Has anyone tried Sketchup Viewer on Intel Atom or Celeron or Quad Core or Dual Core - small 11inch laptops for AV presentations?

Hey guys, Has anyone tried using just Sketchup Viewer on Intel Atom or Celeron or Quad Core or Dual Core small 11 inch laptops just for viewing the model? If yes then can anyone recommend me which 11 inch or 13 inch laptop to buy and which Intel version to go for while making the purchase?
Priority is only for using Sketchup Viewer to view model and NOT to use AR or VR tech. Plus looking in a budget small portable laptop section which can connect via hdmi to show the model via Sketchup Viewer in AV presentations and NOT interested in ar or vr things.

I assume you are asking about the Desktop Viewer ?

Stay away from the Atom. It is next to useless. It was meant for things like running ATM bank teller machines.

Celeron CPUs are low end and often come with very poor Intel integrated graphics only.

The SketchUp engine uses a single core. Any more has no effect one way or the other.

But since this is non-modeling, for view only, the graphics GPU will have much more of an impact.

What is your budget ? Where will you be buying ?

I would suggest the CPU be an Intel iCore with an Nvidia dedicated GPU. If you wish to spend little, then a used or refurbished laptop with at least a 5th generation iCore CPU (or better) and as much system RAM as possible. 16GB would be fine for a presentation machine. But it should have a Nvidia GTX series GPU (say 650M or better).

We’d be able to give better advice knowing your budget and where you’ll be buying.

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I’m focusing on the words “just for viewing the model” in @pakharkunal’s original post and it occurs to me that there might be a distinct (from full SketchUp) set of hardware requirements that don’t require more than rudimentary, built in graphics.

I found nothing addressing this on the SketchUp Viewer web page, nor anything in a quick search on this forum.

Viewer also exists for Android and iOs - neither of which has the high(er) end graphics that is needed for full SketchUp. This suggests to me that SketchUp Viewer for Windows might only need the basic graphics that are included with low end laptops.

With that being said, I do agree with @DanRathbun - if there is any chance that you might someday want to use full SketchUp on this machine, then buy a machine that can run it without graphics problems!

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Hey guys thanks for addressing the right pointers. you guys got it right. Only for viewing models. For Modelling purpose I use MSI WE73-8SK and i enjoy using sketchup pro on it with vray nxt. But since its a bulky Workstation I prefer not taking it for meetings everywhere. Thus only for Model Viewing on windows platform during a meeting just in case, I was thinking to buy - ASUS Vivobook or ASUS EeeBook or ACER Aspire ES1-132 or HP 245 G5/G6/G7 or HP Chromebook 11A or LENOVO IdeaPad D330.
My main priority is it runs Sketchup Viewer (no ar vr) and it connects to a projector or TV thru hdmi or mhl.
If any tablet meets these specs then i wont mind going for a tablet itself and looking as per budget and tablet specs I could only classify Apple Ipad (classic version) as the right one.
Suggestions are welcome.
Moreover my purchase will be in India and budget I have narrowed it to max 25k.
Thanks in advance

I need to disagree. It is more likely that no style or fast style (textures off) is used for actual modeling, but for presentation, full textures and presentation styles will be used. On a very poor rudimentary machine, it would be embarrassing to be showing people a spinning wait cursor when trying walk or orbit the model.

I’d always suggest a used high end older laptop for the same price as a newer low end “rudimentary” machine. This is why I suggested a used iCore machine, perhaps a i3 or an i5 would suffice ? If the models are not too complex then 8GB of RAM may be okay. (The system RAM can always be upgraded.)

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The SketchUp Desktop Viewer will not run under Chrome. If you attempt to use SketchUp Shop for Web as a viewer there are some model size limits you may run into.

This machine is aimed at school children use. It is not a fit for your needs.

Obsolete Celeron based machine. Only 4GB system RAM. (Only upgradable to 8GB Max.)
Uses integrated Intel HD 500 graphics which must share system RAM.
Thus is a secondary school student level machine going for 199 US. You get what you pay for.

May be even older than the ES1. This series came out for Windows 8.1.
Several different models ranging in price. Perhaps some of the higher end might suffice.

These machines have AMD CPUs and integrated GPUs ranging from R2 through R5 graphics.
Very light on the system RAM (4GB.)
Better than those with Intel integrated graphics but still I’m not a big fan of AMD. Yet, you can get more “bang for the buck” buying AMD based machines than Intel based.

Celeron based. Out of production. You may find some new old stock available.
(Walmart and Newegg have them in the U.S.)
Classed as a detachable laptop/tablet, it’s actually a tablet with an attachable keyboard.
Uses Intel integrated HD 600 graphics. 8 GB max.
No HDMI port (although the processor supports it.) Instead the tablet has a USB 3.1 Type C port that can be used with Thunderbolt cables. (Some Thunderbolt devices may need adapters check your projector.) One drawback is the USB 2.0 ports are on the keyboard and not available in tablet mode.
But it is Bluetooth 4.0 capable.
Not bad for the price US 325-360.
It seems to be a clone for a lower end MS Surfacebook.

There are many different models. Some have Nvidia dedicated graphics other cheaper models do have i5 processors but only Intel integrated graphics.

This is about 365 US. At that price you cannot get a new machine with Nvidia graphics.

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it works fine on my Samsung S4, quite large models… and I could screen share to any monitor if needed… but honestly I find the full SU better for client presentations… as I want the flexibility to edit on the fly…

One great S4 advantage is having the Spen, I can screen capture with a swipe of my palm and take straight into SKETCHBOOK for colour sketching or marking up and then swipe again to share with clients… so much more seamless than on a PC…

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Hey DanRathbun, bro you really have a great info and I am happy learning from you, just super happy.
So one last question to everyone - Would it be a good call to buy an Apple iPad for Sketchup Viewer, as I am assuming A10 chip would do the justice of least lag while rotating models and I heard it connects via hdmi connector for tv viewing. ???
Would really love to know on this… Thank you again guys for helping me out

Hay DanRathbun, really you have great info about these things and I am super happy to learn about this, infact helping me understand coz yes I agree I have heard many times i3 i5 i7 i9 are best at whats that there today for these machine hungry software. One Last Question, Sorry I am troubling you.
Would Buying an Apple iPad 6th Generation be the right decision for Sketchup Viewer plus I heard it connects to TV’s via HDMI MHL connector.
So assuming I heard A10 chip is quite good at its works, so would Apple iPad be right choice?

iPad runs iOS which means you’d need to use the Mobile Viewer instead of the Desktop Viewer. (It has a mobile interface.) I do not use Apple products or mobile phones so someone else will need to “weigh in.”

I personally do not care much for mobile or web interfaces. But some people do. The mobile viewer app is free so I’d suggest you visit your local Apple Store and get them to download it so you can try it out.

Be sure to meet Hardware requirements for the mobile viewer …

https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-viewer/meeting-hardware-and-software-requirements

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Thank You everyone for your views and inputs and precious time for right information. If incase anyone has more new ideas and suggestions then please do let me know.

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