AndreX86

You might also get some more info on another post http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Machinima/Best-Computers-and-or-Graphic-Cards-for-Filming/m-p/705829/highlight/false#M19 I found this site which gives a list of graphics cards in order of speed, arranged by class. So if you find a laptop you like, you can compare it to this list. I would recommend getting a laptop with a graphics card that is rated at class 2 at least.

Dude this chart is awesome! Thanks for posting it. Here is another list i refer to from notebookcheck.com which lists pretty much every mobile GPU in order, devided further by class. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html

Sorry but the 9400m is crap IMO. The 320m that the new 2010 MBP 13" is ALOT better. The NEW NEW 2011 has an intel HD 3000 which is said to be comparible to the 320m. Apple would be my number one choice if money were no option because I strongly feel that OSX is the best OS out there right now. With that being said, For $1000 dollars, you get a MBP with a class 3 video card (320m, intel HD 3000). These will diffetely produce some good frame rate but for $1000 you can get a PC with a class 1 video card which will give you AMAZING frame rates and you will future proof yourself as well. For $500-$800 or so you can get a laptop with a class 2 video card in it. Like I said I would go with apple if you can afford it. Though I would recommend there 15" line up which comes with a dedicated graphics card. Though for $1500 for a 15" mbp, you get a Class 2 graphics card. If you spent that on a laptop PC, you could get a class 1 graphics card, these cards are comparible to many high end desktop graphics cards. Last but not least. DONT BE FOOLED BY NUMBERS. for example a 5850 would beat the pants of a 6450. Though the 6450 is a "newer" series, after the 6 is a 4, which indicates this is the lower end of that series which means even though its newer, it will not compete speed wise with its older but faster counter part. This number scheming works pretty good still with NVIDIA and ATI cards.

You could purchase the Alienware M11x which comes with a desktop equivelant graphics card, the NVIDIA 335M w/1GB ram, this card is VERY powerful. It would be considered on the high end of the "class 2" graphics cards available in the mobile gaming market. There are 6 classes in mobile graphics. The only issue with this laptop is that is has an 11" in screen so if you were using this with an external monitor it would not be a problem. This laptop is selling for $599 or 836(GBD). That is a pretty good deal considering it normally sells for $200 more... maybe they are trying to get rid of them? When looking at laptops make sure you get one with a dedicated graphics card that hs 512 ram, AIM for 1GB if you can.

What type of video card do you use if you dont mind me asking.

You may want to make sure you desktop visual effects are set to 'none' in appearance and also check the preferences in SL to make sure the graphic setting is set to something your card can handle. I would just put it at low unless you know you have a pretty good graphics card.

Just downloaded SecondLife-i686-2.5.1.222408 and I am suprised that it runs so well. I am the latest version of ubuntu. I believe the initial build was with 10.04 but I did all available upgrades. Im using an NVIDIA 6800xt but I have a 9800GT on its way so I cant wait to see how well it performs. By default it put my graphics to "high" settings which killed my card, the frame rate was about 5-11FPS. I tested this in windows and the performance was the same. switching the graphics settings to "low" helped ALOT!