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Laptop development?

Started by _Orko_ Jan 13, 2003 at 3:42 PM 23 replies 600+ views

Original Post

Jan 13, 2003 at 3:42 PM

I''m curious as to how many do graphics programming development on a notebook / laptop here? I''m going to probably be picking up a desktop replacement laptop in the next week or two. P4 2.4 ghz 512 ram ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 anyone have a system close to this and any opinions on development on their laptop notebook? I''d really like to hear from you guys

Cheerios! Orko

Raduprv

202

Raduprv

Jan 13, 2003 at 4:36 PM

My wife is doing the art for our game on a laptop (it is a Duron 1Ghz, 256 RAM, and a stupid S3 with no video memory

)
And, even if she is not a programmer, she has to run th engine I create on her computer.
The results are poor, but she can work. Besides, the drawback of her system is that crappy video card...

Height Map Editor | Eternal lands

Jerimiah

Jan 13, 2003 at 4:57 PM

I use a Vaio - 1.6ghz 512mb, Radeon 7500 - perfectly good development system - but I have 3 other systems at hand for other tests or heavy work, haven''t needed them recently though (at least not for game stuff)

Palidine

199

Palidine

Jan 13, 2003 at 5:03 PM

i develop from time to time on my laptop: 800Mhz, no hardware acceleration. it''s fine for anything that doesn''t require fast frame-rates to make sure it''s working. i.e. most things work fine, i get around 5-10 FPS in most cases which is ok for debugging a lot of things. it''s not ideal for sure, but when i''m on the road/in the air it''s better than not developing at all.

-me

HunterTKilla

Jan 13, 2003 at 5:26 PM

I have a desktop and a laptop, my laptops got a 1.6GHz P4, 256 RAM and a radeon 7500. I can run most things in my engine (no pixel shaders/fog however

) pretty well but every once and a while I get the blue screen of death, lol. Probably because I have a 16Mb card; anyways laptops are good but I perfer my desktop...

Edit - Nvm, with those specs I am sure you'll do fine, just make sure that card is at least 32Mb

[edited by - huntertkilla on January 13, 2003 6:30:11 PM]

yckx

115

yckx

Jan 13, 2003 at 5:53 PM

Actually, there''s a difference between laptops ans notebook pc''s. Notebooks are heavier, and not really designed for resting on your lap. That being said, I use my notebook on my lap all the time....

I just got this notebook for Christmas. 2.4G P4, 256 Mb ram, 15" display, Ati Mobility 9000, WinXP pro, it''s got all I want, and it''s my development machine. Hell, it''s my only working machine at the moment.

Before you choose a big-name brand machine, check out www.xtremenotebooks.com. They''re a small outfit, but I couldn''t find any negative feedback on them on the web, and it offered the cheapest price for what I wanted by several hundred dollars. And I''m extremely impressed with my machine.

yckx

GBGames

Jan 13, 2003 at 5:55 PM

Awwww....My laptop is a Vaio with only 300MHz and 64 MB of RAM...
Which is fine for DOS games (which I still play) and for games like Starcraft and such that don''t require a lot of graphics overhead.
In terms of development, it was good enough for learning how to use OpenGL. If I wanted to run Quake 3 though...I don''t think my 2MB video card can take it...
I don''t even have a CDROM drive attached to it.

_Orko_

Author

_Orko_

Jan 13, 2003 at 6:13 PM

Well,

My laptop is going to be a P4 2.4 Ghz machine with the latest ATI Mobility 9000 graphics chip. It''ll give me pixel shader goodness (albeit 1.4 and not the DX9 2.0 shiznit) but I don''t really think I''ll be in need of that anyway.

Cheerios!

Orko

DC_Tsunami

Jan 13, 2003 at 6:18 PM

700mHz G3 (yay Apple) with 384Mb RAM and ATI Radeon 7500 (16Mb). It''s pretty crappy for advanced 3D games. I get a poor framerate for Warcraft III on the lowest settings. I haven''t really tried any OpenGL programming on it yet (still trying to learn Carbon), but it''s nothing compared to my desktop.

Stoffel

Jan 13, 2003 at 6:22 PM

I once had a laptop. It was a graduation present, no-name company that doesn''t make laptops anymore (CTX, if you must know). The hard drive ate itself, and took my vacation pictures in Europe with it (6 months worth). Be sure to back-up often.

