Any reccomendations for someone who travels and does 3d modelling?

Hi everyone, I'm a senior studying animation and I've recently switched over from flash and 2d stuff into 3ds max and next semester have classes with maya and zbrush. For the last few years I've been using a really cutrate Toshiba ,I forgot how much i payed, but less than $500, which was doing tolerably until I started the 3d stuff and now it's just getting killed. It crashes all the time, the integrated graphics card hates 3ds (and it seems like the feelings mutual), and basically I just need to upgrade.

Can anyone give me any recommendations on what sort of laptop will suit my needs well? My maximum budget is $1500 but thats really the absolute maximum I can to go. In this case less is definately more but I want something that will last for at least several years through grad school and hopefully beyond so if I have to pay that much i'm willing. I'm not in a rush either, I'd like to get it sometime before Feb. of next year so I'm hoping to catch some after christmas sale.

I also do a lot of travelling, on average 3-6 months a year often to pretty rough conditions, so I was first attracted to Lenovo because of their reputation for being durable. But I am a little concerned with the weight; a lot of the reviews complain they're heavier than other brands of the same screen size (this especially seems the case with the w520). Anyone have any comments about that?

thanks!

 

Funnily enough, I found my W520 (empty Ultrabay, 9-cell) comparable in weight to a 13" MacBook polycarb.

Watch the eCoupon sites. I snagged my W520 for $1656 CAD after tax.

 

Macbook 5.6 pounds vs. W520 5.75(9 cell) vs. W520 5.4(6 cell). The weight of the laptop isn't that bad.

The thing I am more concern about is the large brick you have to carry with you to power that beast. When I write brick I really mean it.

 

Wait, so the one on the left is for the w520? wow...
i've been leaning towards the 520 so i guess it's good to know i'll have something handy to club home invaders with.
how long does the battery last on heavy use?

 

You can obtain a marginally smaller 135W adapter that works just as well (assuming you don't plug something into every port on the W520 and attach a dockiing station).

The battery will probably go 2-3 hours at very high loads. I wouldn't recommend running heavy loads on the battery as it wears it out faster.

 

Just to show exactly how big this brick is....



Yeah, big... However, the battery on the W520 lasts pretty long (2-3hr on heavy loads w/2000M, and about 8hr on Intel HD 3000 and web browsing/Office). Depending on the type of person you are (example: I'm 6ft and 195lbs), you might not even notice the weight of the system + brick (I certainly don't, even with additional books for class).

 

that power adapter is a personal defence weapon.

 

WOW! that thing is huge, I thought the power brick for my T60p is already too big.

 

Nah, I have a piece of 80/20 and a pocket knife for that

(but about 2 or 3ft long)