College Laptop For CAD programs

[CompRob]

Hey people,

 

Like some other topics, I'm searching for a laptop for college.

 

Needed specifications:

 

- € 1000,- / $ 1400,- / £ 850,- (with maximum of € 1100,-)

- has to handle 3d-programs + rendering.

- Battery life around half a day with full usage.

- laptop needs to fit in a backpack. (guess 17 inch is max.)

- Cd-drive is not needed

- not too thick (al though many laptops are slim these days)

- With windows 7 / 8

- ( available in Europe )

 

Thanks for your time !, ill answer as soon as possible !

[91Chris]

What programs will you be running? Most CAD applications don't need a particularly powerful computer to run.

[CompRob]

Programs like sketch-up and blender. for College we use Catia V6.

But for the rendering is some power needed as well :)

I use v-ray at the moment for sketch-up which can take lots of time.

[Guest Gazzer96]

Take a look here: http://www.xoticpc.com/index.html

 

I have found some work station laptops (if that is what you are looking for) in your price range:

 

• http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8290-clevo-p177sm-p-5838.html
• http://www.xoticpc.com/forcemsi-16f3-91049-k2000m-msi-gt60-workstation-barebones-p-5432.html
• http://www.xoticpc.com/forcemsi-16f3-91052-k1000m-msi-gt60-workstation-barebones-preorder-p-5562.html

These are quite power hunrgy though; if you want something which you want to last a long time, then you will have to look at laptops with low performance: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-ux31edh52-p-3393.html

[Guest]

Something like the MSI GE60 could do well, its around 1 year old now but it still has a lot of grunt for a portable machine. I7, 8GB of ram with a 750GB HDD, more than capable of running most CAD software.

On a side note, I don't know if you realize this but AutoCAD are dishing out their software free to students at the moment, might be worth something looking into...

[91Chris]

On a side note, I don't know if you realize this but AutoCAD are dishing out their software free to students at the moment, might be worth something looking into...

 

Cheers mate! :P

I use Pro Engineer at the moment because my dad is able to teach me as he uses it at work. I'm gonna give AutoCAD a go seeing as it's free.

By the way, at no point did i have to prove i was actually a student :s lol

[glutesontheloose]

Something like the MSI GE60 could do well, its around 1 year old now but it still has a lot of grunt for a portable machine. I7, 8GB of ram with a 750GB HDD, more than capable of running most CAD software.

On a side note, I don't know if you realize this but AutoCAD are dishing out their software free to students at the moment, might be worth something looking into...

 

MSI just updated their GE Laptops with Haswell and GTX 700M Chips. Not sure when they will start shipping but you might want to look into that. :)

[Guest]

By the way, at no point did i have to prove i was actually a student :s lol

 

Nor did I  :P I am a student though, so I'm safe... Although, when I put the postcode of my college in it accepted it, although it seems it has a completely different name and has moved 150 miles north into the UK... I'm not complaining though  :D

 

 

MSI just updated their GE Laptops with Haswell and GTX 700M Chips. Not sure when they will start shipping but you might want to look into that.  :)

I never noticed that, wait out for that then..

[CompRob]

Thanks for your replies !! all nice looking laptops.

 

so is it worth waiting for Haswell? will it may cost more? and in with time range will they come out?

also most are with windows 8. are there any downsides on windows 8?

 

really appreciate your time :)

[Tails9429]

If you're going to CAD with a mouse and keyboard you're better off with Win 7, Win 8 is geared for use with touchscreens and tablets.

 

Also, the student version of AutoCAD is ace, but you can't use it after you leave school, it watermarks the page with a "for educational use only" stamp.  So if you're looking for a program you can use after you leave school, some of the cheaper ones might be a better choice since you'll be learning how to use it now.

[Lyons]

Thanks for your replies !! all nice looking laptops.

 

so is it worth waiting for Haswell? will it may cost more? and in with time range will they come out?

also most are with windows 8. are there any downsides on windows 8?

 

really appreciate your time :)

 

Please, please don't get a gross gaming laptop. Look at a Lenovo T430s with an Nvidia NVS GPU. My father uses one for his autoCAD/Rhino work and it's fantastic. Best battery life to performance ratio and best build quality is its class.

[Lyons]

If you're going to CAD with a mouse and keyboard you're better off with Win 7, Win 8 is geared for use with touchscreens and tablets.

 

Also, the student version of AutoCAD is ace, but you can't use it after you leave school, it watermarks the page with a "for educational use only" stamp.  So if you're looking for a program you can use after you leave school, some of the cheaper ones might be a better choice since you'll be learning how to use it now.

 

Lol, VERY wrong about Windows 8.

[Tails9429]

Lol, VERY wrong about Windows 8.

Oh?  As far as I was aware the edge swiping and scroll features were pretty much tailored for touchscreens, most reviews said that using Win 8 with a keyboard and mouse was painstakingly awkward.  But then again, I run Win 7 so I'd be interested if you can shed more light on it.

