Best laptop for Architectural Drafting student under $1500?

[Snaptic]

Hey everyone, I am starting an architectural drafting program in the fall and need a new laptop. I'm hoping to not spend more than $1500CAD, and will be purchasing it in Canada.

 

I'm looking for a laptop that will be my daily driver during school. I will need it to be capable of doing light CAD and BIM work (AutoCAD, Revit, etc.) however heavier workloads will happen on my desktop at home. I like the 2-in-1 form factor, but know it's most likely outside of my budget. I'm definitely looking for the best value per dollar. Decent battery life is important, but it doesn't need to be crazy. Just enough to reasonably get me through a school day. I do commute by bike fairly often, so something relatively lightweight would be nice. I don't really care about it's gaming performance, my desktop at home fills those needs. It will be my daily driver, so a nice keyboard and touch pad would be appreciated.

 

I'm hoping to find something that isn't a gaming laptop, or at least doesn't look like one. I'm not a fan of the styling of most gaming laptops. I'm hoping this laptop will last me a good couple years, so I want to make sure I enjoy using it, and looking at it.

 

It's been years since I've even thought about purchasing a laptop, so any advice would be appreciated! Just looking for the best value!

[Derrk]

x1 carbons are really nice. Super lightweight and decent battery. Not a 2-in-1 but you can get touchscreen models

[genexis_x]

Preferred max weight and min battery life? Need Quadro? Mind non-upgradable 8GB RAM and low sRGB display?

[Snaptic]

10 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Preferred max weight and min battery life? Need Quadro? Mind non-upgradable 8GB RAM and low sRGB display?

Preferred max weight of approx 4.5lbs, but if I have to go over, not the end of the world. Battery life of around 8 hours, don't need anything crazy. 

 

Definitely don't need a Quadro. Have one at home for heavy load stuff. Just need some kind of dedicated graphics for light load work. 

 

Having the option to upgrade RAM would be preferable, not a deal breaker. Low sRGB display isn't optimal, but also not the end of the world. Whatever is considered averageid-tier laptop acceptable display will do me just fine. 

[Silent93x]

8 minutes ago, Snaptic said:

Preferred max weight of approx 4.5lbs, but if I have to go over, not the end of the world. Battery life of around 8 hours, don't need anything crazy. 

 

Definitely don't need a Quadro. Have one at home for heavy load stuff. Just need some kind of dedicated graphics for light load work. 

 

Having the option to upgrade RAM would be preferable, not a deal breaker. Low sRGB display isn't optimal, but also not the end of the world. Whatever is considered averageid-tier laptop acceptable display will do me just fine. 

Hi, I use AutoCAD too, in this forum they reccomended me the legion y7000 if you can ignore the rater average battery life of 5hrs, it's a great bang for your buck (btw I'm still in 1st year we are still learning to use AutoCAD, and no I'm not studying Architectural drafting)

[Snaptic]

26 minutes ago, Silent93x said:

Hi, I use AutoCAD too, in this forum they reccomended me the legion y7000 if you can ignore the rater average battery life of 5hrs, it's a great bang for your buck (btw I'm still in 1st year we are still learning to use AutoCAD, and no I'm not studying Architectural drafting)

Hey! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a look at the Legion line. I like that the styling is a little more subdued even though they're "gaming" laptops

[Silent93x]

18 minutes ago, Snaptic said:

Hey! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a look at the Legion line. I like that the styling is a little more subdued even though they're "gaming" laptops

Yeah, I'll suggest to take a look at the t480 from lenovo, I took it, should arrive tuesday, but that thing is running an mx150, basically a 1050 downclocked. But the battery life is 18hrs, so if you value more battery life this is a better choice

[genexis_x]

Here are some good 2 in 1:

Asus UX461UN-BB51T - high sRGB IPS, non-upgradable RAM

HP Envy x360 15-cp0010ca - max 7 hrs battery life

Lenovo Flex 14 81SS0008CF - max 7 hrs battery life

Lenovo Flex 14 81EM0008US

 

Let me know if you have other options in mind

On 5/24/2019 at 9:37 PM, Silent93x said:

basically a 1050 downclocked. But the battery life is 18hrs

Completely different core. MX150 is based on GT1030. Also, 18 hrs is advertised, realistically it would be 11-14 hrs with 24+48/72Wh battery