Recommended Laptop Hardware Requirements help please

[Art Campbell]

Well,

Frame's requirements are minimal -- you could cruise with 1M of RAM if
you're not usually running other aps at the same time.

Hard drive space depends an awful lot on whether you're storing files
locally or on a server. Temp files take up a lot of space when you're
generating .pdfs and graphics. I'd say 40G was the minimum for OS and
applications and elbow room, without data storage. Add data storage...

Photoshop throws the curve into the mix. To run PS CS2 and Frame at
the same time, I had to have at least 2M RAM on board desktop systems.
My systems now have 3&4M and response is much better. Also, the
recommendation for PS CS2 is to use two physical hard drives, not one
drive partitioned, so you can separate the Windows swap file and PS
scratch files. Not many laptops accomodate two hard drives...

Audio editing... would not be a lightweight application either.

Also... you don't mention monitors. Like many people who do this full
time, I probably couldn't function well without dual displays now that
I've tried 'em. So for me, that would be a deal maker/breaker --
whether the graphics card in the laptop would support multiple
monitors.

Just as a BTW, Dell's "portable workstations" would probably work fine
for you. The regular laptops I think would be marginal if you're
planning want/to run multiple memory hogs at the same time.

Art

On 9/18/06, Loren R. Elks <lelks at exstream.com> wrote:
> Hi:
>
> My department is considering replacing our Windows desktop PCs with laptops.  Our IT department buys all of our hardware from Dell.  This is something we can't change.
>
> Could someone suggest:
> - A minimum set of hardware requirements for a laptop based on the software we use (listed below)?
> - A desired set of hardware requirements for a laptop based on the software we use (listed below)?
>
> Software we use:
> - Windows XP Pro OS
> - FrameMaker 7.2
> - Acrobat 7.0 Pro
> - Corel Suite X3
> - MicroType TimeSavers
> - Photoshop CS2
> - MS Office 2003 (not for documentation creation purposes)
>
> Requirements to consider:
> - L2 Cache
> - RAM
> - HD Space
>
> I also have to be able to justify the expense, so if you've written a proposal before for something like this, I'd appreciate anything you can send me.  It would be great not to "recreate the wheel" unless I have to do so.  We currently have no standard form for this type of thing.
>
> For anyone that would be able to tell me, I'd also like the same type of recommendations for a more robust laptop that could do all of the above and be able to handle Adobe (Macromedia) Studio 8 (for eLearning and web development) and Adobe Audition.
>
> I apologize for the "laundry list."  I really appreciate any help.
>
>
> Loren Elks
> "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." - John Powell

-- 
Art Campbell                                             art.campbell at gmail.com
  "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent
               and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson
                             No disclaimers apply.
                                     DoD 358