Graphic Design Spec - Comments Please!

[artaplin]

Hi, I've been humming and hahing about what to go for, and think I'm coming down on the side of the Vortex III LE. I was originally looking at the Optimus 2, then was waiting for the Optimus 3 to arrive, but now think that the 16MB RAM on the Vortex will future proof it a bit more. Also, I'd like to be able to use it for 3D rendering (E-on Vue) so the extra memory might help here too.

My requirements:

• Graphic and Web Design
• Possibly some 3D rendering (E-on Vue 9)
• Possible music production at a later date
• Multitasking (I'm a terrible one for lots of open windows!)
• Reasonably portable
• (Was toying with 17" but think (hope!) 15" will be adequate — and more convenient)
• No gaming requirements

- Do you think the Vortex LE is a good bet at the moment? Is the quality much higher than the Optimus?

- Is it true that the graphics card is secondary when it comes to rendering?

- I was going to stick with the 1333 memory but the 1600 is very little more, so worth it... agreed?

- Is it worth getting a second battery?

Any comments gratefully received — thanks!


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,278.00 including VAT and delivery.

[deh-cheesekake]

From what I can see, most of the requirements you have listed fall mainly onto the processor so seeing as you have got a quad core i7 I think you will be fine. Replying to your 4 questions however, I would say that the 1600MHz RAM would be of a significant advantage, and your 660M graphics card should be easily adequate for your needs seeing as you have "no gaming requirements". The 2nd battery is entirely up to you as I do not know enough about it to comment

[artaplin]

Thank you cheesekake, I appreciate your feedback.

Yes I realise the question about the battery was impossible for anybody else to answer! I guess I was just wondering if £49 for a spare battery represents good value, but I realise even that's fairly subjective...

Anyway, any other suggestions for changes to the spec? And in particular do people think the Vortex LE is a decent solution for the type of usage I've specified?
(I do have a desktop as well, so storage isn't a big issue)

Thanks a lot!