This is the MOST vague freaking "Thread" that I have EVER read.
Now come-ON, people. ...I mean OBVIOUSLY this discussion is a "time sensitive" thing. Right? This Thread could be TEN years old, for as far as ANYONE knows. BUT! With THAT in mind, all RE's are dated.
So, IF you are still answering (which this SHOULD be a "rolling" Thread) a question from TEN years ago, then obviously the RE's are moot.
But since the RE's ARE dated, this could go on, and on, and on... : )
For example, I am CURRENTLY (as of this posting's date) looking for a replacement for my laptop to do some -HEH!!!- REAL rendering, on a NEW LAPTOP!! I do not have "room" and travel quite a BIT, so a laptop is my ONLY line of defense, given the circumstances.
I have been using my good-"old"-trustworthy HP Elitebook (8760w) laptop. Now this BEAST has allowed me to actually RENDER some pretty heavy scenes, in her time. (God bless her!) ; ) and she is STILL running strong. But she's getting long in the tooth and only has 1GB VRAM on board and 24GB of standard RAM.
Since the software world has us by our pocketbooks, and they keep upgrading every 2.5 months (jk!) I have to have something that is portable AND has the Hardware Characteristics that I need to do what my Elitebook CAN, and more.
The ONLY manufacturer that I could find that could even MATCH today's tech with yesterday's specs AND tech, was a customizable Dell computer (SAME company as HP. No???)
So WHY can I NOT find an HP with FIVE USB ports? Dell's got 'em... amongst other things, of course...
But this is WHY I turned here... thinking that I might find "TODAY's" equivalent of 2010's 8760w's ...
Does ANYone have a suggestion?? The HP "Z" series does NOT seem to have the peripherals that it had, just EIGHT years ago... and I thought we were "progressing." Heh! LOL! (-jk!-)
Anyway, if ANYone has a suggestion, I would be more than willing to listen. Thanks in advance : ) -EB
PS. Why do we not keep this as a "Rolling Thread"??