Ever since I started a new job and a newborn around :), I've had little time at my desktop. I'm still wanting to animate/pose on the go but I don't know what kind of laptop will work well with poser 11. I've had in the past laptops that have met system requirements but its framerate is very laggy. So I'm looking in the range of $400-$700 for a new laptop (I know I'm cheap, but hey babies aren't cheap)!

help me out would ya?

I'll move this thread to the main Poser forum in hopes you get an answer!

Want to work with large scenes? => Max out the RAM. Want to render fast? => Max out the number of CPU cores. (Poser can handle hypercores) FULL 1920x1080 screen is a must.

The key word here is "cheap", folks.

I went for a Lenovo ideapad 300 17.2 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-300-17isk-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/5450868.p?id=bb5450868&skuId=5450868) for $379.

The i3 processor isn't perfect, but it's still pretty snappy and provides 4 threads (2 core+2 hyperthread). And the 17.2" screen provides plenty of real estate. The big downsides are the RAM (4GB not nearly enough, but another 4GB stick will only cost you $18 at NewEgg) and the HD (I cannot stand conventional HDs, so I tossed in a 460GB SSD.)

It's a very "old school" notebook in that you get the bare necessities of ports and options, and it's not a touchscreen (a big plus for me).

Whatever you do, stay away from the AMD APU in a laptop -- I speak from hard experience here. While the AMD's much better integrated GPU is better for games, the AMD's CPU performance specs are far below that of Intel's, and the AMD A10 APU I used previously just choked on Poser.

I'm tired of being glued to my Gateway desktop, and it has been threatening to crash for years. I want a laptop so I can move around. I want to get Poser 11 and maybe higher, with a 17-inch-screen for these old eyes. Maybe $1000 or far less. What should I buy? I've been going crazy comparing computers. The Lenovo Idea Pad (above) is no longer available. Help please! Thanks!

Very brief: >almost NONE<.

Trying to run Poser on a cheapo laptop is like trying to run the CERN "Large Hadron Collider" on a "smart" phone. It >CAN< be done, but it won't work very well...

I always wonder why so many of you folks insist on running Poser on your weak laptops when there are much cheaper - used, but much more powerful - desktops available???

Next question will probably be how to run Poser on Android... ((facepalm))

K

romangirl posted at 1:36PM Fri, 22 May 2020 - #4389850

I'm tired of being glued to my Gateway desktop, and it has been threatening to crash for years. I want a laptop so I can move around. I want to get Poser 11 and maybe higher, with a 17-inch-screen for these old eyes. Maybe $1000 or far less. What should I buy? I've been going crazy comparing computers. The Lenovo Idea Pad (above) is no longer available. Help please! Thanks!

Check newegg or something similar for refurbished Gaming Laptops or Mobile workstations

Acer

MSI

ASUS ROG

Basically anything (Almost) meant for gaming is good enough for your creating on the go moments.

edit: make sure it has a discreet graphics card ie: a card which has its own memory separate from the laptops ram (they usually start @ around 16 GB)

Thank you!

I'd make sure that the GPU (graphics card) is an NVDIA card. that will insure you can do GPU rendering if you want to. AFAIK AMD graphics are not supported for GPU rendering.

KarinaKiev posted at 4:55PM Fri, 22 May 2020 - #4389863

Very brief: >almost NONE<.

Trying to run Poser on a cheapo laptop is like trying to run the CERN "Large Hadron Collider" on a "smart" phone. It >CAN< be done, but it won't work very well...

I always wonder why so many of you folks insist on running Poser on your weak laptops when there are much cheaper - used, but much more powerful - desktops available???

Next question will probably be how to run Poser on Android... ((facepalm))

K

I run Poser 11 Pro, Mudbox, Photoshop CC, and a web browser all simultaneously on a laptop with no detectable performance problems. And even during a high setting IDL render I haven't noticed anything peculiar under such conditions. Shrug. I really like my laptop, although I think I'll shell out an extra 200/300 or so dollars in a couple years and pick up a HP Spectre, they're even prettier. The one I have now cost about 1300.

I use an Acer Aspire 7 (Intel i7, 32GB Ram, GeForce GTX 1060, 2.5TB of combined SSD-based storage, 17" screen.) I spent $1800 for the privilege... two years ago. You might get something similar these days for maybe $1200-$1300 or so?

I bought a laptop because my company (until COVID showed up) made me travel a lot.

Expensive? Yup. Worth it? Yup. You get what you pay for.

My gaming laptop performs better than most common desktops. I abuse the unholy sh!t out of the thing, it went on the plane with me every time I boarded one, and yet it has, so far, held up like a champ. My previous laptop, a 2012-era MacBook Pro, held up through SIX YEARS of constant travel + rendering + whatever... and yet, my wife still uses it today. I paid $2000 for it (plus a couple hundred bucks or so for more RAM and a bigger disk) - which amortizes down to roughly $500/year. I think I bought new fans for it once too, but they were like $25 or so.

If I had stuck with $1000 laptops, I would have been forced to replace it every 12-18 months (because laptops generally aren't made for the kind of CPU/GPU abuse that CG art entails), which would have meant an additional $3,300 - $5000 above and beyond that $2k.

Trust me - save the pennies and buy quality - it will last long enough to pay itself back over and over.

Penguinisto. So you'd recommend Aspire Laptops. Those are pretty good specs at that price (1200/1300).

