Cheap Laptop on which to run Wildfire 5.0

[NEALROSENBLUM]

All,

I posted a thread a couple of days ago and I think that the subject did not properly describe my posting.

I am looking to run Wildfire 5.0 on a cheap laptop. I am wondering if I can run Wildfire 5.0 on a NETBOOK running Windows 7, or even something slightly larger than a NETBOOK.

The reason that I am looking into this is that I currently own a Dell Precision M90. My computer is about 4 years old, and I need to start looking for a replacement. Rather than spending 2-3K for a souped up laptop, I am looking for an economical solution that provides pretty good performance. Let me say that the Dell M90 is awesome. I have had a few issues with it over the years that were repaired with lightening speed using my Dell Gold Support plan that I purchased with the computer (after 3 years, I extended the plan for another 2 years).

When I work in my office, I typically use an external 24" monitor. I really only need the laptop screen when visiting customers to show them what I am designing. So I really just need an economical computer that I can purchase OFF THE SHELF from Best Buy, OfficeMax, Office Depot, etc. I need a computer that I can drop and not worry about spending another $500 to replace.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
<u>neal@geometrixeng.c</u>

[ptc-1932745]

Just my $.02...



I think that you are going to find that nominally, users prefer the
NVIDIA chipset graphics cards for openGL operation under Pro-E and these
types of cards are not generally available for netbooks.



Most of the netbooks I have looked at have very limited graphics
(sometimes Intel, VIA, or similar...) and are not ready for openGL.
Without openGL you are stuck with Win32GDI. If you remember the old
days of Win32GDI, this is very slow....



I think that the tradeoff of not having a good openGL video card, along
with the limited RAM, processor ability and speed will make the netbook
practically unusable.



I would guess that you would be better looking at sub $1000 laptops with
openGL certified graphics cards as the minimum config for Pro-E....



But I could be wrong....



BTW, I would be interested in what can be done to show and interrogate
models using something like Productview, or E-Drawings, as these
products are meant to share and explore models without having
'Workstation class' hardware.





Christopher Gosnell

TRIGON INC.
FPD Company
124 Hidden Valley Road
McMurray, PA 15317
PH: 724.941.5540
FX: 724.941.8322
www.fpdinc.com

[rrich]

With my 2 cents, calculations indicate you are now 4 cents closer to getting
a laptop.



BestBuy and others will all take notebooks back. I suggest getting one with
4Gig ram and the best NVIDIA card you can afford. Load Pro/E and try it.
If you don't like the results take it back within 30days and you have lost
nothing.



Side note: Check the Dell outlet center for great deals.
outlet.us.dell.com I just checked and there are 6 precision M6400 laptops
there with 4gig ram and FX2700 512Meg min graphics averaging $1500 These too
you can get with 3Yr gold and drop insurance.



Ron