Looking at new laptops and want to get one for Blender since my old one has like 4gb of RAM and no graphics card.
Basically anything is an upgrade from what I’ve got. Mainly worried about displays and weight that comes with them so I’m looking between 14 and 16 inch laptops, with the 14 having no option to upgrade the graphics card (3050 to 4050).
I don’t have the space for a Desktop PC right now so at the moment laptops work better for me.
Would you get one that’s 16 inches as pretty much a desktop PC and just use the old one for travelling?
Or would the 14 inch with something like an external monitor be better and wait until I actually have the space to get a desktop?
Looking to learn how to do short animations, don’t know how I’ll progress from there but the ones I’m thinking of are under a minute.
Tell me both about what you recommend and what sort of setup you have as a laptop user?
To be honest, I don’t think anyone can give you a straight answer…
If you have one or two extra monitors at home, you might consider a laptop with one or two hdmi outputs (or a good docking station).
If you’re allways on the move and you don’t want to carry a huge laptop, choose one smaller.
Then you’ll also need to think about your usage… Are your animations heavy, high poly counts, full of effects and complex materials? These will force you to have a better processing power, which in turn needs a powerfull battery, which is heavy and big.
Will you render the animations in your laptop, or will you use a render farm?
And these and plus a bunch of things are important when you’re choosing a laptop. Plus, you also need to know what’s more confortable for you to work.
In the end, the display size is not the biggest factor.
I’m not really familiar with Render farms, gotta be real.
As for stuff like that’s hard to say with how new I am to this, but the closest thing to what I plan on starting with is a TikTok called Shortest Blockbusters. Something similar to that length and calibre, to give a better example.
Most 14" laptops don’t even have numpads… I don’t know… I mean people have different goals and perspectives, but for me it is always weird how someone who is into 3d can prefer smaller size and lighter weight to comfort while working. With 3d you are probably going to spend way more time working than traveling no matter how much you travel. Lack of numpad for Blender is a problem. Sure, it’s possible to emulate all the hotkeys, but still, that alone can be a huge inconvenience. Small screen is not ideal. It’s just hard to see stuff and the small monitors tend to have lower resolutions as well. I really don’t think a small laptop is a good idea for work with 3d. It probably depends on the work one does but making animations you might want all the screen space you can get. You really can use screen space with 3d. You need all sorts of stuff on screen - reference photos, reference videos, web browser, various editors… It’s just so much easier when you don’t have to constantly switch between stuff on a small screen.
Personally I don’t imagine myself working on a 14" screen at all. I just wouldn’t in any circumstances. Maybe to fix something quickly, but work for 8 hours a day?.. No way. Never. No. That’s just me. I am sure there are people who do though.
If a desktop is an option, I would say, definitely go for a desktop with a decent size 4K monitor. It is more convenient. Everything in 3d is hard already, why make it even harder with a small laptop?..
That’s just me. I am sure there are people who do though.