OPEN FORUM: THE IDEAL SL LAPTOP?

I'm looking to buy a new laptop with the strangest spec requirement of all:  it has to run a fully streamed, virtual 3D world, and run it extremely well.  Who can recommend a notebook PC that's optimal for Second Life?

Other considerations for me: price range $1500-2000 (ideally), and not too heavy.  But I'd love to read about SL experiences (good and bad) with any laptop.

Comments

[James Reynolds]

My MacBook Pro is less than ideal, and this was at the top of your stated price range.

[Pablo Andalso]

My MacBook Pro [2.16 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 256 MB video memory] runs SL quite happily–decent framerates and all, but a university network connection doesn't hurt things.

Mainly, I'd recommend lots and lots of memory regardless of what brand you go for, though I've heard an efficient cooling system is very important as well. I'm thinking HP would be a safe bet.

[Tyranor Horus]

Nearly the same for me: my Dell Precision M65 does just fine: 2GB ram, 512 mb graphics card, intel centrion 2.16Ggz, and a university network connection. It might slow down to 10 or so FPS sometimes, but the rest of the time it does just fine.

[SignpostMarv Martin]

Get a Mac

I've used a windows laptop and a G4 PowerBook with SL.

The benefits of the OS X platform overall outweigh pretty much any benefit you'd get running SL on a windows box.

Just don't go and get a black Intelitosh and get it engraved with New World Notes in a similar fashion to what the guy from Digg.com did to his.

[Lynette Radio]

I second the Macbook Pro recommendation, 17" if you can swing it. Load the puppy up with RAM (as I'd say for ANY laptop). The OSX SL builds are just as decent as the Window SL build - IMO. I run SL on above laptop and a desktop PC when I need to, but always like the OSX better. If I *had* to go back to a PC/laptop, I'd be searching for a Sony or HP.

At home, invest in a laptop stand and a USB keyboard/mouse to make day to day navigating easier. Best of luck!

[Nikus Tuck]

I have an hp dv4000. I'm a graphic designer, and I bought it as an occassionaly traveling desktop replacement, so I was careful about screen size and video capabilities offsetting cost. It's about six months only, cost $1350 or so. I installed and ran SL without a hitch (never saw the 'never run SL on a laptop' warnings). I try not to have competing processor intensive apps up at the same time, but I've done some building, with Photoshop running at the same time. No problems. I've been avoid Dells since their pricing/performance profiles aren't as attractive as they use to be (and I've been buying Dell desktops for about nine years).

[Hamlet Au]

These are great tips, keep 'em coming!

One other spec point I shoulda mentioned: me, I can't go back to Macs. I know, I know, but I also write about (and play) PC games, so I'm stuck with Bill's OS.

[Chip Poutine]

I've been using desktop replacement laptops for about 5 years now. Currently SL is running great on a Dell Inspiron M1710 with 2GB of RAM and 512MB NVIDIA card. I chose it because of the better performance that was reported (and I've since observed) with OpenGL on NVIDIA as opposed to ATI, which is the only option available for the MacBook Pro.

That said, I also have a newer Mac Mini with a Windows partition installed via Boot Camp. It works very well, although I haven't tried it with games due to the integrated graphics. Ongoing driver support notwithstanding, the performance of the ATI in the MacBook pro may very well allow for both Mac and PC gaming, since Windows is running natively on the Intel chips in the Mac. I'd also be curious to know if anyone has any experience with this.

[OneBigRiver Stork]

MacBook pro == WinXP machine as well, right?

I don't know for sure about the MacBook Pro, but my iMac runs SL equally well under both OSX and WinXP.

So if you get a Mac, then you have both OS's (the right one and the evil one). If you get a PC, WinXP is your only choice.

[Ali Maltz]

Seconding other posters, get a Mac. I just turned all the settings up to maximum and it's still usually over 20fps, though it chugs from time to time. And yes, a Mac can be a PC as well for your PC gaming needs. Proof: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/07/todays-hottest-game-video-wiimote-control-half-life-2/

Boot Camp (free) lets you dual-boot Windows XP natively, with just a couple of minor issues. For anything but games (and SL) Parallels Desktop provides a virtual machine that lets you run any Windows app that doesn't need the graphics card. It's fast: Windows XP boots in 25 seconds in Parallels.

Specswise, the graphics card in a MacBook Pro is an X1600, 256MB RAM in the upper two models. US prices from $1999-2799, but about 10% Cheaper through education if price is a problem -- know any students or teachers? Good luck!

[Skadi Nordwind]

I'm running SL on my MacBook Pro with 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo and 1 GB MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Just the other night, I was ripping a DVD in Handbrake, exporting an mp4 movie to iPod through Quicktime, listening to iTunes, running my Safari web browser, and exploring Second Life, all at the same time, and didn't recognize any lag. I'm sure the newer MBP's are even faster, especially with more RAM.

I feel your pain regarding the necessity of having Windows, but I partitioned my drive with BootCamp, and now it's easy switching back and forth between OSX and Windows. According to Jobs, BootCamp will be built right into the next OSX release, too, in case using Beta software makes you feel dirty (wait, what am I saying, you're on SL). At any rate, running Windows actually feels smoother on my Mac than my PC for some reason. I know, it's like the apocalypse. Just wait until you see that Windows boot screen on your Apple for the first time. It feels kind of eerie.

