Hey Scott...
I hope this post finds you doing well. We're on the home stretch of winter... only a couple of months of cold weather left. <g>
Are you still in Lenovo's corner for picking up a laptop for business and personal use? I'm undecided on whether or not to build my own powerful desktop for CAD (AuotCAD & SolidWorks), video editing, and Photoshop graphics, etc.
What's your take on a desktop vs. a Lenovo W540 laptop workstation? My Dad needs a new laptop as well. He's still using his 2005 Sony Vaio, but the "k" key is no longer functional, so I guess it's time to update his laptop. <g> I'm looking at the T540p for his replacement.
I'd like to max out his memory at 16 GB along with a large harddrive, etc., but when speaking to Lenovo, they claim the factory warranty will be voided. (I'm not sure that's a big deal seeing that Lenovo laptops can be repaired & upgraded in house.)
What is your advice on buying a Lenovo? Should I buy the bare minimum and upgrade all components myself? Can I upgrade the CPU, or should the most powerful processor be ordered at the time of purchase? It doesn't sounds like the T series laptops can have two harddrives, but the W series can but only at the expense of removing the DVD player.
What nVidia Quadro card do you recommend for the Lenovos? There are two types for the W series, and the more expensive model is recommended for software using 3D modeling.
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make a "smart" choice when buying a Lenovo. And I want to know whether I should go with a desktop vs. a W series for high end video editing. I'll list the specs below that I'm interested in purchasing "if" I go with the T & W series Lenovo laptops, and maybe you can tell what configuration to purchase and then what upgrades I can make myself to upgrade to "killer" machines. <g> Thanks as always Scott for your valuable input... I'll check back...
Dave
P.S. - I forgot to mention, that I'd like to use a 27" monitor, external keyboard, and external mouse for both laptops. In other words, I'd like to keep the laptops off to the side of my main work area but use a larger monitor, keyboard, and mouse in front of me like using a desktop. Is this feasible, and what would be needed to create this type of setup? Also, can 2 or 3 27" external monitors be used on a model W540 laptop?
T Series Specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-4600M Processor (4MB Cache, up to 3.60GHz) -vPro Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64 Display: 15.5" 3K (2880x1620) IPS with WWAN Graphics: nVidia GeForce GT 730M 1 GB Memory: 16 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (2 DIMM) Camera: 720p HD Camera Hard Drive: 1 TB Hard Disk Drive, 5400 rpm, 2.5" Optical Device: DVD Recordable Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0 Integrated Mobile Broadband: Sierra Wireless 7355 - Gobi 5000 (maybe not needed)
W Series Specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7 - 4930MX Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.90 GHz) Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64 Display: 15.5" 3K (2880 x 1620), IPS LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, Color Sensor Graphics: W540 nVidia Quadro K2100M 2 G Color Sensor: With Color Sensor (What is "Color Sensor" Scott?) Memory: 32 GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM) Camera: 720p HD Camera Storage Subsystem: Internal RAID - Not enabled to Not RAID Capable Hard Drive #1: 512GB Solid State Drive SATA3 Hard Drive #2: 1 TB Hard Disk Drive, 5400 rpm, 2.5" (Scott, can a 1 TB 7200 rpm hard drive be installed?) Optical Device: I can use an external DVD or Blu-Ray Recorder Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0 Integrated Mobile Broadband: Sierra Wireless 7355 - Gobi 5000 (Scott, is a wireless broadband needed?)
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