Looking for a laptop for my engineering studies

[NorwegianWoodBadger]

I'm looking for a laptop for my engineering studies beginning this august, I've got a budget of 5000$.

I've got no operative system that I have to be using, Windows is preferred but I would be afraid of trying out apples OS.

I'm going to be using 3d modeling software, simple Ansys simulations, cad drawing, long writing sessions, ill be looking for

a laptop with long battery life, good longevity, and the possibility to play some triple A games.

 

As of now, I work as an automation engineer/electrician/technician. And I'm going to take a bachelor degree in electrical engineering for those wondering  If any

 

 

And I've looked at the 

 

Microsoft surface book 2 15 UHD

- GTX 1060

- Intel I7-8650U

- 16GB Ram

- 512gb version or the 1tb version, although price difference here leaves a bitter taste 

 

+ Touch display I've grown fond of this in laptops, not a requirement

 

 

Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019

- 16GB Ram or the 32GB Ram version 

- 512gb or the 1tb version once again the price difference here aswell leave a bitter taste

- Radeon pro vega 20 version 

- Intel 8 core 2,3ghz 

 

 

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 extreme

- intel i7 8750h

- 32gb ram

- 1TB SSD

- GTX 1050 Ti

 

+ Touch screen 

 

I've heard this laptop has rather disappointing battery performance, and at high loads, it undervolted 

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to getting help from far more educated people than me on this topic, I've been reading myself to death online and not pinpointed anything yet

and I'm hoping that you guys and gals can help me 

 

In advance thanks for the help, best regards NorwegianWoodBadger  

[genexis_x]

Preferred max weight and min battery life?

[NorwegianWoodBadger]

1 hour ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Preferred max weight and min battery life?

Min battery life 8~hours preferably in the 10+ region, lap friendly weight. Not that the weight is too important, aslong as its not heavier than my old lenovo w530 soo under 2,5kg/5,5lbs

[Shockers87]

16 hours ago, NorwegianWoodBadger said:

I'm looking for a laptop for my engineering studies beginning this august, I've got a budget of 5000$.

I've got no operative system that I have to be using, Windows is preferred but I would be afraid of trying out apples OS.

I'm going to be using 3d modeling software, simple Ansys simulations, cad drawing, long writing sessions, ill be looking for

a laptop with long battery life, good longevity, and the possibility to play some triple A games.

 

As of now, I work as an automation engineer/electrician/technician. And I'm going to take a bachelor degree in electrical engineering for those wondering  If any

 

 

And I've looked at the 

 

Microsoft surface book 2 15 UHD

- GTX 1060

- Intel I7-8650U

- 16GB Ram

- 512gb version or the 1tb version, although price difference here leaves a bitter taste 

 

+ Touch display I've grown fond of this in laptops, not a requirement

 

 

Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019

- 16GB Ram or the 32GB Ram version 

- 512gb or the 1tb version once again the price difference here aswell leave a bitter taste

- Radeon pro vega 20 version 

- Intel 8 core 2,3ghz 

 

 

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 extreme

- intel i7 8750h

- 32gb ram

- 1TB SSD

- GTX 1050 Ti

 

+ Touch screen 

 

I've heard this laptop has rather disappointing battery performance, and at high loads, it undervolted 

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to getting help from far more educated people than me on this topic, I've been reading myself to death online and not pinpointed anything yet

and I'm hoping that you guys and gals can help me 

 

In advance thanks for the help, best regards NorwegianWoodBadger  

I would recommend not getting the surface as it still only has a quad core processor vs the 8 in the macbook pro and 6 in the thinkpad. I just bought a 15inch 8 core macbook pro, loving it so far, but you wont be able to run triple a games as well as windows laptops in the same price range. If you get the macbook pro make sure all your software has a macos verson as the processor doesn't run as well in windows as in macos.

[NorwegianWoodBadger]

17 hours ago, Shockers87 said:

I would recommend not getting the surface as it still only has a quad core processor vs the 8 in the macbook pro and 6 in the thinkpad. I just bought a 15inch 8 core macbook pro, loving it so far, but you wont be able to run triple a games as well as windows laptops in the same price range. If you get the macbook pro make sure all your software has a macos verson as the processor doesn't run as well in windows as in macos.

How has your experience been with the battery life of the MacBook? I've been hesitant going with MacBooks in the past although I've hear nothing but good things, performance over time is good and that the general longevity of their products are good 

[Shockers87]

6 hours ago, NorwegianWoodBadger said:

How has your experience been with the battery life of the MacBook? I've been hesitant going with MacBooks in the past although I've hear nothing but good things, performance over time is good and that the general longevity of their products are good 

I have always had positive experiences with my macbooks (2014 air, now 2019 pro). My air lasted a year or two longer than i thought it would due to macos being less demanding than windows. There is a bit of a learning curve due to the commands but nothing you wont be able to figure out in a day or two. The battery life is great so far, but I have been working a lot (8-12 hour/day) so I haven't had the chance to really push it.

[genexis_x]

On 7/17/2019 at 2:34 PM, NorwegianWoodBadger said:

Min battery life 8~hours preferably in the 10+ region, lap friendly weight. Not that the weight is too important, aslong as its not heavier than my old lenovo w530 soo under 2,5kg/5,5lbs

Go for true mobile workstations like P52/P53, Latitude 7530/7540, Zbook 15 G5/G6. Don't get UHD display and higher end GPU for better battery life