Laptop Graphics Card and Inventor 08

[lostbaka]

I'm looking at getting a factory refurbished Dell laptop. I'm stuck between an Inspiron with Nvidia Quadra graphics or a XPS media laptop with ATI Radeon X1800 graphics.

The Quadra is definitely supported by Inventor but the Radeon hasn't been tested. An earlier was tested and failed. Will the Radeon X1800 work with Inventor? The reason I ask is this laptop will probably become my main computer and I would still like to play current computer games.

Thanks for any suggestions
Frank

[Dan.antes]

I do all my work on a laptop with a Core2Duo and a NvidiaGeforce7600. It does OK for 2d cad and simpple 3d but will fall apart if trying to dual screen or dynamic rotate a large 3d rendering. I think you should go for the best Nvidia card you can get in a laptop with at least 256MB dedicated ram for graphics. Otherwise buy a desktop for work and sync it to the laptop for travel and home. It is rarely that I ask more from my laptop than it can do but it can be a real issue when it can't handle the graphics. Good luck

[lostbaka]

Thanks for your input. I think I may towards a laptop with workstation graphics. I did come across something interesting while Googling. There were some forum posts about flashing a Nvidia workstation card with the equivalent Geforce bios and using the matching drivers. It would be interesting if it were true and there was a way to switch back a forth.

Frank

[single phase]

Graphics cards that are not on the Inventor tested list can give you problems, I know I have one. It is best to stick with what they support.