

[toblix]

I'm very happy with my Dell purchases, though only one of them was a laptop.

[JonCole]

I'm happy with my Dell Vostro laptop, though I will say that drivers and whatnot are a huge pain in the ass when installing a new OS. I said this in the other computer-related thread, but I was thinking about upgrading to Windows 8 and one of the Dell community members has assembled this document as a rough guide to OS installation on a Dell laptop. It's a goddamn nightmare - http://philipyip.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/windows-reinstallation-guide-10-08-2013.pdf

[Rxanadu]

I've decided to go with @JonCole's suggested computer for the time being.  Before I go ahead and purchase it, however, I wanted to have one last check as a precaution.  I compiled a list of programs I intend to download for my computer after it arrives.  I wanted to be sure if they could actually run on the desktop emulation (?) on Windows 8.  I wanted to crowdsource this information for personal (and potentially future) use, so I've made the list available via Google Drive to all who use this link.  I intended it to allow for editing in certain areas, so please let me know if you have any issues with editing the 2nd and 3rd columns.

[Thrik]

As far as I'm aware there's virtually universal cross-compatibility between Windows 7 and 8, just like between Vista and 7. While 8 does treat the traditional desktop view with less priority than its predecessors, it's not emulating anything — it's largely the same platform as Vista and 7, presented differently.

 

The only thing where I'd imagine you could encounter compatibility issues are drivers, but as you're getting a whole new machine that shouldn't be a problem.

[Rxanadu]

I just bought my laptop.  I'll speak again once I receive it and have some time to futz around with it.  From what I hear, Windows 8's new interface is somewhat hard to use for beginners, despite being specifically design for touch-capable devices.  I don't think my computer has touch capabilities, which is a bummer.  Hopefully, that doesn't hinder my experience with it.

[JonCole]

If you have difficulties dealing with Windows 8's new UI or simply don't prefer it, you can use utilities to restore the Windows 7 UI or put the desktop mode to the forefront. I often hear Classic Shell and Start8 mentioned positively most often.

[Hermie]

I use Windows 8 the exactly the same way I used Windows 7, just with a bigger start menu. As long as you ignore the apps in preference for real software, then it's basically identical. That goes for legacy software too, it runs everything, and if it doesn't, it runs it in compatibility mode. Blender is smooth sailing, even on my i5-3570.

[Rxanadu]

I use Windows 8 the exactly the same way I used Windows 7, just with a bigger start menu. As long as you ignore the apps in preference for real software, then it's basically identical. That goes for legacy software too, it runs everything, and if it doesn't, it runs it in compatibility mode. Blender is smooth sailing, even on my i5-3570.

That's good to hear about, especially for Blender.  I'd ask you about tips in Blender right now, but that's question for another topic.  

 

Do you happen to use any apps, or are they as irrelevant as I've heard?

[Hermie]

That's good to hear about, especially for Blender.  I'd ask you about tips in Blender right now, but that's question for another topic.  

 

Do you happen to use any apps, or are they as irrelevant as I've heard?

Definitely don't ask me about Blender, I'm still reading tutorials about how to make a gingerbread man move.

Nah, I don't use any apps at all. I tried a couple when I first installed, but all of them feel way too adapted to tablets, so I get way more functionality and usability with mouse and keyboard if I use the web/software equivalents.

[Rxanadu]

I got my new computer last Thursday, and it's working well.  It can even run Brutal Legend at High settings!  I'm finally able to work with Unity and Blender again, which is a great thing for me.

 

As for my old computer, it's still having problems with loading relatively small programs fast.  This is even after re-imaging it to give to my mother.  I still don't know what's causing all of these issues with it, but at least it's fast enough for my mom to use.  

 

Thanks, everyone, for helping me with choosing a new computer to use.  If I need any help with buying computers, I'll be sure to post here first.

[Dewar]

Armchair tech support, but problems doing just about anything are often either hard drive issues, or overheating issues. Good luck with your new machine