Expert: Bobbert - 6/19/2010

Question
Hi there Bobbart.
I am in a Animation (mainly 3D-based) course. I need to buy a new laptop and am very confused at what to get.
Do you know what is better for my course, mac or PC?
And then there is all that other stuff, HDD, GHZ, and Intel????
My budget will be about 2 grand. But with that i need decent headphones and a mouse and stuff.
The programs i will be mainly using are Maya 2011, AfterEffects, Photoshop and Premiere (hopefully CS5, but prob just CS4).
Please, any info on this technical stuff will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,B.

Answer
Only one of those applications will explicitly support any form of 3D acceleration end to end, and officially it is only supported by professional level graphics hardware (Quadro FX by nVidia or FirePro by AMD) - you'll either need to roughly double your budget, settle for a desktop, or settle for un-official support and very poor performance.

Photoshop itself will not benefit hardly at all from the graphics adapter - a few features in CS4 Extended and CS5 can utilize a GPU for preview/filter rendering however it isn't a "make it or break it" feature - you can get by just fine without the hardware support (And in some cases you'll gain some stability from Photoshop itself without the hardware support). Again, professional level hardware is advisable in this application, however not required. AfterEffects and Premiere will benefit more directly from a powerful CPU and enough memory - GPU assisted encoding is still relatively new/proprietary.

Regarding "Mac or PC" - this is an inaccurate generalization of the differences - the vast majority of Apple products are PCs (Personal Computers, the exceptions include XServe and the Mac Pro depending upon how you classify a workstation). Generally a PC (As opposed to a workstation) will be suitable enough for your needs, Apple as opposed to Microsoft may show minor gains in performance or workflow optimization for your Adobe applications however hardware available on the Apple platform is limited (only the Mac Pro can be configured to have professional level graphics hardware) - other software environments such as Red Hat or SuSE are quasi-officially supported by Autodesk and Adobe but I would not advise such a path as I highly doubt your instructors are prepared to deal with the differences.

Regarding hardware specifications, "HDD" stands for Hard Disk Drive - this is the system's primary storage device, almost universally speaking more is always better regardless of application. "GHZ" stands for Gigahertz which represents 1 billion hertz (Hertz being the SI unit of frequency) - this relates to a given device's operational clock and generally isn't important beyond very controlled comparisons among devices - I wouldn't worry too much about this one. Intel is simply a hardware manufacturer (actually the largest manufacturer of CPUs, GPUs, and a few other devices) - you'll find their products in many devices (from personal computers to supercomputers, from hand-held entertainment devices to defense grade aerospace applications).

Overall, for $2000, you shouldn't have much trouble finding a suitable PC or workstation (really, in 2010, the only delineating factor between the two is the title and inclusion of proper professional level graphics) in a desktop or deskside format that will easily handle your application load - however for a laptop format machine you'll be somewhat pressed to equal the same level of performance. Dell produces a mobile workstation under their Small/Medium business line which would likely be suitable, however you'll be dealing with a fairly heavy and hot running device that cannot match a deskside unit for performance relative to its price. I would avoid more "consumer" oriented products like the MacBook or other sub-$1000 notebook offerings - they will barely offer basic 3D rendering support for DirectX or the like, let alone the high quality, high demand applications you're looking to use.

That aside, see what your instructor(s) use and suggest - if they prefer a specific platform (such as Apple's OS X on the Mac Pro) you will likely be able to receive more detailed instruction - although I'm guessing that you shouldn't have any problems with any suitable hardware that you choose.

Regarding a mouse, you can simply purchase that online or from an electronics shop - I like Microsoft and Logitech hardware (and Microsoft hardware generally work with non-Windows platforms) - depending upon the complexity of your work you might also look at Elecom and 3D Connexion (they both produce more professionally oriented devices for CAD/CAM designers and professional animators - expect much larger, heavier devices with higher price tags though).

Regarding headphones, this can become quite complex by itself, generically (and in the face of much opinionated commentary) I would suggest products from Audio-Technica, Bose, or Sennheiser - they all offer a variety of products at reasonable price levels with and without active noise-cancellation among other features. Their products will, with a few exceptions, also work with most any device you'll likely be using (Be it an mp3 player, personal computer, or home theater system).

If you have further questions or need clarification, feel free to ask.

-bob