We’ve got an MSI and an Alienware, both are good, powerful machines. The form factor is typical PC laptop, so bulkier than a MacBook. Make sure you get a large SSD as the boot drive. I attempted to move the OS to a larger SSD on the Alienware and it was a bit of a disaster. I got it working but some things still aren’t quite right. Drivers on PC laptops are particularly difficult to get re-installed.

 

That said, for normal upgrades the Alienware is easier. The MSI requires you to jump through a ton of hoops (not as bad as a MacBook, but it’s not as easy as it could be). Before buying, find out what it takes to add memory or an SSD.

 

I don’t know what’s up with the Lenovo’s, but I see black screens occasionally on both the MSI and Alienware, where the external monitor goes black for a moment or two and then comes back. Usually indicates the driver crashed or the GPU got overloaded and restarted.

 

 

Cheers,

Jim

-------------------

Jim Tierney

President

Digital Anarchy

 

 

 

From: After Effects Mail List [mailto:AE-List@media-motion.tv]
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2018 12:39 PM
To: After Effects Mail List
Subject: [AE] Jump to PCland

 

Hello,

I saw a few threads before on jumping from Mac to PCs, but if I recall correctly, it seemed like it was mostly for desktop. Can you offer advice on a good PC laptop?

I'm currently enrolled in an evening class utilizing 3DS Max and After Effects, so I need portability with decent rendering power.

 

My teacher suggested a Lenovo Yoga 720, but the reviews elude to a black bar screen issue that hasn't been solved in years. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

 

Cheers,

 

Marie V. Thresher

Animator, Published Illustrator, & Interactive Designer

www.marievthresher.com