Also @penguinisto, although seriously OT...

man, that's quite a bio you have there. Especially "killing Apollo Maximus" part. Would love to hear/read that story. I always thought the guy was pretty darned talented, but I don't have a sense of his online demeanor from the few old threads he engaged in here.

Anyway sorry for the OT.

I have used the Gateway desktop for years, and it did the job. But it always kept me inside in beautiful weather, which, lately, has been rare. I have a beautiful screened patio. Why not enjoy nature and Poser at the same time? Thanks, all!

One point I need to address. The AMD issue. The A series processors were tailored for laptops of the thin and light format. The chip also has a Radeon GPU internal to it, which saved space. However, that also increased the thermal issues (CPU and GPU on the same die. A good analogy would be trying to cool you entire modern desktop with only an 80mm power supply fan), so they throttled both functions to avoid meltdown. Even 65 watts of heat dissipation can roast a transistor junction if there isn't sufficent cooling.

The other point of bottlenecking was system memory. The combined CPU/GPU scheme required shared memory, so you typically lost at least a gigabyte to the video function at a minimum. Then you also have the fact that video memory is limited to system ram speeds. Current VRAM is DDR-5/6, depending on the cost of the card, where laptop memory is DDR-3/4, depending on what you spent on it. So video is going to be slower on a laptop than on a desktop rig. In a desktop setting an A-10 performs very well, within the limitations of its age. You can compensate for a lot of the issues then by using high capacity cooling, top end sys ram to get the best video performance out of the hardware, and with a non-lap motherboard, you should have a larger pool of memory to install, letting you assign X-gigabytes to video and the rest as system.

As far as laptops go, the issues to look for are 1). OpenGL. You can not upgrade 99% of available laptops, so the video you buy is the video you are stuck with. If it only supports OpenGL 2.3, you are out of luck with any software that requires 3.0 or higher. A program using 2.3 will do just fine on 3.0+ hardware, but a 3.1 program put on 2.3 capable hardware is likely to be a pain. The whole number upgrades of OpenGL usually involve code that talks to buffers and functions that simply do not exist in earlier versions, so anything that depends on that 3.0 standard might work, might, not, or might crash the whole magilla. No matter what Redmond thinks, OpenGL is still the standard in non gaming graphics.

1. Memory. Very few laptops have more than two memory slots. They also do not use the dimm format that desktops use. Most of the modules are simm, They are shorter, and taller, meant to be slid into a socket at an angle. Where you can get into trouble there is in cost. Outside of a handful of sizes, laptop memory quickly becomes a specialty item, with a price to match. Some companies try and stay with standards; others customize it and charge out the wazhoo for their 'custom' parts. Caveat Emptor.

2. Hard drive. More and more laptops are shifting to SSDs now that prices have fallen. This is good for portability and weight. However, be aware that even now, you are at the mercy of physics. There is a condition in semiconductor storage known as 'atomicity'. In simple terms, every time an SSD transistor switches states in reading or writing, there is atomic level damage done. One or more atoms are dislodged from the insulating matrix, weakening the semiconductor's junction. When enough atoms are 'broken, the junction fails and that bit is dead. Which killed the drive completely. Since they were introduced, they have changed how they made the substrates, adding many more cycle times to the average lifespan. They also introduced software schemes like SMART (and a couple others I can't think of atm) to prewrite a byte, and if it fails, mark it as bad and move to the next byte. But be it SSD, flash drive, usb stick, whatever, if it is solid state storage, it has a limited lifespan. So plan to back up often, and there is no 'too much' as to layers of back up. Currently I have all of my Poser runtimes backed up on 2 external HHD, and plan to put together a Terabyte SSD as a 3rd backup. It doesn't have to be elaborate; pick up a Seagate 5T USB pocket drive, back up your perishables, unplug it and place it in a static bag, then into a cushioned bag to be placed into a fire safe or somewhere offsite, just in case. Modern SSD's have an average mean time between failures of around 2.5 million hours. Note the word average. That gives roughly the 5 year daily usage warranty period most drives have (surprise surprise). But one can fail any time, just as you can buy a smart phone and it dies on you the next week. They also have multiple form factors you need to be aware of. Laptops tend to use the M.2 format, which is basically a printed circuit card with one end that has connector tabs. That has 3 sizes 2260, 2280, and 22110. Each one is longer than the one to the left, and the 22110 has two index notches on the connector. The next is the 2.5" rectangular format that mimics the small hard drives they use in laptops. The M.2's are likely to be buried in the laptop so deeply that the average user can't access them. The companies that use the 2.5" format tend to keep their old cases, which should have a panel you can remove to access the drive.

3. Display. Whatever you do, don't get a small screen laptop. The text on Poser will be next to unreadable, and we currently don't have the option of changing it or enlarging it. Those who have poor eyesight will suffer eyestrain and headaches, and the ones with good sight will go along until one day they notice they can't see clearly. If you have no choice, make sure that the laptop has an external monitor port. It should be HDMI. Then you can simply plug in any size monitor you want at home.

If this topic is still alive, as an animator i'll just say don't get anything under i7, 16GB of RAM and if possible get one with a decent NVIDIA card instead of ATI. ATI is fine for gaming but with graphics, animation and rendering it seems like a problem always arises one way or another. idk why that is, but NVIDIA has always been solid. A second hard drive for assets, data and junk. SSD is ideal but expensive. Use nothing less than 7200rpm.

Thanks so much for all your help!