So you already bought the Dell?
I guess, since you’d have the computer for awhile, I’d have set my sights a little higher to get a better graphics card but maybe it’s water under the bridge now. I bought a new laptop this summer for about $1500. It has an Nvidia GTX1070 GPU. I expect you could find something with a GTX10xx series for less than that, too.
I’m returning the Lenovo and I have the option to return the dell for another week. I won’t buy unless I know what I’m doing. Please send me a link to your laptop. BTW, how much does it weigh?
And, are you thinking the nvidia on the flex 6 is not much better than the intel?
Do you happen to know a good monitor calibration tool to download online?
I’m on my way to geeksquad.
Do you happen to know a sketchup geek in Los Angeles? Maybe I could hire him/her for an hour to play around on both before I return Lenovo tomorrow.
You are so very helpful.Much appreciated!
Here’s what I ordered. Price seems to have gone up since I bought mine but like I said, I’m sure you could find lower priced machines with GTX10 cards or even GTX9xx.
I don’t know how much better the MX130 is than the Intel 620.
As for screen calibration software, I think you’ll find you’ll need a device to look at the display so it’ll take more than just software. Expecting to calibrate the screen with just some software is kind of like trying to calibrate the speedometer on your car with the same speedometer.
I’m not sure what value there’ll be in calibrating your display. If you send images you create to others, you can be almost assured their display won’t match yours. If you feel the need to adjust the display, just make it look good to your eye and you’ll be close enough.
You might post a request in the Collaboration forum to see if you can find someone in the area to help you with a SketchUp model.
Dave is as usual right. For monitor calibration you need something like an X-rite ColorMunki.
But might I ask why you think you need to calibrate your monitor?
I’m a photographer, I have a ColorMunki, but that’s because I calibrate both my monitor and my printer.
Do you feel like you need to match color to that extent? Just asking.
As far as laptops go, I’m very happy with my ASUS ROG. It’s a gaming laptop and it never seems to bog down.
Chris
Wow! The Alienware looks great. I noticed that the prices at Best Buy went up before labor day. The Dell I purchased was only 700 2 1/2 weeks ago. That one turned out to have a problem with the touch screen and ran hot, so it was exchanged last week. I still have a week to decide about it. Geek Squad tech support was, as always, no help, but the MS rep at Best Buys said that the Nvidia card in the Lenovo is slightly better than the intel, but the Dell is a better computer than the Lenovo (based on benchmarking), and the difference in the card is not worth paying $400+ more. So, I’m returning the Flex 5 and not ordering the Flex 6. I will look into Alienware.
I appreciate your help very much!
All the best,
Priya
Thank you so much! I will look into your laptop.
I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to see color better on the Lenovo and I thought calibration might help. But, I’m not getting the Lenovo. I just like being able to see color well. It’s not about printing at this point. I read that the Lenovo yoga 720 has a great monitor, but the Flex doesn’t.
Thanks again.
All the best,
Priya
as always:
SketchUp don’ts:
• AMD multi-core CPUs (SketchUp is single-threaded)
• AMD Radeon consumer graphics cards (unreliable OpenGL support)
• CAD graphics card series nVidia Quadro or AMD FirePro (expensive without any benefit)
Thank you so much! I will look into
Both of these computers pass the sketchup test…
Here is a benchmark for Dell - Inspiron 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Me
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10972882
8.92% is a very low 3D score
(BTW, I love this computer & I got it for $700. I have a week to decide if I want to return it.)
Here is a benchmark for
Lenovo® Ideapad™ Flex 2-in-1 Laptop, 14" Touch Screen, 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7, 16GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive/256GB Solid State Drive, Windows® 10 Home, nVidia® GeForce 940MX This is a flex 5, btw, and the Flex 6 nvidia card isn’t significantly better.
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10972486
11.6% is a very low 3D score
(I returned this one because it weighs 1lb more and costs only $200 less than the Flex 6 which has a slightly better Nvidia card. Monitor, keyboard and track pad on the Flex 5 not as good as the Dell, but acceptable.)
The Flex 6 has a slightly better nvidia card than the Flex 5. The Flex 6 is $1149 including tax at B&H
1.8 GHz Intel Core i7-8550U Quad-Core
16GB DDR4 | 512GB PCIe SSD
14" 1920 x 1080 Multi-Touch Display
NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (2GB GDDR5)
Here it is compared to the integrated intel.
The Geforce MX 130 specs:
Graphics Features
DirectX12.0 (11_0)
OpenGL4.6
OpenCL1.2
Vulkan1.1.73
CUDA5.0
Shader Model5.1
Gráficos UHD Intel® 620:
DirectX* 12
OpenGL* 4.5
OpenCL* 2.1
Vulkan* 1.0.66
When I compare the price of the Dell $700+tax, to the price of the flex 6 $1149no tax, I wonder if the Flex 6 is worth $400 more than the Dell. I asked a microsoft rep that does basic sketchup on his fabulous surface laptop, and he said no. Based on benchmarks and his comparison of the flex 5 to the dell with some fly arounds and shadows, etc, he and I didn’t see a difference between the Flex 5 and the Dell for SketchUp, and he prefers this particular Dell to the Flex 5 in general. I don’t know anyone who’s advanced at sketchup to test it.
I will visit the flex 6 at a store and benchmark it. I’ll also have a look at alienware and Asus.
Now that I have the benchmarking tool, and I realize that some nvidia cards are not that great,I feel much better equipped to make a decision. I prefer not to exceed 14" or 4lbs, but I might go for a larger laptop if it will be much better for learning sketchup on. Sketchup will be used at home anyway.
All the best,
Priya
Hi, CJ, I just came back from BestBuy where I thought I could benchmark the ASUS ROG, but no such luck. If you don’t mind, would you please send the benchmark of your ASUS ROG?
All the best,
Priya
Hi, Dave, I wasn’t able to benchmark your computer at best buy just now. If you don’t mind, would you please send benchmark for your computer? If it’s a lot better than the one I got, I may plan a black friday purchase.
No worries if you don’t have time. I’m heading back out to the Microsoft store and maybe they will allow benchmark.
Also, now that we are talking about more costly computers, what about the macbook pro?
All the best,
Priya
Priyag, no. Just Google the benchmarks. My ASUS ROG is five years old. I doubt it is even available now. But new ones are with even better bench marks. All I can tell you is that my ASUS ROG G75V, has served me well. In my office and on site. Just for the heck of it, it took me two days to decide to buy an ASUS ROG. Because I researched it on my own.
besides being more costly and limited in GPU configurations (buy a dedicated only) this is a fundamental decision between Windows and macOS losing your current Windows knowledge as well as software licences bought as well as the possibility to run* Windows applications not available for macOS (which is pretty common for technical applications).
*besides using a Windows virtualization as e.g. ‘Paralles Desktop’… which tends to fail supporting OpenGL (= 3D display output) reliably used by the vast majority of 3D CAx applications.
Thank you. I’m usually good at research, but have failed to google benchmarks. Glad to know it worked well for you in a professional setting. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Today is the last day to return the Dell inspiron and the price has shot up $400+ since I purchased. I don’t think benchmark tool worked properly on the computers with Nvidia. Noticed that macbook pro has a theoretically better intel card. I wish I could compare apples to apples before I decide to give up portability or price. Durability reviews are not good for Dell. I like using it, except of course the Macbook pro and surface book monitors are SO MUCH better.