Do I realy need a dedicated video card?

I'm looking into buying a laptop for general purpose but would like to be able to use it for VJ'ing also. I'm thinking of quite low-resolution, no 3D rendering or anything really intensive. I'm on a tight budget so when I go for an integrated graphics card I have more possibilities, like a better processor.

I want good battery life, and putting in more RAM to compensate for an integrated card taking some of the memory is no problem. For VJ'ing I would of course be using the secondary video output to send to a beamer, so this can't just be a clone of the laptop screen.

I'm just wondering if I really need a (Low-end) Video Card because I read on http://www.vjforums.com/ that a dedicated graphics card isn't really a necessity for VJ'ing and that enough RAM, a good processor an fast hard disk are more important.

I'm not planning on playing games on my notebook.

BTW: If you have any recommendations on what laptop I should buy --> http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=89492

 

I believe a dedicated card would also give you better compatibility options, video quality, and performance even in 2d when trying to utilize a dual display mode using video out. You will also get better support online, since most of us computer savvy people have opted for even a low end stand alone card.

I recommend a standalone even if you think you may not need it, because you "never know". I have never bought my laptops with gaming in mind, but I have always been disappointed when my laptops integrated video has been so weak, I cant play old favorite should I need to pass the time. My current dell is the first time I have been %100 satisfied with my laptop, and its because I actually spent a little more cash to upgrade its screen and video card. Even if its just an x1300, I can play guild wars, and NFSU2 which are great time wasters.

 

At a wild guess, I'd say vjforums.com knows more about VJ'ing than notebookreview.com. In other words, if you want a system for VJ'ing, you should listen to the advice yo uget at vjforums.com.

 

I think a dedicated card would give you a bit more performance and quality.

 

I don't actually want a notebook just for VJ'ing.
I'd just like to be able to use it for that as well.
But I also have other considerations like battery life.
I'm posting my question on vjforums.com as well, but the people there are not realy experts in laptops, a lot of them use a desktop or other hardware.

Maybe I should rephrase my question: is there a big benefit in choosing a laptop with dedicated graphics card if I'm not going to be playing games on it?

 

They obviously don't know more if they are saying no video card necessary. Video cards can enable things like better deinterlacing or acceleration of video, plus better support for VMR9 and such. Plus they can have better 2d image quality. Though just having a dedicated GPU doesn't necessarily mean the image quality is better. But I'd say probably Radeon and Geforce IQ is better than Intel GMA.

Battery life isn't much affected by a lower end GPU, particularly if it has power saving features like PowerMizer.

Integrated ATI or nVidia video is much better than Intel GMA though.

 

Save your money, heat, and battery life with an integrated card. A lot of people in this forum have some kind of odd obsession with maxing out a video card in a machine that doesn't need it, but for your purposes the integrated will be plenty fine.

 

I'd get an integrated ATI or NVIDIA card, if you can. X200m or whatnot. The ATI/NVIDIA cards have video acceleration tech in them that the Intel integrated chips don't.

 

From what you've said so far, I'd also suggest a dedicated GPU in your notebook. It would give you more of the flexibility you seem to be seeking. You don't need to get anything higher than a x1400/go 7400 though.

Of course battery life would be better without a dedicated GPU, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives in this case.

 

No, there is no benefit if you aren't rendering 3D.