Best laptop for Graphic design/DTP

Well, placed the order today -- getting a Dell Latitude D800:

http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/products/model_latit_latit_d800.htm

Loaded. Has a brilliant 15.4" 1920x1200 pixel display (1.7 times higher resolution than the 17"powerbook) Also has the best mobile NVIDIA card on the market, with 64MB VRAM. Up to 2GB of RAM, 1.6 GHz Centrino, Combo drive, Integrated WiFi, and metal chassis. Not to mention all the possible add-ons, like different modular drives and docking stations.

Yeah, PB 17" is gorgeous, but it will be obsolete and beyond upgradability next year (heck, with its large but dinky display, slow processor, pre-previous generation video card, lack of USB 2.0, inabilty to burn mini-CDR/W, and non-existent upgradability, it is already obsolete)

Well I don't agree with anything you said about the Mac, and think it's too bad that you resorted to bashing it, but have fun with your dell.

"Bashing it"? That's certainly not how I meant to come across. I did say that it was gorgeous. Also, I am not "bashing" Macs in general (how could I -- I spend more time working on Macs than I do on PCs), I am merely commenting on the fact that the new powerbook is anything but on the cutting edge of technology, and is a poor investment for someone who wants to use it for Graphic design or DTP. Will it work for those tasks? Undoubtedly. Will it do them as well as the latest PC notebooks? Unlikely. PB 17 has some neat features, but they seem to be at the cost of performance and upgradability.

Deker, I do appreciate all the feedback you've provided on this post. And, trust me, the last thing I want to do is to start a Mac v. PC pis$*** contest on this board -- I think those are a waste of time. I, myself have no brand/platform loyalty -- I simply try to buy the best tools for the job I can afford. If that Dell I am buying had OSX under the hood, and an Apple emblem on it, I would still jump at the opportunity to buy it.

peace out

"the new powerbook is anything but on the cutting edge of technology, and is a poor investment for someone who wants to use it for Graphic design or DTP." (note to self learn to use quote thingy) ...
1GHz PowerPC G4
1MB L3 cache
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
60GB Ultra ATA/100
SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go
64MB DDR video memory
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 400
FireWire 800
AirPort Extreme built-in
Bluetooth built-in
DVI & S-Video out
... I don't think that will have much problem running photoshop for the next 7 years little on the next 1 ! I run ps 7 on a pII266 and 352megs of ram!

Hey

Due to various factors, including experience, budget, etc., I'm looking a Windows system - probably an Acer.

Looking at either Aspire 9423WSMI :
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_9423WLMi_Laptop_LX.AEW0J.048/version-1.asp
or the Aspire 5672WLMi :
http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/Acer-Aspire_5672WLMi_LSB-laptop-2-n2.htm

(ignore prices on the sites - I can find both of them for about £750)

They're both/have :

2GB DDR2 RAM
120GB SATA
2MB L2 Cache
etc....

The 9423 has 17" screen, Core 2 Duo & NVidia 7300 Go PCIe(128MB dedicated, 128MB shared via TurboCache)

The 5672 has 15.4" screen, Core Duo & ATI X1400 PCIe(128MB dedicated, 384MB shared via HyperMemory)

I'm wanting to go for the 17", Core 2 Duo but feel the ATI card is the better graphics card. Would the NVidia be enough for what I use? I mainly use it for Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash & Fireworks.

Thanks,

Tass

The Nvidia 7300 is a great card for the money and will do what you need it to do. I'd go with the Apple PB though. :D

Hi,
I'm the only graphic designer at my company and have a heavy workload. I do mostly print design and use Adobe CS2 and ms office. Currently i have a Dell Dimension 3000 (Pentium Celleron) computer with 512mb memory, but i find it's too slow for running multiple programs. The computer buyer at my company points to Adobe's "requirements" which state that the software runs on as little as a P3 with 300mb of ram.
My boss has asked me to get some feedback as to what is the ideal spec. for a PC system for my needs.