Upgrading Laptop....Recommendations?

[mjbusna05]

Hi everybody,

 

i am looking to upgrade my 2014 15” Macbook Pro laptop that I use for Chief. I am currently debating between the Macbook Pro 16, the new Dell Precision 5550 or the new Dell 7550. The Dells just became available  to order within the last two weeks. They are certainly more customizable as far as configuration goes compared to the Mac. My current laptop definitely bogs down when raytracing but seems to do the 3d cameras fine. Any recommendations on is upgrading the GPUs is worth the added cost? The Dells max out with the Nvidia t2000 or the rtx5000 respectively but I was leaning towards the the t2000 or rtx3000 would be fine and still maintain some futureproofing. I want to try to keep the cost under $4K and am just unsure of the best places to upgrade (RAM, GPU, etc). I do want a laptop vs a desktop. I want to make sure that I futureproof as much as possible since it is a relatively big investment.
I also edit pictures and video from my drone on the side.

 

How would you guys spend my money?  

 

Thanks,

Matt

[MarkMc]

I'd be looking over the forums at http://forum.notebookreview.com/

then talking to the folks at https://www.hidevolution.com/ (yes talk to a human-used to be if you mentioned the above forum you could get a discount too)

I switched from Precisions to gaming laptops a year after starting with Chief. Unless your video work uses the Quadro card you'll be better off with GeoForce RTX.

 

I like Clevo laptops (Sager, Evoc, others). They'll have more ports than most, the better ones are customizable beyond Dell or others, and completely upgadeable though that is rarely worth it. I'm on 5 years with the Sager (2nd one- the other still running) This time I'm likely getting a desktop but still toy with a laptop. If I were I'd be waiting just a little while until either the 10th gen Intel desktop chips were available (not the H series now out) or a Ryzen desktop chip shows up in a 17" machine. Though I will say that there is almost not enough usable difference in screen between a 15 and a 17 since I use external monitors.

[Rpadge]

Kinda depends on how your going to use it, and whats important to you. I have a 15" Sager and am happy with it, but its heavy. I knew that when I bought it, the additional weight was a compromise I was willing to make. I think it would make a great desktop replacement, with its size and graphics capability. However, if you want a notebook that you can take down to Starbucks and work on while sipping your latte,  then you might want something different.

[Renerabbitt]

Been using the top of the line Surface Book 3 for 120 hours now and love it. Drafting on a tablet is incredible, and the graphic horsepower allows me to work in applications that were only possible on a desktop machine previously. Some limitations yet but incredible machine for what it is.
Just finished this prelim rough rendering in 5 minutes on this machine. 

[DzinEye]

3 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

Drafting on a tablet is incredible

Sounds interesting Rene.  If/when you have a chance make a vid of you using it.  Wondering how you went from big monitor to feeling it's great drafting on a 15" screen.  I'm sure there's reasons... which is why I want to see 

 

[rgardner]

MacBook Pro 2019 16” Maxed out is the way to go.  Especially if you are a current Mac user.

[Electromen]

I own a two week old 16" MacBook Pro.

2 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM, 5500M video card with 8GB VRAM, 2.4 Ghz processor

I'm very happy with it. It's very fast with CA12.

[Renerabbitt]

3 hours ago, DzinEye said:

Sounds interesting Rene.  If/when you have a chance make a vid of you using it.  Wondering how you went from big monitor to feeling it's great drafting on a 15" screen.  I'm sure there's reasons... which is why I want to see 

 

FYEO

 

[DzinEye]

29 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

FYEO

Thank you Rene!  Very cool!  Looks like the power is definitely there.  
Hard to tell though how you're using the touch screen. 
Do you pinch the screen to zoom in/out?... how do you orbit / pan  etc.?   

I was thinking of like a 3rd person viewpoint of you using it...
BUT I really appreciate the effort.  Thanks.

Did you get the top of the line $3399 one?

[Renerabbitt]

6 minutes ago, DzinEye said:

Thank you Rene!  Very cool!  Looks like the power is definitely there.  
Hard to tell though how you're using the touch screen. 
Do you pinch the screen to zoom in/out?... how do you orbit / pan  etc.?   

I was thinking of like a 3rd person viewpoint of you using it...
BUT I really appreciate the effort.  Thanks.

Did you get the top of the line $3399 one?

Space mouse with the pencil. Quick keys on space mouse. The touchscreen is just awesome for clicking through toolbar actions. takes some adjustments to chiefs preferences. I will have to do a video of just drafting a house. there are times when using this thing that I truly feel as if no setup could possibly be faster. other times where it does not meet that challenge but still wildly impressive for what it is. I made those advanced materials using this laptop in substance alchemist, which is a heavy program in its own right.

I bought the business grade one with the Quadro 3000. was $4200 with the stylus to my door.
I plan on buying this guy to accompany it : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083ZFG1PF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A8OJI2R2SBLIE&psc=1

 

[mjbusna05]

So I found an open box 2019 16" Macbook Pro with 2.3 Ghz Intel 8 Core I9 with 16 GB ram, 1 TB SSD, and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB VRAM. It was originally $2799 at the exchange on base (I am a reservist for the Navy) and was marked down 25% off and they included a 2 year warranty. Add in the lack of taxes on base vs at a store off base here in Cali and it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up. However, I have to admit I have been underwhelmed with the performance. Chief X12 crashed on me 3 times in a row, the bluetooth menu froze and I got the spinning balloon a few times while working, especially from within the 3d full camera. I am open to selling the mac and getting something else but was just surprised at the issues I have been having, but maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Thoughts?

[rgardner]

9 hours ago, mjbusna05 said:

So I found an open box 2019 16" Macbook Pro with 2.3 Ghz Intel 8 Core I9 with 16 GB ram, 1 TB SSD, and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB VRAM. It was originally $2799 at the exchange on base (I am a reservist for the Navy) and was marked down 25% off and they included a 2 year warranty. Add in the lack of taxes on base vs at a store off base here in Cali and it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up. However, I have to admit I have been underwhelmed with the performance. Chief X12 crashed on me 3 times in a row, the bluetooth menu froze and I got the spinning balloon a few times while working, especially from within the 3d full camera. I am open to selling the mac and getting something else but was just surprised at the issues I have been having, but maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Thoughts?

I have nearly the same specs and have not seen anything like that.  I would recommend talking to tech support regarding the chief failures it runs perfectly on mine on even very large files.  Only problems I have ever had with the Bluetooth was a device I had that had a faulty firmware issue that was causing an issue. My sennheiser Bluetooth headset.