CS 6 on HP Elitebook?

[Denis Danatzko]

Hi,
I've been running CS2 on XP Pro almost since it's release.(Laugh if necessary). I shoot most often with a Panny HMC-150, and have filled some AVCHD needs along the way using Edius Neo 2.5 Am now in need of a new laptop to run CS6. I'm close to committing to the following list at a significant discount and free shipping. Despite that, I'm not the tech guy I used to be, and would appreciate any feedback regarding running CS6 on this machine.
My biggest concern is the ATI Firepro M4000 graphics adapter. I've searched AMD's site but can't find any specs on it, particularly that it will/will not run Adobe's Mercury engine. Can anyone confirm that it does/does not? (The info below is an extract from the configurator at HP's web site, and it doesn't offer a Quadro as an option).
I often use the laptop in a pretty harsh environment (both indoor and outdoor horse arenas where dust ends up everywhere), and figure the "military toughness" of this machine would be a benefit.

Am I missing/overlooking something necessary for CS6?

HP EliteBook 8770w Mobile Workstation with Mobile Intel® QM77 Express Chipset, and Intel Quad Core Processor

Windows® 7 Professional 64

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Processor, 2.60GHz (Turbo up to 3.60GHz), 1600 MHz, 6MB L3 Cache

17.3 inch LED FHD WVA Anti-Glare enabled for Webcam (1920x1080)

WEBCAM Integrated 720p HD

ATI FirePro M4000 graphics with 1GB dedicated GDDR5 video memory

16GB 1600 MHz DDR3 4DM Memory

320 GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive

500GB 7200RPM 2nd Hard Drive

DVD±RW SuperMulti DL Drive

Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300

200W Hardware Kit

8-Cell 75 Wh Li-lon Battery

1 Express Card/54

1 Smart Card Reader

1 SD/MMC

Externals I use on my current laptop and hope to use on this one include:
1 TB G-RAID mini via eSATA
External VGA or HDMI monitor

Thanks so much for your patience.

[Peter Ferling]

Hey Denis. CS2? Braa-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha, ha. Kidding. I recently waved bye to my Video Toaster. Great tool for live and green-screen, and loved the background rendering, active croutons in the bin, and the story-line nature of the editor when clients were present. You use what works for you.

You need an Nvidia solution with cuda technology, and at least 1GB option. Here's a link with suggested laptops for that:

Videoguys Blog - Videoguys Recommended Laptops for Video Editing

You also can also get by with a consumer GTX card using a hack, Google it.

On a personal note I would be concerned with overheating and cooking your chipset on a laptop. I fried one in a Dell M90, (which I still have because the graphics cards are replaceable and cheap on eBay). So I leave the heavy lifting for my workstations. Otherwise, make you spring for the warranty. Just a thought.

[Battle Vaughan]

May I suggest you take a look at the Samsung NP700G7C (17 inch, 16 gb ram, nVIdia GTX675M video card, two 750 gb drives, USB 3.0 and 3rd generation Ivy Bridge CPU, i7-3610QM) It's selling locally for about $1800. For a lot more money the Sager 9710 (custom built, up to 32 gb ram, choice of processors including Ivy Bridge extreme, choice of graphics cards up to the latest nVidia 680qm, firewire, esata, usb 3, bluray burner option, etc etc.) Large bucks but worth looking into, they have other, less expensive models also, all customizable.

Yes, you need an nVidia graphic card, one with enough ram and Cuda cores to function with the Mercury engine. There are several long threads on dvinfo about this issue and how to make Adobe apps recognize your card if it has sufficent moxie but isn't automatically recognized. There is an easy hack for this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details (this is the Samsung)
custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

PS the Samsung is known to run hot, the Sager (see several youtube videos) has serious cooling on board.

EDIT: got the numbers transposed, it's Sager 9170: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.p...el_name=NP9170

[Denis Danatzko]

Peter,
Thanks for the feedback. If the HP 8770w had an nVidia GPU, at the price I've been quoted, it would be great. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Videoguys told me the ATI Firepro M4000 won't provide access to the Mercury engine.

Battle,
Thanks for the suggestions. My current laptop has problems at high heat and has BSD'ed on me numerous times, so I'll skip the Samsung and investigate the Sager. I'm also checking into both a custom laptop and a desktop from one of Videoguys' preferred systems builders.(I doubt CS6 would work very well on a Tyan mobo with double dual-core AMD Opterons and a Quadro FX 1500 graphics board.It was good in its' day, but it's getting slower with age...just like me).

Thanks again.

[Jay Webster]

Well, my laptop just died and I am in need of a new machine.
Both the Samsung and Sager look pretty good, but I still need a firewire port which neither appearsto have.
Any suggestions??
Thanks

[Peter Ferling]

Denis, also consider refurbished Dells on eBay. You can snag a dual quad-core for pennies on the dollar vs. new. Throw in some ram, a decent GTX for 1/3 price of new all said and done. I have one with 8 months of daily use and still running.

If your hung up on using laptop due to location or offsite, then consider the alternative that I'm looking into:
A shoebox case configuration. Something with a handle, and a padded bag to house an LCD, keyboard on one of those folding wheel carriers. It's a compromise if you happen to take up temporary office space with a client.

You can equip it with a full size Nvidia card, and have adequate cooling. Not to mention looking serious to the client.

The idea struck me when I was considering a Newtek Tri-caster to replace my burned out VT5. I bet I could just build my own, and in something that will fit into an overhead compartment, or small pelican case.

[Battle Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Jay Webster

Well, my laptop just died and I am in need of a new machine.
Both the Samsung and Sager look pretty good, but I still need a firewire port which neither appearsto have.
Any suggestions??
Thanks

The Sager 9170 does have a firewire port, one of the few notebooks still to offer this....see specs here: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.p...el_name=NP9170

[Jay Webster]

Thanks for the link Battle,
Looks like a strong contender!

[Battle Vaughan]

@ Jay, I have no connection with Sager except I am putting my money where my mouth is and purchasing a 9170 myself. Pricey, but a good bargain if it does what you need done. Darn, I just love the toys.....

[Mark Watson]

No affiliation with them either, just a satisfied customer. Bought my first Sager in 2008 and it was one heavy sumbitch. Unfortunately, it crashed in 2011.... literally. Fell off my suitcase in an airport onto a hard floor and needs to go in for servicing. Still powers up in safe mode but I think there's an issue with HDD connections. Bought another Sager (NP8130), which I run Vegas Pro 11 and CS6 on. It's a lot lighter but has all the latest ports plus the firewire, esata, etc. Two other things I really like is they don't put ANY bloatware on their machines and they include DVDs of the OS and drivers.

[Denis Danatzko]

Thanks to all for your input.

After lengthy discussions with Videoguys and one of their recommended builders, I've decided to go the custom route on both the laptop and desktop. Unfortunately, the case for the laptop I wanted won't be available for months, and I need it sooner than that, so I had to drop from a hex-core i7 to a quad core, and could get neither firewire nor an Express card slot, though I will have USB3. (Both computers are being built, and naturally I'm eager to get them. )

So, in the near future, I'll be looking for something that has the same or similar features to the Matrox mini and MOTU HD Express, but will be relegated to using a USB3 device. (I've been told BlackMagic Design has some products for that, plus who knows what the future will bring).

Now I have to prepare myself for what I suspect may be a very different editing experience (and what I hope will not be a drastic learning curve) while I move up from CS 2 to CS6. Wish me luck.

Thanks again.