Professional laptops and mobile workstations
The term "professional laptop" can be misleading, because it can be used to refer to a wide array of different laptops and tasks, from a mobile workstation to work on 3D graphics to a cheap business laptop to work with simple worksheets and databases, or maybe a multimedia laptop used for graphical design or a high-end business laptop. But I am going to focus on the tasks that need the most specific features. We are talking about medium-sized and big laptops (15 to 17 inches) with powerful processor and graphics card and a decent screen: mainly mobile workstations, that have fast processors and professional graphics cards.
As it is a very specific topic, I am going to give you only some general tips and recommendations. If you need more specific information, it is much better that you ask in forums for the specific field or software.
Customizable mobile workstation
| Dell Precision M6500. Recommended price: from 2749 USD |
 |
8.5 lbs (3.9 kg), 17" matt screen (1440x900; optional 1920x1200). RGB LED has the best color gamut. |
| 2.5 h battery life (light use) |
Intel Core i7 720QM (quad-core, 1.6 GHz, Turbo 2.8 GHz),
customizable up to Intel Core i7-920XM (2 GHz, Turbo 3.2 GHz)
 |
ATI FirePro M7740 (1 GB)
optional Nvidia Quadro FX3800M (1 GB)
 |
| 160 GB HD (5400 rpm), customizable up to 500 GB or SSD, optional RAID; 2 GB RAM DDR3, customizable up to 16 GB; optional Blu-ray |
| Customizable. Numeric keypad, Bluetooth, DisplayPort, eSATA |
| Specifications: Dell.com |
| Reviews: InfoWorld, Notebookcheck, search more |
A few purchase options:
|
- Alternatives: Lenovo Thinkpad W700 (Core 2; PC Connection, Buy.com
 ), HP Elitebook 8730w (Core 2; PC Connection, PC Mall , pcRUSH , Buy.com).
- 15": Dell Precision M4500, HP Elitebook 8540w (PC Connection, PC Mall), Lenovo Thinkpad W510 (PC Connection).
- 14": Dell Precision M2400 (Core 2), HP Elitebook 8440w (PC Mall
 , PC Connection). Both have a low graphical performance compared to the larger models.
|
Tips:
- Professional graphics cards (Nvidia Quadro and ATI FireGL and FirePro) have been optimized for professional software such as Autodesk Inventor, 3D Studio Max, Viz, Maya, Bentley Microstation, Dassault Catia, Solidworks, Navisworks, UGS Solidedge, NX, I-Deas, Team Center, PTC Pro Engineer, Newtek Lightwave, Maxon Cinema4D, Avid SoftImage XSI and many more. Not only they offer better performance, but in many cases only the professional cards are officially supported by the software, but they make the laptop more expensive. This does not mean that home/gaming graphics cards (Nvidia GeForce, ATI Radeon) can't be used, in fact they usually work well, but performance and compatibility is better with professional cards.
- Many tasks, such as video edition and Photoshop do not need usually a professional graphics card, and in some cases a low-end dedicated graphics card can be enough. But the use of the graphics card to accelerate general-purpose computing tasks (GPGPU) is becoming more and more frequent, and some popular applications such as Adobe's CS4 are already using this feature, so picking at least a mainstream graphics card is a good idea. Have a look to the selection of multimedia laptops.
- To perform long tasks (video transcoding, render...) a fast quad-core processor is the best option. Intel Core i7 720QM is quite powerful for the price, while the faster versions (820QM, 920XM) offer an small improvement in performance for a big increase in price. Keep in mind that not all Core i7 processors are quad-core: the 600M series are dual-core (but they run at higher frequencies, so they are better for tasks that are not well optimized for multicore processors). Have a look to the selection of multimedia laptops.
- Most laptops in the market have mediocre screens, and even high-quality ones are TN panels that cannot approach the quality of a good IPS desktop monitor. Usually high-definition screens (1920x1200 o 1920x1080) have better quality and offer more workspace, but it is possible that in 15-inch screens text, icons and toolbars are too small (this can usually be solved using larger fonts or icon sets). RGB LED monitors have usually a higher color gamut, but colors can be oversaturated. If you need a high-quality screen, either try to see the laptop for yourself before buying it, ask in forums of professional users with needs similar to yours, or search for reviews in sites that make a good analysis of the screen, such as AnandTech or Notebookcheck. Mobile workstations, Macbook Pros and some multimedia laptops have good screens, have a look to the review at AnandTech of the Dell Studio XPS 16 with RGB LED monitor to see a good example.
- If you do not need a professional graphics card, there are home laptops with quad-core i7 processors and mainstream graphics cards that can serve you well for a reasonable price.
- As for high-end business laptops, each brand has a dedicated line of laptops, such as the Lenovo Thinkpad (specially T series), Dell Latitude and HP Elitebook.
- A special case of professional laptops are ruggedized ones, built to operate in hostile environments, such as the Panasonic Toughbook (you can find the F8 14-inch Toughbook at Buy.com, The Nerds
, PC Mall
...) or Dell Latitude XFR and ATG (semiruggedized).
