Yay! College time....anyway, back to buisness. Industrial Design is a very demanding major as far as computers go. I requires the mobility of notebooks, and the power asociated with desktops. Obviously power may be a concern, but with wired studio's an extreme batery life isnt necisary. *cant spell*
Anyway, the actualy requirements are:
1.6 Ghz processor
512 mb RAM
32 mb graphics card (*though atleast 64 is highly suggested)

Running photoshop and CAD are very intensive (my family desktop has trouble w/ photoshop) so i kinda have these personal requirements:
2.0 Ghz processor (though 1.8 is acceptable)
1.0 Gig DDR SDRAM (DDRII is nice)
128 mb graphics card (though 64 is acceptable)
and atleast a vertical resolution of 1000 pixels (its WSXGA+ for widescreen, not sure about normal ratio)

So I was hoping that ya'll could help me out. Dell is GA Tech's recomendation, and the D810 is my top choice there (though a little pricey). I really know nothing of other manufacturers though. (Mac, unfortunatly is not an option as Tech has a microsoft base for the software in the ID program)

 

2 Years ago I went to Bestbuy to get a powerful notebook for my 3D graphics.
I bought a MATRIX (Made for Bestbuy) 2.4GHZ, 512RAM, 20G HD ,etc.
I paid about $1100.
Had it for 2 days and a little tug on the power cord ripped the power socket off the mother board. (Yes, just a LITTLE tug)
Brought it back and they wanted to replace it. Pointing out the design defect I opted for a more expensive one.
I chose a Toshiba 1905, it was $1800 on the shelf. I had a Toshiba before, and was very satisfied.
I brought it up to the counter and offered to pay the difference but the clerk said that since it is a replacement they'll make an even swap of it.
Then they handed me two ticker tapes: "This one is your $200 store rebate and this one is the $300 MFG rebate". That was nice.

Although my notebook is a P4 2.4GHZ, 1Gig ram, wireless, firewire etc it's a little aged, but has seen some rough treatment as well. At over 8lbs it's pretty heavy and hasn't exactly been trouble free. When it was 8 months I burned out the CPU + motherboard for 3D rendering, had to send it to Toshiba corp for repair. (Satellite repair couldn't fix it) Repair was under warranty and took 4 days to get it back. I remember fussing with the service reps in India.

They used a desktop-style P4 and the heat builds inside the notebook when heavily taxed (3D) and caused the problem. Since the repair, while It's rendering a lengthy segment I don't just close it up and leave it as before, but rather lean it upright so the heat blows up & out. That seems to do the trick.

As mentioned I am pretty tough on plugs and managed to break the plastic guide tab inside both USB ports, but they still work and I still use them.

One big ++ is battery life. Even though it is 2 years old I can still get at least 3 hours general use, as long as I begin in power saver mode. I've been careful about the battery since new: I don't leave it plugged in 24/7 to fry it or leave it deeply discharged.

I've bought in the past a new IBM, Compaq and 2 Toshiba notebooks.
I'd rate my Toshiba an 8.5. It's tough, powerful, and great battery life.
My next notebook will likely be Toshiba.
CONS: Very heavy, and my 2 yr old model only has 16MB video RAM.

 

hey! i'm an industrial designer too! incoming freshman?
anyways... i've already searched for the best laptop for me and this is what i'm getting
http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusz81kprice.html
i think its the best buy out there
you have your 128 mb graphics card, WSGXA+ 15.4" widescreen and an AMD 64 athlon mobile of your choice, 512 ram and it starts at 1399. that's a really good deal according to my bro who's a comp whiz so take a stab at it

 

I'd look into the Toshiba Tecra M2 or the Toshiba Satellite P30, and I'd especially lean toward the P30.

I configured a P30 as follows on their website:

Mobile P4 CPU @ 3.4GHz
1024MB of DDR
80 gig hard drive
17" LCD
ATI Radeon X600 graphics card w/ 128MB of RAM
Double-layer DVD Super Multi drive
802.11 a/b/g wireless card

The cost was $2075.

It and the Tecra have some of the lowest failure rates of any of Toshiba's models, and Toshiba's reliability is already among the best in the industry.

Good luck with whatever you get!

 

Thanks a tonne guys, definatly saves me some time, i will look into the asus and toshiba (i didnt know asus made notebooks, i've heard good things about their desktops).
And yah Flare, i'll be a freshman at GA Tech next year taking common first year then will have to aply to the ID program. Cool we're doin' the same thing.

 

I've heard good reviews about Asus laptops. Whatever you do, don't get a Sony, my dad has owned 1 vaio laptop and 3 vaio computers and I've had problems with all 3 of them. Plus they are so rediculously expensive, but you only pay for design and no engineering

 

Well, the question must pop up again. What notebook is best?
I've been doing the research and i've narrowed it to the Dell Latitude D810, Toshiba Tecra S2, and the Apple Powerbook G4. All are w/in 100$ range, so price really isnt a concern between the three.
Both the PC's have:
Pentium M 2.0Ghz processor
128mb DDR video card (NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go6600 in the Tosiba and ATI RADEON X600 in the Dell)
60 Gb harddrives, size is really not a concern, i'm going to get an external.
15' UXGA displays
1 Gb of DDR ram

The Powerbook has:
1.67 Ghz G4
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/ 128 Mb VRAM
1 Gb of DDR Ram
80Gb Harddrive

I'm kinda torn. The Mac would be more reliable and maybe a bit faster. Its display isnt as good as the others (w/ the Dell having the best). The Toshiba is the more reliable of the PC's and has a slot for my memory cards from my digicam and the little button pointer(in adition to the touch pad). The Dell, is, well a Dell. It is the recomended manufacturer at GA Tech for PC's and it does have the best display of the group. Anywone have any thoughts?