ADVICE NEEDED: Time to Ugrade

[scs_789]

Hey folks!  I am currently working with an HP Zbook 15 G2 laptop running Windows 7 Pro.  In other words, I have been getting blue screens lately and I figure it is nearly time to upgrade my system.  But I have a bit of a dilemma.....   

 

On one hand, I would loooovvvveee to build a decent desktop PC that has a level of future upgrade-ability so next time I need to beef up my tech, I don't need to buy the whole dang thing, just the part.  On the other hand, my job (freelance industrial designer) requires me to have a certain level of mobility to meet clients, host presentations, etc etc.  Soooooo I am stuck in the power vs. portability debate.  This has forced me to consider one of four possible paths moving forward.

 

1) completely commit to either at home or on the go computer power and invest in the beefiest PC/laptop respectively.

 

2) Invest most money in the at-home PC to deal with the work-heavy side of life (renderings, CAD, animations, simulations, etc) and for the mobility acquire a decent but cheap tablet to get through client meetings.

 

3) Invest most money in the on-the-go computer by getting another intense workstation laptop, and use an external GPU at home to deal with the heavy lifting

 

4) some other fourth idea that someone puts forward.

 

 

I am currently leaning most towards number 2, as the large brunt of my work is done at home anyway, but option 3 is also interesting to me, I just have a very small understanding of eGPUs.

 

Thats pretty much it.  I am interested to hear thoughts from y'all!

[Turtle Rig]

14 minutes ago, scs_789 said:

Hey folks!  I am currently working with an HP Zbook 15 G2 laptop running Windows 7 Pro.  In other words, I have been getting blue screens lately and I figure it is nearly time to upgrade my system.  But I have a bit of a dilemma.....   

 

On one hand, I would loooovvvveee to build a decent desktop PC that has a level of future upgrade-ability so next time I need to beef up my tech, I don't need to buy the whole dang thing, just the part.  On the other hand, my job (freelance industrial designer) requires me to have a certain level of mobility to meet clients, host presentations, etc etc.  Soooooo I am stuck in the power vs. portability debate.  This has forced me to consider one of four possible paths moving forward.

 

1) completely commit to either at home or on the go computer power and invest in the beefiest PC/laptop respectively.

 

2) Invest most money in the at-home PC to deal with the work-heavy side of life (renderings, CAD, animations, simulations, etc) and for the mobility acquire a decent but cheap tablet to get through client meetings.

 

3) Invest most money in the on-the-go computer by getting another intense workstation laptop, and use an external GPU at home to deal with the heavy lifting

 

4) some other fourth idea that someone puts forward.

 

 

I am currently leaning most towards number 2, as the large brunt of my work is done at home anyway, but option 3 is also interesting to me, I just have a very small understanding of eGPUs.

 

Thats pretty much it.  I am interested to hear thoughts from y'all!

Have you thought about MS Surface.  They have some nice models for your price range and are snappy as heck and you will be rid of Windows 7 for good.

[OnComingStorm559]

Personally, I would suggest putting more focus onto an at-home system and getting a decent, inexpensive tablet or laptop for presentations.

 

Investing into a powerful desktop will allow you to be able to create animations and do your CAD work at a faster pace and produce them possibly even in a higher quality depending on what you currently do. It would also be a good idea to make sure that whatever tablet/ laptop you get to be powerful enough to do some work on-the-go.

 

And depending on how often you have to take it to go and what kind of presentation environment you use, you could look into making a mini-ATX computer that is powerful enough to do your work, but also portable enough to carry around. Granted presentations could be a little more difficult for set-up, but you would then need just one set up. Maybe even invest some to also get a cheap, good enough tablet or laptop for other cases when you have to work on the go?