Work Laptop Recommendation

[Signod]

Hello all, i feel as if i am in a unique situation, however i know that i am not

 

I purchased a Acer Predator helios 500 last year as a main work computer and i have been slightly dissapointed with my choice, not in the laptops performance mind, its quite excellent for what i paid for it, however, i thought that i could deal with its very short battery life and massive size, it turns out that i value things differently than i did years ago

 

With that being said, i am a security systems integrator, you can think of my job as I.T. for large active construction sites, i also happen to use autocad/BIM360 frequently for site drawings and will occasionally use my laptop from worksite trailers

 

All of the above means that i need a Powerful, portable computer that can stay powered for long periods of time, my budget is mostly unlimited, but i would like to try to keep it under 3k unless there is a clear winner that costs over that

 

I realize i am kind of looking for the holy grail of laptops, i have narrowed down good looking options to something like and XPS 15 or a top line razer blade pro, but i have some concerns about the longevity of a razer blade, i have seen or heard of them failing on the channel and i don't know if i want to put that much money down on something that could blow up on me from daily use.

 

I also bought my wife a macbook pro recently, and i really liked the build quality of that laptop, but i like windows and need to use it for a lot of programs for my job

 

What is everyones opinion of my best option?

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, Signod said:

Hello all, i feel as if i am in a unique situation, however i know that i am not

Pretty much any gaming laptop or something with a dedicated GPU is going to have poor battery life

Just get a P51/P52/P53 from Lenovo though? Slightly older should be a lot cheaper naturally. They're 90Wh, so basically at the limit of what'll go on a plane.
 

 

[kelvinhall05]

XPS 15 will overheat and throttle, Blade will just...die. Boom. Dead. Rip $3000.

 

 

Get a Thinkpad. I know that's not very specific, but there are lots of different Thinkpad lines and I'd just take a look at what they all have to offer.

[Metallus97]

ohhh idd not get a Razer. the are sleek but longevity... meh. And also I have to say Thinkpad 

or Getto style MBP and install windows on it. But that's a waste of the special Apple features 

[Metallus97]

ThinkPad T495s with 16GB Ram and defending on needs 512GB or 1TB ssd upgrade is around 2k and should do the trick and have stelar battery live. Comes with 6 core ryzen 3500U but can be upgraded to 3700U and that's preeeetyyyy fast!

 

Do you need an eGPU? That will help in CAD but tank the battery live 

 

[Signod]

10 minutes ago, Metallus97 said:

ThinkPad T495s with 16GB Ram and defending on needs 512GB or 1TB ssd upgrade is around 2k and should do the trick and have stelar battery live. Comes with 6 core ryzen 3500U but can be upgraded to 3700U and that's preeeetyyyy fast!

 

Do you need an eGPU? That will help in CAD but tank the battery live 

 

Most of the cadwork i do is 2D, i will take a look at this thinkpad

 

Maybe my solution would just be to get a nice ultrabook and use that for the on site programming/battery life, but that seems like a little bit of a waste 

[Metallus97]

1 minute ago, Signod said:

Most of the cadwork i do is 2D, i will take a look at this thinkpad

 

Maybe my solution would just be to get a nice ultrabook and use that for the on site programming/battery life, but that seems like a little bit of a waste 

yeh idd like to have a do all machine. And if that is 2D stuf the 8 core should RIPPP through it like a boss  

You can also get a touchscreen on that Thinkpad if you like to. And dont get the intel version. Slower and needs more power -> drains battery faster 

[dizmo]

Sounds like you're one of the few people that would actually find a Panasonic Toughbook beneficial.

[Signod]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Sounds like you're one of the few people that would actually find a Panasonic Toughbook beneficial.

I had no idea these existed, thank you, i will look into these as well

 

I appreciate everyone's help so far, thank you all for continuing to share your perspectives

[Metallus97]

9 hours ago, Signod said:

I had no idea these existed, thank you, i will look into these as well

 

I appreciate everyone's help so far, thank you all for continuing to share your perspectives

Ayy! Let us know how you decide!

 

In my mind a thugbook is overkill in team of stirdynes.

[Signod]

Hey, an update for everyone

 

In my travels (To the Microsoft store, to windows shop hyuk hyuk) i came across an HP Spctre x360 AND ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE WITH IT.

 

I work in a very visual trade, and the ability to actually walk around with a touchscreen and show blueprints to people was something i had honestly never considered

 

Now here comes the depressing part, the HP spectre x360 is not powerful enough BY FAR to handle my autocad needs, they recommend a minimum of 2.5 GHZ, and suggest something over 3.1, and i can say with personal experience that if you don't meet these recommendations it becomes harder to do your work, and 2d autocad does not utilise multiple threads well (If it does at all)

 

I then stumbled across an HP ZBook 360 Workstation, you can actually order these with Xeon Processors......

 

Well since i actually needed the single threaded performance, i am thinking of going with an I9 Capable of 2.9ghz sustained, the only downside is the machine i configured is going to cost well over 4k, but this device appears to hit ALL the important parts, i have no idea what its battery life is going to look like, or its heat rejection

 

Does anyone have any experience with these? i am practically salivating at the specs...

 

I guess the only other question i would need answered is, how much does a used helios 500 go for with the T.O.L Ryzen from last year in it go for?

 

*Edit, I see that they actually have two sets listed on the website, the 360 degree version is not configurable, however they still fill my requirements, sans the storage space