Engineering student laptop suggestions

marq020 · September 15, 2018

I'm looking to buy a laptop for 1000USD max (used or new), I'm an engineering student (mechanical engineering faculty, studying with a lot of courses on software engineering) so think solidworks, coding and serviceable gaming (I can absolutely live with 30fps@1080p). I want a backlit keyboard, 1080p IPS and serviceable performance, also battery life is not really an issue, couple hours of movie time for trains home, otherwise it will almost always be plugged in. I have a 500GB SSD so that is not a necessity and will (anytime I'm doing anything serious) always have a mouse, but will use the laptop keyboard. For comparison, I currently use a desktop with i3-6100 and GTX750Ti 2GB b150 chipset and that is more than enough for what I need.

I've been looking mostly at used t470s thinkpads and legion y530. Thinkpad for reliability and build quality, y530 for performance, and I'm not sure where I would prefer to lean. I would prefer lenovo, but if anyone can guarantee a laptop with great build quality, performance that will serve me well enough and anything else I already mentioned.

Thank you!