Looking to buy a Thinkpad T-Series

[AtmosMan]

Hi. My name is Brian and I am looking to buy a Thinkpad within the next year. I'm sure IBM and will come out with newer versions of their Thinkpads, but I want to get a basic assesment of what I should be looking for.

I will be dealing with four major programs on my new computer (I will be refering to these throughout the post):

1. No Limits Rollercoaster Simulator

No Limits Rollercoaster Simulator is split into two parts - the editor and the simulator. The editor is a 3D CAD modelling program, and the simulator is a full out 3D moving simulation of the ride with great textures and animation.

2. Geniesoft Overture

This is a music notation program that can do it all.

3. Garritan Personal Orchestra

This is an orchestral library. I am getting tired of listening to the "tin can" midi sounds programmed on the computer.

4. Digital Atmosphere 2000

This is basic weather forecasting software that has both a 2D interface and a 3D interface. This program doesn't do animations, but it creates still models in 3D mode.

Now, for the computer requirements:

A. Processor

The programs that need the most processing power are the rollercoaster simulator and the personal orchestra. The personal orchestra website says that A fast CPU is needed for the algorithms to be computed smoothly. They gave the example of a 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 processor. I know the new T series have Pentium M processors. I spent an hour today on CNet looking up benchmarks of pentium M and pentium 4 processors in notebooks. I came up with a very basic conversion chart:

Pentium M Pentium 4

1.6 Ghz = 2.66 Ghz
1.7 Ghz = 2.8 Ghz
1.8 Ghz = 3.06 Ghz

I don't know for sure how accurate this is because of other components that affect computer performance, but if it is very wrong, someone let me know what a more accurate conversion is. For me personally, I am looking for a 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4-Pentium M equivalent or better.

B. Memory

This is going to be the biggest pain to figure out. The only program I need to worry about memory is the personal orchestra. This specific orchestral library is designed to run completely in RAM. The website says that at least 1GB of RAM is required to load an entire orchestra. The company is coming out with a Choir/Voice add on within the next year, but I don't know how much more RAM that will require me to have. I assume the RAM they are talking about is the desktop 400Mhz RAM. The RAM in Thinkpads is 333 Mhz. Is the performance of the 333 Mhz RAM that much worse than the 400 Mhz RAM?

C. Hard Drive

I need a lot of space for storing the Orchestral Samples and the Notation files. I have to go with at least 60GB. The only concern I have is the rotational speed of the drive. The No Limits Simulator is an animated 3D game. Will the difference in performance of 60GB 7200 rpm HDD vs. 80GB 5400 rpm HDD be significant?

D. Graphics Card

This only really applies to the rollercoaster simulator. The website says that a graphics card with Open GL capabilities is recommended. It is a 3D CAD program, and it is only getting more advanced in time. Is it better to have the 128MB ATI Fire GL T2 or can the 64MB ATI 9600 do just as well with the CAD program?

E. Screen

I want the larger 15" screen for the CAD modelling and the forecast software, and I also watch a lot of DVDs. I am just curious to how the UXGA looks on 15". I know I can always reduce the resolution when I want, but is it unbearable to read text at that high of a resolution?

F. Optical Drive

It is not really important on the optical drive I get, though DVD burners would be fun to use =)

That's about it for now component wise. I can see this computer getting up near $4500 (Which is OK...my parents owe me $4000...long story.) But I wont complain if I can get a good deal. I know there is a 5% credit card discount. There is a 10% discount through my college (SUNY Albany.) There is a 20% first time buyer discount. Is there any better discounts out there?

I guess that's it for now. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Txiasaeia]

Just to let you know, IBM discontinued their 20% first time buyers' discount, and have recently downgraded their credit card and employee discount to about 10%. In other words, the next time you see something 15% off, run, don't walk

Bill, the host of the forum, offers a 15% discount on most 2373 t-series notebooks if you pay in cash up front. He has several high-end machines on his front page: www.thinkpads.com/start Good place to start looking!

[cynic]

I'll answer a few of these (others can answer the non-music related ones)..

Using a T40p (1.6Ghz P-M) with 1GB RAM with RME Hammerfall Cardbus+Digiface and LaCie FW800 PCMCIA card...

2) I use Nuendo2, Reason, Sibelieus, GigaStudio, Melodyne, Waves Platinum and the IR-1 Convolution Reverb... no problems running any of them or all of them at the same time.

3) I have Garritan (though I think it sucks), Vienna Symphonic, East-West, some proprietary sample libraries, BFD, The Grand, Grandioso Bossendorfer 290.

First off, don't keep your sample library on your laptop. It'll just take up too much room (I have 400GB of samples split to 2 drives now; both are fanless FireWire 800 drives, HGST 7K250 7200rpm drives 8MB cache; they are hooked to the laptop by a LaCie FW800 PCMCIA card) The biggest things with samples is sustained hard drive bandwidth. One drive contains Strings and Brass, the other contains Woodwinds and Percussion. Keep your applications on your internal and your samples on the externals (and project files too, if you want) I can play 560 mono-voices simutaneously without a problem. So that should comfort you that you'll have absolutely no problem playing Garritan on any of the newer ThinkPads.

For the internal drive, I keep Hypersonic and its sample collection to use as a scratchpad. It takes up less space, is very efficent and sounds great with minimal fussing; this is so there are samples when I'm not carting the FW drives.

Realize I'm doing this with just 1GB RAM and usually my processor will peak out on convoluting algorithms or reverbs before my RAM will be used up. The sample libraries actually are less demanding than they like to appear and honestly, a cutdown version of the VSL or EastWest would sound better than the Garritan (though I do understand pricing is an issue.) You should also give Hypersonic a try; as long as you're not comparing it to taking your music to a real orchestra, it sounds great and is really easy on resources and costs I think $350.

[cynic]

BTW, I've been putting together this week a mobile sampling rig for a film composer friend. I have a spreadsheet drawn up with all the items necessary and links for purchasing (and pictures! sorry couldn't resist) that I'd be willing to email you as a zipped up html file (it's about 104KB-- I send it as an html because he uses a PowerBook right now and it can't open the newer Excel files correctly.) It will also easily satisfy your 3-D needs (it is based around a 15" T42p.) PM me and I'll email it.

The grand total comes to $4257.03 without tax ($4395.36 with Virgina tax and $4534.47 with California tax) This includes extra RAM, the FW hard drive and PCMCIA card, and the audio card with 96Hz sampling/52 channels/ADAT and WordClock/AES-EBU/ADAT/Internal sync systems for timing and 2 MIDI I/O.

[ryan]

your conversion table for intel processor speeds is correct imo for non-ht p4s. some retailers will tell you to multiply your pm speed by 1.9, but honest ones usually say 1.6ish.