T h i n k L i b e r a l l y ..

ironballs

Jan 13, 2003 at 11:12 PM

Dell Inspiron pIII 1.2GHz, 256Mb RAM, NVidia GeForce 2 Mobile 32 Mb VRAM, great machine, no problems running any new game, GeForce Mobile is great, you can even get a 64 Mb card if you can afford it! As said before, get''s very hot underneath, and I may build a mesh platform to stand it on.

__Daedalus__

Jan 14, 2003 at 2:36 AM

Dell Inspiron 2650
P4 1.7 GHz Processor
32MB NVidia GeForce2 Go
320MB RAM

No problems at all running my game engine @ Nerotek and 3D Studio Max 4 runs like a dream also. Dont have pixel shader functionality though ...

Wildfire

Jan 14, 2003 at 4:20 AM

Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook E-Series

PIII - 500/600 MHz (Speedstepping)
256 MB Ram
ATI Rage Mobility-P AGP (No HW Acceleration for OpenGL)

I''m developing on the system most of the time, it keeps me focused on programming because I can''t really run the apps here (At least non of the OpenGL apps...).
It also helps me to focus on optimizing my programms for speed

.

Besides that I find programming on the notebook a lot more relaxing. It''s quiet, small and has a nice keyboard. The only thing I really miss is having a larger monitor, or even better a second monitor.

For testing my apps I use my larger system at home, or when in the mood I''ll use both at once, the laptop for displaying various info, while programming on the other (big monitor

).

I''ve thought about moving to notebook only, with a more powerfull one, a real gpu, and maybe an external monitor (flatscreen?). That way I could combine the advantages of multiple monitors with the silence (yes I really hate noise) of my notebook.

Oxyacetylene

Jan 14, 2003 at 4:24 AM

I''m tempted to save up and get a laptop with a Geforce4 go in it. Will take me ages to save up though, as it would cost about 1300 quid

IADaveMark

Mod

608

IADaveMark

Jan 14, 2003 at 9:08 AM

Dell Inspiron 8200
P4 1.6
256 MB
64MB GeForce4
Best and brightest 15" screen on the planet

I figure if many of the top presenters at the GDC (e.g. Brian Reynolds) were using them, it would be OK for me as well.

Dave Mark - President and Lead Designer
Intrinsic Algorithm - "Reducing the world to mathematical equations!"
RIPPL Sports - NFL Statistical Analysis and Prediction System

thona

Jan 14, 2003 at 9:32 AM

Well, I play around a LITTLE on my old Dell Insiorion (366 Celeron), and due to it''s age and horrid graphics card I do my development on my main computer (Shuttle XPC with an Athlon and a Radeon 9700pro, though I MAY get a watercolled thing soon and a GF FX).

I plan to reactivate my laptop when I get an upgrade - I thought about buying a new Dell, but I will propably wait till ATI''s next generation chip comes to the laptop - which will then give me around the power I have now on my desktop, plus all the shaders :-)

Regards

Thomas Tomiczek
THONA Consulting Ltd.
(Microsoft MVP C#/.NET)

Ronin Magus

Jan 14, 2003 at 12:26 PM

Actually, my primary development takes place on a Toshiba Tecra 8100, because that''s what my target system specs are like.

p3 500mhz, 128mb RAM, Windows XP, ATI Rage

aut viam inveniam aut faciam

MoonStar Projects

_Orko_

Author

_Orko_

Jan 15, 2003 at 12:17 AM

Thanks for the all replies guys!

I''ve finally either decided on one of these two:

a) Voodoo PC - M-600 Gaming Notebook
http://www.voodoopc.com

b) Eurocom DreamMachine III 888 ES
http://www.eurocom.com
(click on Future - It launches Feb 14th)

either of these should do just fine as a development machine / desktop replacement. hehe

Cheerios!

Orko

IADaveMark

Mod

608

IADaveMark

Jan 15, 2003 at 12:32 AM

I''m serious... you are missing out if you don''t get the Inspiron 8200. That''s what the pros are choosing...

Dave Mark - President and Lead Designer
Intrinsic Algorithm - "Reducing the world to mathematical equations!"
RIPPL Sports - NFL Statistical Analysis and Prediction System

_Orko_

Author

_Orko_

Jan 15, 2003 at 12:56 AM

You got anymore to sell me on the DELL?

I''ve always despised DELL since i bought my old Pentium 200 Pro.
Their customer service is great but it all ends there.

I''d rather not help to contribute in putting another Benz in Mr. Dells garage.

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