Laptop selection help for Medit scanner/ Exocad system?

[ddsTech]

Here are two selections I'm looking at for use with a Medit Identica SE scanner/ExoCAD system. If I bought the M4700 I would add an additional hard drive for data. Which of these two is the better machine for scanning/Exocad? (The Alienware costs $250 more than the M4700). Is there a better choice than either of these for around $1500?

Dell Precision M4700 Mobile Workstation
Intel i7-3820QM Processor (2.7 GHz, 3.7 GHz Turbo Boost 2.0)
Windows 7 Professional 64Bit (Includes Reinstall DVD)
256 GB SATA 3 Mobility Solid State Drive
16 GB DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM (4 DIMMs)
Nvidia Quadro K2000M 2GB GDDR3 Graphics Card
15.6" UltraSharp FHD 1920x1080 Anti-Glare Premium Panel

VS.

Alienware M18x R2
Intel Core 3rd Generation i7-3630QM (2.4 GHz, 3.4 GHz Turbo Boost)
Windows 7 Professional 64Bit (Includes Reinstall DVD)
(1) 128 GB Solid State Drive
(1) 500 GB SATA 7200 RPM Hard Drive
12 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 675M 2GB Graphics Card
18.4" WLED WideFHD 1920x1080 Display

 

[2thm8kr]

With as many hard drives as I have lost, go with the Alien ware with the solid state drive.

 

[Drizzt]

If I am not mistaken the M4700 also has SSD .

 

[ddsTech]

With as many hard drives as I have lost, go with the Alien ware with the solid state drive.

Drizzt is correct. Both units have solid state drives. The main difference is in the graphics cards. I am not familiar enough with these two cards to know which one will perform better for this job.

Processor wise, the M4700 has the edge because it's processor is faster and has 8MB L3 cache to the Alienware's 6MB L3 cache.

 

[charles007]

Such nice computers with the weak link being the tiny monitors.. Guess there's a reason to buy a laptop over a desktop.
Try designing with a 27" monitor, then ask yourself if you still want a laptop ..Maybe the more experience you have, the less the monitor size makes ? I still scroll a lot using a 32" monitor.. but more scrolling when I designed with the 24".

Don't know if this info is correct or not ? I had a custom computer built with 12gb memory rather than 16. A computer tech told me a year later I would have been better off buying 8 GB or 16GB over the 12GB I had in the computer..

 

[Car 54]

Good point about the monitor size.

 

[ParkwayDental]

Such nice computers with the weak link being the tiny monitors.. Guess there's a reason to buy a laptop over a desktop.
Try designing with a 27" monitor, then ask yourself if you still want a laptop ..Maybe the more experience you have, the less the monitor size makes ? I still scroll a lot using a 32" monitor.. but more scrolling when I designed with the 24".

Don't know if this info is correct or not ? I had a custom computer built with 12gb memory rather than 16. A computer tech told me a year later I would have been better off buying 8 GB or 16GB over the 12GB I had in the computer..

All you have to do is just hook up a HDMI from the laptop to the monitor and no problem. This is how I have my set up that I us. Perfect for when I'm at work, and if I go out of town I have a stand alone dongle I can plug in and design when I'm out of the office.

 

[ParkwayDental]

Get this bad boy, I have the year before this one and it is smokin. I design full arch cases with no lag. I love it and will get another if I had to.

https://www.asus.com/ROG_ROG/G74SX/

 

[NicelyMKV]

Check out ibuypower.com

 

[ddsTech]

All you have to do is just hook up a HDMI from the laptop to the monitor and no problem. This is how I have my set up that I us. Perfect for when I'm at work, and if I go out of town I have a stand alone dongle I can plug in and design when I'm out of the office.

Get this bad boy, I have the year before this one and it is smokin. I design full arch cases with no lag. I love it and will get another if I had to.

https://www.asus.com/ROG_ROG/G74SX/

I plan on working from a docking station with a big monitor in the lab and at home when necessary, so laptop monitor size is not an issue.

I checked out the laptop you mentioned and it looks very nice. An advantage of the M4700 is expandability and ease of part upgrades/replacement.

 

[ParkwayDental]

I plan on working from a docking station with a big monitor in the lab and at home when necessary, so laptop monitor size is not an issue.

I checked out the laptop you mentioned and it looks very nice. An advantage of the M4700 is expandability and ease of part upgrades/replacement.

I love it, it is strong and I have not had any problems. This is my set up at work and if I design at home I'll hook it up to my 50" flat screen via HDMI and I am good to go.

 

[actittle]

With as many hard drives as I have lost, go with the Alien ware with the solid state drive.

SSD's are not immune to failure either. I have several traditional HDD's that have been in service for 10 years or more with zero issues.

 

[2thm8kr]

If I am not mistaken the M4700 also has SSD .

I guess it would help if I read all the specs.

 

[2thm8kr]

SSD's are not immune to failure either. I have several traditional HDD's that have been in service for 10 years or more with zero issues.

I have a few that have been around that long, but I have had a few that bricked on me due to a bug in the firmware.
SSD's may not be immune to failure, but no moving parts seems like it will last longer to me. How many flash drives
have you had go belly up? Going through the washer doesn't count.

 

[JohnWilson]

I have a few that have been around that long, but I have had a few that bricked on me due to a bug in the firmware.
SSD's may not be immune to failure, but no moving parts seems like it will last longer to me. How many flash drives
have you had go belly up? Going through the washer doesn't count.

I know what this is all about, does not make for a nice weekend.

 

[actittle]

I have a few that have been around that long, but I have had a few that bricked on me due to a bug in the firmware.
SSD's may not be immune to failure, but no moving parts seems like it will last longer to me. How many flash drives
have you had go belly up? Going through the washer doesn't count.

I have had 2 flash drives that died for no apparent reason. I agree on the no moving parts aspect.

 

[ddsTech]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Does anyone have experience with the Nvidia Quadro K2000M 2GB GDDR3 Graphics Card with the Medit scanner and ExoCAD?

 

[2thm8kr]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Does anyone have experience with the Nvidia Quadro K2000M 2GB GDDR3 Graphics Card with the Medit scanner and ExoCAD?

Contact ***
I think I remember a post by him about that graphics card.

 

[REJ]

I always recommend just getting a desktop and then a laptops for ancillary designing. The bang for the buck on a desktop is much better for around a thousand you can get a fast version and they are usually more robust. Get a scan only dongle and then use laptop for remote design. Much newer spec nvidias for desktop apps. Also less risk of hdd failing. I run a lot of systems if you need specs on each type of build and what make an actual difference. A gddr3 card will be pretty slow generally as you lose around 70% versus gddr5 so a 2 gb will underperform newer 1.5 gb cards. We usually sell exocad and the medit with the PC to check that it meets our benchmark performance.

 

[ddsTech]

...I run a lot of systems if you need specs on each type of build and what make an actual difference. A gddr3 card will be pretty slow generally as you lose around 70% versus gddr5 so a 2 gb will underperform newer 1.5 gb cards....

That's exactly what I'm looking for, Ryan. I'd be very interested to see what components/specs are MOST important for scanning and ExoCAD. Can I step down a little in CPU speed (i7 Quad core, but not the top-of-the-line) as long as the GPU has at least a 1.5GB gddr5? How important is a fast hard drive to scanning? Will 16GB RAM be of benefit, or is 8 usually plenty? etc. Anything else you can provide would be very helpful!