Laptop search for CAD LT 2011, don't want to go overboard, and other questions

I'll be using 2011 LT. I don't want to overbuy or underbuy, obviously. But we don't do 3D and maybe never will. I'll be downloading pictures of job sites from a canon digital SLR, PDF files of drawings up to 24 x 36. Using PDF creator to make files of drawings. Those types of things. And downloading the CAD files from a "Drop Box", or possibly a flash drive.

The guy at lenovo said I should get the W520 with the i7, and I'm like, I don't think I need that. The desktop I use has an i5 with either 6 or 8 gb or ram and it's lightning fast. (Dell) I think it's an i5.

Personal uses would include, listening, playing and burning music (have external speakers). I shoot 35mm photos, but I'm not heavy into it. May want to get an editor and scanner for that eventually. We have a digital camera, but I don't necessarily want to store all those pics on here anyways. Surfing the web. Etc. etc.

That probably leaves a pretty wide spectrum of what to get. It would be nice to be able to keep it under a grand, but I want something that will last and what not. Lenovo's get good write ups, my brother likes Dell (he's the owner of the company I work for), but I'm irritated with them. The only Dell I've owned took a crap far faster than any other computer we've had. Although I've never been like oh wow my lenovo desktops are awesome. They're both getting old, but they have worked pretty well. Although the fan housing busted in my newest lenovo desktop and is sitting there waiting for the new one to come because it wouldn't allow it to run. And I'm using my Mom's old HP, which works, but is slow cuz it's old. So, I have no clue what to get.

Any help would be wonderful!!! Thank you.

First check out the minimum system requirements for AutoCAD LT 2011 at the AutoDesk website if you haven't already done so.

What is your anticipated budget?

Are you going to be lugging this laptop around alot? Does screen size matter (15" vs. 17")?

The minimum requirements are so small, most new equipment exceeds it. But I don't want to be lacking down the road, or any of the other process I do along with the work. You know? Like opening 24 x 36 pdf's and such.

I will spend over a thousand, if it is necessary, but rather keep it under as much as possible.

I am mostly needing it to move around my home, not necessarily taking it to job sites and such. So, the bigger monitor is better for doing the work, but lenovo doesn't even have a 17". I'm not sure I'd hate the 15", I worked on a really old lenovo that had a small screen for a while. But I was always leaning forwards. heheheh

You'll be fine. LT isn't that much of a system hog. Definitely don't need an i7. I have an i5 and I run huge 3D files.

You are fine with about anything for the AutoCAD 2011LT, most new $500-$1000 laptops are going to work for LT.

What photoediting software will you be running?

I wouldn't think you would need PDFCreator nor would I use it, 2011LT has built in DWG to PDF plotter.

Like Styke and other have said an i5 or similar AMD will be fine. In fact an i3 will be more than enough but an i5 will be an investment for a few years to come.

LT system requirements - http://usa.autodesk.com/autocad-lt/system-requirements/

I would get a dedicated video card though, just my personal preference no matter what you intend to do with it.

15.4" screen at least as well

Like Styke and other have said an i5 or similar AMD will be fine. In fact an i3 will be more than enough but an i5 will be an investment for a few years to come.

LT system requirements - http://usa.autodesk.com/autocad-lt/system-requirements/

I would get a dedicated video card though, just my personal preference no matter what you intend to do with it.

15.4" screen at least as well

I will second all this.

You are fine with about anything for the AutoCAD 2011LT, most new $500-$1000 laptops are going to work for LT.

 

What photoediting software will you be running?

 

I wouldn't think you would need PDFCreator nor would I use it, 2011LT has built in DWG to PDF plotter.

For some reason my brother in law likes to download our 8.5 x 11 drawings that we do for certain customers to pdf creator and we make a file for them and email it to them. It seems to work pretty well. It's just how he does it and I don't know if the customers have requested it that way or what. We don't do it that way for all of them of course, but some of them. What is behind that comment? Is PDF creator a large program or something? I know on the first computer I was using at the office, (old ibm laptop, real old), it would take freakin forever to convert the files. But on the new desktop we have it does it in like half a second. But that has 8mb of ram.

I will second all this.

Do you guys think it's too small? I don't know. It seems like it would probably be OK, but bigger is always better. hehehehhe. Then there is the whole thing that I feel like I can get more for my money with a dell, but the reputation for lenovo and others is much better. Anybody have any opinions on that?

PDFCreator will install malware to your system, though they do warn you, but many have shied away from it even though several adware/spyware detectors have removed it from their list, I have never used it as it is based on Ghostscript anyway and I have used that along with GSView and PStoEdit for PDFs. Since AutoCAD has a pretty decent DWG to PDF, that is about all I use now. CutePDF is free and has no maleware, I would recommend that over PDFCreator. To me the price of adding malware/adware/spyware to my computer means I am not getting it free.

