• Manufacturing
• AEC
• GIS
• CAD Management
• Cadalyst Magazine
  • Purchase Latest Issue
  • Cadalyst Access Program
  • Magazine Archives (2004-2009)
• E-Newsletters
  • Tips & Tools Archives
  • CAD Manager's Newsletter Archives
  • AEC Newsletter Archives
  • MCAD Newsletter Archives
  • GIS Tech News Archives
  • HP Workstation Innovation News
  • Dell Tech Insider
  • Harry's Code Class Archives
  • Subscribe E-newsletters
• CAD Software & Hardware Reviews
• Features & Columns
  • "CAD Manager" Column, by Robert Green
  • "Circles & Lines" AutoCAD Tutorial, by Lynn Allen
  • "Learning Curve" AutoCAD Tutorial, by Bill Fane
  • "Viewpoint" Guest Column
  • Feature Articles
• CAD Software Tutorials
  • All CAD Tutorials
  • "Circles & Lines" AutoCAD Tutorial, by Lynn Allen
  • "Learning Curve" AutoCAD Tutorial, by Bill Fane
• CAD Tips & Tools
  • Cadalyst CAD Tips - Tips and Downloadable AutoCAD Code
  • Video Tips Gallery
  • Tips & Tools Weekly Newsletter Achives
  • CAD Software Tutorials
  • Cadalyst Benchmark Test
• CAD Video Gallery
• CADspeed: Hardware Blog
• Cadalyst Benchmark Test
• CAD Events Calendar
• CAD Cartoons
• Subscriber Services
• Job Search
• Cadalyst Store
• Advertising

CAD to Go

Cadalyst Labs Report: The newest mobile workstation technology meets the processing, graphics, and memory demands of AEC, manufacturing, and GIS users.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Summer 2010 issue of Cadalyst.

Today's mobile workstations truly have become desktop workstation replacements. For dramatic proof of this claim, look no further than the performance figures of the GoBOXX 1640 system. This new mobile workstation, which BOXX Technologies describes as a mid-range system, set a new performance record for any workstation — mobile or desktop — reviewed by Cadalyst Labs to date.

Mobile workstations take users above and beyond the laptop, providing the processor and mobile graphics card performance, RAM, and software certification required for demanding modeling, analysis, and visualization applications in CAD, engineering, digital-content creation (DCC), and geospatial information systems (GIS).

For a firsthand look at mobile workstation developments of today — and tomorrow — we interviewed representatives of several system developers. And in the sidebar "By the Numbers," senior analyst Alex Herrera of Jon Peddie Research discusses how mobile workstations are faring against their desktop counterparts in today's market. We round out this issue's cover story with a sampling of several notable mobile workstations that have hit the market in recent months, as well as First Look reviews of two new systems that illustrate the latest advances in mobile workstation technology: a Lenovo ThinkPad W510 that offers a terrific price-to-performance ratio and the aforementioned BOXX Technologies GoBOXX 1640, which delivers speed that is literally off the chart.

Now, we take a closer look at mobile workstation technology with the help of the players in the market.

What are the greatest technological leaps in the current generation of mobile workstations?

On par with their desktop counterparts, mobile systems today are typically equipped with high-performance quad-core and six-core chips, with the six-core Intel Xeon processor offering the best performance. Also like their desktop counterparts, mobile workstations are making a steady migration to 64-bit operating systems and applications, specifically Microsoft Windows 7 x64, as well as high-performance graphics technology such as the NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M, NVIDIA geForce 480M, and the ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards, in single or dual (SLI or Crossfire) configurations. An increasing number of applications take advantage of multithreading, which offers better software performance and productivity than have previously been available.

Jeff Witt, director of product communications at Lenovo, said, "Mobile workstations are experiencing the leap into parallel processing, where the advantage of using the GPU [graphics processing unit] to process complex computations is taken advantage of. This is done through both open architecture such as OpenGL and specific code from the graphics manufacturer."

High-capacity memory also is playing a role in untethering the workstation from the workplace. Six gigabytes of RAM seems to be the norm today, but 16 GB to 24 GB and beyond is possible. RAID 5/10 storage, with an internal battery for data protection, is another driving force.

Mobile workstation displays are growing too, pushing past the 17" norm. HP introduced its EliteBook 8740w, which boasts a billion-color DreamColor display, the first of its kind on a mobile device.

Chris Convertito, worldwide category manager for HP Mobile Workstations, added that connectivity technologies such as eSATA and USB 3.0 provide mobile users with many high-speed options for working with large files and data sets.

What drove the major advances in systems we have today?

User demands as well as vendor-driven efforts are the foundation for new mobile workstation features. Witt at Lenovo observed, "The user communities have been driving to more real-time, interactive, computer-intensive applications and are less and less willing to accept interruptions or slow system response times." He added, "Due to the amazing power inside these portable machines, users are now taking a second, and very serious look at mobile workstations as their platform of choice — some as their only workstation — because the mobile workstation can act as a desktop (with additional large screens) and as a mobile unit."
 

1 2 3