[Lyons]

Oh? As far as I was aware the edge swiping and scroll features were pretty much tailored for touchscreens, most reviews said that using Win 8 with a keyboard and mouse was painstakingly awkward. But then again, I run Win 7 so I'd be interested if you can shed more light on it.

Nope, all wrong. It's clearly designed for both, and very easy to navigate with a mouse. Microsoft is pretty bad, but not THAT bad. Try it out for yourself and then you'll really know. Don't base your opinion on someone else's 'experience'.

[Tails9429]

Nope, all wrong. It's clearly designed for both, and very easy to navigate with a mouse. Microsoft is pretty bad, but not THAT bad. Try it out for yourself and then you'll really know. Don't base your opinion on someone else's 'experience'.

Huh, I stand corrected.  I was wondering if you were running 8.0 or 8.1, The reviews that stood out to me were from CNET and PCWorld, who were reviewing the 8.0 version.  According to Wikipedia, the 8.1 update changed some of the layout to make it more functional.  But then again, you're absolutely right, I should probably give it a go myself at some point.

[CompRob]

(sorry for my late response; been on holiday and forgot.)

 

Look at a Lenovo T430s with an Nvidia NVS GPU.

 

well ye i will believe it works well. but the looks of it...  thick and all squarish.

I cant impress girls with that... :P  u know weird, but i'm looking for a bit more 2012/2013 style laptops.

 

But why is a gaming laptop not suitable? maybe the battery life?

 

school starts in about 5 weeks though.

[Lyons]

(sorry for my late response; been on holiday and forgot.)

 

 

well ye i will believe it works well. but the looks of it...  thick and all squarish.

I cant impress girls with that... :P  u know weird, but i'm looking for a bit more 2012/2013 style laptops.

 

But why is a gaming laptop not suitable? maybe the battery life?

 

school starts in about 5 weeks though.

 

So you're not very serious about the work you do then.... Your loss. gaming laptops have poor battery life and are for the most part thicker and heavier, plus they always have shit build quality and look stupid. I bet you like Beats headphones too....

[CompRob]

So you're not very serious about the work you do then.... Your loss. gaming laptops have poor battery life and are for the most part thicker and heavier, plus they always have shit build quality and look stupid. I bet you like Beats headphones too....

 

Hahaha,well they look cool but cost way too much for just being cool.

 

i was just wondering why those 'gaming' laptops were not suitable since they just look nicer and some do have good specs. (no i dont mean all the leds and colours, just the overall style)

 

btw lenovo has some pretty cool other laptops as well.

[Guest]

btw lenovo has some pretty cool other laptops as well.

Its a shame that all the Lenovo's in your price bracket still use HD4000, including the T430. As Lyons said you can get the upgrade to NVS Optimums for an addition £90 which brings the cost to £926.

 

T430 -> http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t430/

NVS -> http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/notebook-nvs.html

 

HD4000 would probably be fine, at least for student work anyway, although, honestly I've always preferred to have a dedicated solution, so the T430 with just Intel graphics would do you fine if you can't stretch.

There is the Dell M4700 but with VAT it totals to £1,134. So I guess that crosses the out...

 

 

"Gaming laptops have poor battery life and are for the most part thicker and heavier"

Although that wouldn't really matter if he's not planning to use it on to go.. lets face it, when did you last run into someone on the bus doing CAD work?

[Snake]

Are you going to be using solid works ?

[msikora]

Get any laptop with an i7 in it, and quality RAM. That should be a big filter for your laptop search. You don't need a GPU, I would recommend having one but you certainly don't need it with the programs you are running.

[CompRob]

Are you going to be using solid works ?

nope, Catia V6

 

Get any laptop with an i7 in it, and quality RAM. That should be a big filter for your laptop search. You don't need a GPU, I would recommend having one but you certainly don't need it with the programs you are running.

Well then still there are so many options. And ye cpu is more important than gpu.

 

So oke, if i say: (non-gaming)

 

-- Asus VivoBook S550CB

-- Asus Zenbook UX52VS

 

what you guys say?

 

 

[Snake]

Go for a high end I5 or a low end I7 with a lot of ram i would suggest iv not used Catia V6 but i know solidworks uses a tone of ram my laptop is a I5 (one of the high end ones) and it has 6GB of ram and uses almost all of it with solid works. 

I would not bother with a dedicated GPU if you can tho get one with a SSD or upgrade it.

[CompRob]

I think i found the laptop.

 

Lenovo ideapad Y500.

 

but there is a new one comming out: Lenovo Ideapad Y510P with haswell chip !

 

wait for that?

maybe Y500 will drop in price?

or will the Y510P be within 1100,- euro?

[Snake]

I think i found the laptop.

 

Lenovo ideapad Y500.

 

but there is a new one comming out: Lenovo Ideapad Y510P with haswell chip !

 

wait for that?

maybe Y500 will drop in price?

or will the Y510P be within 1100,- euro?

Wait for haswell you will get a lot better battery life.  Also the specs look pretty good I7 SSD and also 16GB ram should be a very nice laptop.