Seeking Laptop advice for VWX Spotlight

[David Weiner Design]

I am looking to buy a new laptop that will support VWX SPOTLIGHT.  We work in 3d for technical reasons, not so much to render.

 

I currently have a nearly 7 year old DELL PRECISON 5520 Workstation Class laptop and it’s time to upgrade.  While not a lighting performer, the machine has been very durable.  I am also a fan of DELL for their next business day onsite service if the unit needs repair.  They once fixed my laptop at 10pm on a bench in the box office of a theater I was working at.  Kind of amazing.  

 

2 DELL choices I’ve been looking at

 

XPS 15" (3456 x 2160 touch screen) with i9-13900H and RTX 4070 8GB VRAM.

 

or

 

PRECISION 15" (3840 x 2400 touch screen) with i9-12900H and RTX A2000 8GB VRAM.

 

There are some THINKPAD P1 units that look good, but the power supply is nutzo huge, so not super crazy about that.  Also, the machine itself isn’t great looking.

 

The XPS is quite a bit less costly than the PRECISION and, from what I can tell, the consumer grade machines actually work better with VWX, though the documentation I can find is sparse.

 

I have always been WINDOWS user, but would consider a MACBOOK PRO spec'ed out if that was better than both of these,  But again, cost.

 

Lastly - no gaming machines.  They look too freakish to use in a business environment. 

 

Thanks so much in advance for taking the time.

 

@zoomer - @jeff prince suggested I tag you on this thread.  He advised that you are very knowledgeable on this topic and might have some insight.

 

Best,
David

[Chris J Clarke]

I use a Razer Blade 15" with an Intel i7 9750H (6 Core/12 Thread) that runs at 2.6Ghz with a 4.5Ghz Boost Clock and an nVidia 2060.

 

I know you said no gaming machines, but I don't think the Razer Machines look gamey. I didn't want that either. It looks classy, like a black Macbook. 

 

It runs pretty well for me with Spotlight. There's an option in the Razer Software to give you better CPU performance, or GPU performance. Mine is 2019, so obviously the latest ones are faster. I went with a 1080p machine, rather than a 4K display scaled to be readable. A waste of horse power.

 

Something to note with Windows laptops... They only perform at full wack when they're plugged in. A Macbook Pro works at full performance on PSU and Battery.

 

When I replace my Razer, it'll be with a Macbook Pro M2 Max I think, but if you want Windows, I can recommend the Razerblade 15".

[zoomer]

I also think,

if Windows preferred, a Razor come more close to a Macbook Pro experience.

Doesn't look cheap and I think a nice balance between gaming and Pro App

power and comfort. Fan tuning and such.

[bcd]

I had a Razer Blade 15" which was a dream - until it wasn't. It fried mid project. The Asus (yes) that became its emergency replacement was rock solid if not the most beautiful screen.

The current Alienware is a beast as long as you don't mind fan noise.

Edited July 24, 2023 by bcd