Borrax's stats
- Review count1
- Helpfulness votes53
- First reviewMay 28, 2012
- Last reviewMay 28, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating5
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Borrax's Reviews
Overall Rating
Reviewed by:Borrax(New York)
Duration of Product Use:Over 6 months
Level of Expertise:Expert
Title:
its not a toy
PostedMay 28, 2012
Yes, I would recommend this product
like others that have written reviews here, this is my first laptop. or more correctly, mobile workstation, and dell is very careful in referring to this computer as such. lets get this out of the way, this is not a laptop. if you plan on doing some word processing, excel, some light autocad, googling random stuff while watching tv, this isnt the laptop for you. it weighs around 10 pounds so carrying it around is tiresome and you will need a case. if you try to use it on your lap, your legs will block the vents and it will blue screen due to heat within 15 minutes, so you can only use this on flat surfaces. no using it on a rug or in your bed. you can kinda cheat by balancing the machine on one knee in between the vents, but its not recommended. your know nothing relatives will tell you that your computer is huge and therefor outdated. if you use it without the sizable power adapter, it runs at a reduced speed. watching HD video is fine but if you try to edit video or do anything 3d it will lag. also i believe it draws a little under 300watts of power so mobile power options are limited it seems. on an airplane, watching a HD movie with wifi off, the battery lasted a little under 2 hours.
...that being said, i love this machine
its helpful to think of this machine as a desktop that can easily be packed up and has a built in monitor. i use it with dual screens and keep it docked 99% of the time. if i have to go somewhere for a week or even a few days its nice to be able to just chuck the unit in a laptop bag and throw it in the car with me.
it runs CS5.5 very well. i usually keep photoshop, after effects, and premiere open at the same time without so much as a hiccup. but whats this computer really loves is autodesk. maya, 3dsmax, autocad 3d, revit, inventor all require zero extra configuration to use full hardware acceleration. the fast previews save alot of time. you can rotate complicated models in real time or close to real time. it renders quickly too. re-encodes 720p video at like 4-5x speeds.
and it plays games really well too. i have the quadro 3000m and it seems somewhere around a gtx550ti. plays battlefield3 at not quite full graphics but its close.
some notes:
3d games and 3d rendering really get the fans going. if you feel around back and put your hand by the vents it feels like a hairdrier.
3d games and 3d rendering really get the fans going. if you feel around back and put your hand by the vents it feels like a hairdrier.
the finger print scanner makes me feel like james bond but its takes some getting used to and its faster to type in a password.
get 8gb ram. it's MUCH more economical to get additional ram somewhere else
get the solid state drive for system drive. i didnt and now regret it. ill explain, there are 2 HDD bays and 2 miniPCI ports. the wifi uses one mini pci slot and the other can be used for a mSATA SSD. the other 2 HDD bays can be either normal or SSD, both 2.5"
TL;DR version:
great machine if you do design work and occasionally/frequently travel professionally. other need not apply
+52points
53of 54voted this as helpful.
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