Personally, I can't imagine why anyone would buy a PC at this point, at least from an OS standpoint, since at least with a Mac you can run OSX, Windows, and even your favorite Linux distro (even though you can use OSX for most Unix functionality), whereas with a PC you're more limited. As snarky as those Mac v. PC commercials are, it seems that Apple is really trying to do the opposite of their typical marketing-through-exclusivity, by making their hardware as cross-platform as possible. And they really are swell machines.

Ok, I'll stop evangelizing now. :)

[Hypatia Dejavu]

I've recently purchased a laptop to run Second Life on which I am very happy with. To whit: An Alienware Area-51, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5500 1.66GHz, Nivida Go 6600 processor, 512MB memory, 15" screen. It's the stock Area 51 with a free videicard upgrade. With warranties, tax, and shipping it came to just under US$1300.
http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m5550/area-51m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51M5550-R3&SubCode=SKU-A

[Thunderclap Morgridge]

I am using a Dell Latitude 100l with 256k hyperthread video and 256 meg of memory and SL runs fine. But because of low memory I have made a sacrifice. I can't run anything else. But it works well. I suggest a Dell XPS.

[Laura Thomas aka Pyrrha Dell]

Pardon me, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to chime in on this topic. As Thunderclap suggests, a Dell XPS would be an excellent choice to run SL - and it can even be configured for RL purchase from within SL! [secondlife://Dell%20Island/170/77/24]

The least expensive XPS M1710 costs about $2299, so it's a bit higher than you were hoping for; but, I have to say SL looks and runs fantastic on it. I personally use my Latitude D610 to run SL with out a hitch, but we chose the XPS 1710 for Ro Parra when he held his SL press conference announcing Dell Island's opening. The clarity of the graphics on it made me really wish I had one for myself! :-)

[Hamlet Au]

Thanks so much, all! Feel free to keep the recommendations coming. I think I'm leaning toward a Dell, if only cuz they just sent me a big discount booklet...

[Daisy Beauchamp]

I run SL on my Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop. I don't have anything to compare performance with, but it works for me.

[ViKA]

Personally, I can't imagine why anyone would buy a PC at this point, at least from an OS standpoint, since at least with a Mac you can run OSX, Windows, and even your favorite Linux distro (even though you can use OSX for most Unix functionality), http://beyonce-lyric-resentment.dzddc.info>my fotowhereas with a PC you're more limited. As snarky as those Mac v. PC commercials are, it seems that Apple is really trying to do the opposite of their typical marketing-through-exclusivity, by making their hardware as cross-platform as possible. And they really are swell machines.

[Master]

That saidhttp://beyonce-lyric-upgrade.dzddc.info>. I also have a newer Mac Mini with a Windows partition installed via Boot Camp. It works very wellhttp://beyonce-lyric-upgrade.dzddc.info>, although I haven't tried it with games due to the integrated graphics. Ongoing driver support notwithstanding, the performance of the ATI in the MacBook pro may very well allow for both Mac and PC gaminghttp://beyonce-irreplaceable-lyric.dzddc.info>, since Windows is running natively on the Intel chips in the Machttp://beyonce-irreplaceable-video.dzddc.info>. Ihttp://beyonce-irreplaceable.dzddc.info>,d also be curious to know if anyone has any experience with this.

[Hamlet Au]

Weird, how come both of those last legit Comments are embedded with Spam links?

In my experience, PC games (especially the 3D intensive ones) are pretty taxing on the system, so I really hesitate to get a Mac with a dual boot or whatever. Wish I had the time to tweak a Mac configuration to insure it did, or for that matter, the tech skillz.

[Maverick]

Late to the part here, but I'll chime in with my support of the MacBook Pro as an SL client. I have the 15" C2D and its pretty amazing - well as amazing as second life will permit anyway. All settings cranked and its pretty damn smooth except in a couple lag-fest zones. But again, SOOOOOoooooo stable. I regularly run SL with Safari, Mail, iTunes, and half a dozen other assorted apps without so much as a hiccup... VERY nice change from my Windoze days. Best wishes!

[Rush Rosenberg]

I ran SecondLife OSX on my previous Macbook Pro with ATI X1600 graphics (128MB). The performance was very good, the client was stable. Now, as I switched to the new Macbook Pro with Intel Santa Rosa and NVIDIA 8600 graphics (256B), the performance went down dramatically! It´s almost not playable anymore when displaying particle effects and moving lights, worse than on my Mac mini with GMA graphics. Something is heavily incompatibe bewteen SL OSX, Apple NVIDIA drivers and the new NVIDIA hardware. This hazzle with SL OSX on my new laptop was the first reason after half a year to boot Windows again....

[Bri]

Why is it when I am trying to get info on laptops and SL they are loaded with the Mac cult dribble?

[bratalttirm]

I just bought from an online store with <a href=http://www.flatrox.com/158-buy-online-laptops-notebooks>new laptops</a> Have any of you heard of them? http://www.flatrox.com/

[cheap computers]

I bought it as an occassionaly traveling desktop replacement, so I was careful about screen size and video capabilities offsetting cost.

[Eri]

M15X(Alienware) on a little bit of a budget at the time, bought it used for $1,100 and was worth 1,200-1,500$. Crashy. Only after newer drivers installed. Able to multitask fine. Enough to do development with Blender but don't recommend running SL at the same time as Blender. lol The new Aususes are out, worth EVERY penny of the current $1,500 price tag. I've seen them run SL like nobodies business! GREAT GREAT RIG for SL.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G74SX-A1-17-3-Inch-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B00542SUD8