Notebook for ArchiCAD

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,
I am looking for a decent notebook for ArchiCAD. So far I have been looking at these:

Acer Ferrari 4005 (AMD Turion 64 ML-37 2Ghz, 1Gb RAM, ATI x700, 100 Gb Hd)
Acer Travelmate 8104WlMi (PM760 2Ghz, 1Gb RAM, ATI x700, 100 Gb Hd)
Hp Compaq nx8220 (2,13 Ghz, 1Gb RAM, ATI x600 128, 100 Gb Hd)
Dell Precision M70 (1,7 Ghz, 1Gb RAM, nVidia® Quadro™ FX Go1400 256MB, 60Gb Hd)

An aquaintance gave me a good offer on the Hp, so it is somewhat cheaper for me than the others on the list. But is the ATI x600 enough for ArchiCAD? It is not listed on the graphic card compatibility site.
How important is the processor speed? The Dell is too expensive for me with a PM 760, but its graphic card is supposed to be really fast. Will this compensate enough for the low CPU speed? In addition i must pay extra to get a +- DVD burner, which all the others have. Mac is also too expensive for me.
Could anyone recommend me one of the above mentioned or perhabs another 15" notebook that weighs less than 3 kg and does not cost more than these?

Another question: What should I choose - XP with NTFS or FAT32? What is the difference?

Acer Ferrari
Acer Travelmate 8104

Thanks for replies

[Laszlo Nagy]

The X600 is a very good graphics card. I have the X700. The X600 is a bit slower. But I can navigate in real time in 3D in a large building, so these cards have real horsepower.
I would say CPU speed and amount of memory are the two most important factors for ArchiCAD.
The HP sounds a good buy, also the Acer Ferrari.

As for XP: NTFS is a more advanced file system than FAT32.
FAT32 came with Window 95/98, NTFS came with Windows NT/2000/XP.
You should use NTFS.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. I consider going for the hp. It is somewhat cheaper than the others: appr. 2350 euros, included damage insurance, carrying bag, mouse and XP Pro. In comparison, the Ferrari amounts to 2700, the Dell (1,7Ghz) to 2450, and the travelmate to 2700 euros. Knowing the norwegian prices, would it still be recommendable to buy the hp?

[Laszlo Nagy]

It seems to me it is the least expensive and offer good features.
Of course you are the one who needs to make the decision.

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!

I am planning to buy a notebook for using archicad. The one i spotted:
mobile x700 128mb, 512 DDR, celeronM 1,4 (1mb L2), 1400*1050 SXGA display.

What do you think about it?

[Laszlo Nagy]

You can see the specs of my notebook below.
I recommend at least 1 GB of RAM and the fastest prcessor you can buy (currently 2,26 GHZ Pentium M I think). Otherwise it is a good configuration.

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I ended up buying the hp. It is a really nice notebook, at a very descent price. It sure beats my IBM T21 with the 8mb savage graphic card... However, there are two minor setbacks:
1) Some fan noise (not enough to disturbe me while working, but it might bother other if I use it in the university library)
2) The back of the screen is very thin and not very hard, so if I apply a bit of pressure to it, the screen will turn dark on the particular spot. This simply means that i have to be very careful when i carry it around.

IBM has launched a new multimedia PC, by the way. z60 or something. Carbon fibre chassis, x600, finger print scanner for security.. it looks great, but it is quite expensive.

[Anonymous]

I recently bought a new Powerbook G4. I was using a dell previously. The experience has been a good one. It is the most quiet computer I've ever had, the screen is great, speed is good and with the 7200rpm harddrive overall performance is also good. I have to commend the developement team in Hungary, ArchiCad is really working well on the mac. And Spot Light searching is unbelievable. I guess the integration of everything is the best part. Everything works smoothly.