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Index › Programming Questions & Help › OpenGL and 3D Libraries › urgent opengl laptop advice
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urgent opengl laptop advice (Read 839 times)
spinster
urgent opengl laptop advice
Mar 21st, 2006, 6:27pm  
Hello,

I was wondering if anybody could give me some urgent advice on the minimum spec for a pc laptop to support opengl?
I've just had a dreadful two months haggling with a major computer retailers who mis-sold me a machine that I was told would support opengl and then didn't. Although the graphics card supported opengl, the processor wouldn't! Anyway, I've at last got a credit note from them and don't want to mess it up again - I need a working laptop to run my processing project for my degree show in a matter of weeks - so would be grateful for any advice.

Just so that other people know what NOT to buy, the laptop I had was a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L7300 with a VIA/S3G Unichrome Pro IGP card.

Many thanks
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fry
Re: urgent opengl laptop advice
Reply #1 - Mar 21st, 2006, 8:16pm  
in general, look for laptops that are advertised as "gaming" laptops, which is generally code for having 3D acceleration. someone else may have more specific advice, but i've had good luck with higher-end inspiron machines from dell, for instance.
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JohnG
Re: urgent opengl laptop advice
Reply #2 - Mar 21st, 2006, 8:26pm  
I think in general, if it names the graphics processor, and it's by ATI or nVidia you should be fine. If it just says "onboard graphics 64MB" or suchlike you may have problems.
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mflux
Re: urgent opengl laptop advice
Reply #3 - Mar 22nd, 2006, 8:56am  
Definitely look for an nVidia or ATI card on a laptop. The more memory, the better. Ideally a video card should have 256mb or more, but most laptops only have about 128 or less.
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fluxhavoc  
toastie
Re: urgent opengl laptop advice
Reply #4 - Mar 22nd, 2006, 7:01pm  

i was gonna get a "gaming laptop" since i do alot of 3d work (and play games), but could not resist getting a thinkpad in the end. "gaming laptops" usually mean huge desktop replacements that really stretch the definition of portable computer to its limits.

anyway, to make the point, im happy with the 64MB X300 Radeon Mobility that comes with T43 Thinkpads and alot of other slim laptops. It's not a beast, and has trouble rendering lots of stuff (especially when pixel shaders are involved) at the LCD's native res (1400x1050), but at lower res things run like butter. To compare and consrast, it runs HalfLife2 at highest settings in 1024x768 with pretty much no hiccups. So yeah, not a bad card at all, and has surprised me time and time over running games and pushing polygons in 3d apps that i was not expecting it to handle.
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Valaam0  
spinster
Re: urgent opengl laptop advice
Reply #5 - Mar 22nd, 2006, 7:29pm  
Thanks folks,
I'm off to spend my credit note tomorrow - hoorah!
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