Personally I am not that crazy about Dell either, Lenovo (IBM)(several years ago my work laptop was a Thinkpad and I had no complaints) is ok, if I were to buy a laptop today, I would probably go with Acer, Toshiba or HP. Since you seem to be leaning towards storing on a USB external HD (a good idea since 1T is around $70-$80 US) I would look more at spending on RAM, Graphics and Sound. I would make sure you get Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate.

If you are working wireless you may want to check the wireless capabilities, also.

The above is my opinion and my opinion alone. It bears no resemblance to anything remotely logical or coherent.

Hmmm.... I'll have to ask him about the maleware part. Does the LT version have the pdf converters you're talking about?

What is this about a "dedicated graphics card"? What do they come with? What are the different types. I mean, I know you have graphics cards in there, but I'm ignorant about the differences between them.

Oh, btw, I'm not sure what photo editor I'd use. Right now I just send my film to snapfish and let them scan. I just share from there. I'm not sure I want to get into editing, but I could down the road.

You're the first one I've seen to recommend Acer or Toshiba. But lenovo seems to be running high from other people I'm talking to. Plus, my Dad is a retired IBM employee, and I might get a further discount. And yeah, I'm really leaning away from the Dell, even though my brother uses them, and it seems like you get a good bang for your buck. But if it's toast in 4 years, like the one that's being used to take up space on our desk right now (Grrrrrr..), what's the point? Reliability and longevity would far outweigh that.

Yeah, I've been thinking I'd get a good amount of RAM. It seems like so many computers run better with more ram. We upgraded our desk top a while back and it ran so much better with more ram. Even just surfing the net. They are so many background programs that run and I'm not sure what to turn off and what to keep on. The more ram the better.

Hmmm.... I'll have to ask him about the maleware part. Does the LT version have the pdf converters you're talking about?

 

What is this about a "dedicated graphics card"? What do they come with? What are the different types. I mean, I know you have graphics cards in there, but I'm ignorant about the differences between them.

 

Oh, btw, I'm not sure what photo editor I'd use. Right now I just send my film to snapfish and let them scan. I just share from there. I'm not sure I want to get into editing, but I could down the road.

 

You're the first one I've seen to recommend Acer or Toshiba. But lenovo seems to be running high from other people I'm talking to. Plus, my Dad is a retired IBM employee, and I might get a further discount. And yeah, I'm really leaning away from the Dell, even though my brother uses them, and it seems like you get a good bang for your buck. But if it's toast in 4 years, like the one that's being used to take up space on our desk right now (Grrrrrr..), what's the point? Reliability and longevity would far outweigh that.

 

Yeah, I've been thinking I'd get a good amount of RAM. It seems like so many computers run better with more ram. We upgraded our desk top a while back and it ran so much better with more ram. Even just surfing the net. They are so many background programs that run and I'm not sure what to turn off and what to keep on. The more ram the better.

2011 LT has the DWG to PDF.pc3 plotter.

Modern low-end to mid-range motherboards often include a graphics chipset developed by the developer of the northbridge (i.e. an nForce chipset with Nvidia graphics or an Intel chipset with Intel graphics) on the motherboard. This graphics chip usually has a small quantity of embedded memory and takes some of the system's main RAM, reducing the total RAM available. This is usually called integrated graphics or on-board graphics, and is low-performance and undesirable for those wishing to run 3D applications. A dedicated graphics card on the other hand has its own RAM and Processor specifically for processing video images, and thus offloads this work from the CPU and system RAM.

I know the Dell I had priced up and the W520 had a dedicated video card with it's own ram. But if I don't go with the W520, I'll have to see. I just don't think I need that much laptop. I'm interested to see what HP has also. I guess I should look at the acer and toshiba like you said. Are sony's any good?

My brother already has the program for windows, so I can go mac, correct?

Well I am a flag waving Dell fan and my, going on 7 year old Dell, has yet to let me down. I have had good luck with Acer as well.

As for PDFs I prefer Acrobat Professional but it is expensive.

No, no Acad LT on Mac, yet anyway but that will cost more as the lowest macbook is $999 for a Core2Duo!!! Wow, 13" screen, c2d, 2gb ram and 250gb hdd, for $999.

Well I am a flag waving Dell fan and my, going on 7 year old Dell, has yet to let me down. I have had good luck with Acer as well.

As for PDFs I prefer Acrobat Professional but it is expensive.

 

No, no Acad LT on Mac, yet anyway but that will cost more as the lowest macbook is $999 for a Core2Duo!!! Wow, 13" screen, c2d, 2gb ram and 250gb hdd, for $999.

Thanks for your input! Have you ever had to deal with Dell? I'm not necessarily against them, I'm just irritated the one we have now didn't last long. I actually had the CAD on that one and it took a dump not long after that. It should've been able to run it. I don't think that's what made it take a dump, but it does make you scratch your head. But I'm not sure one is just that much better than the others. It seems like some people think so though.

You can get a bad computer from anyone, even Apple has a warranty and for some reason a "Genius Bar"

I had my original LCD go out and it was 2 weeks out of warranty and they (Dell) replaced it. Sure parts have gone out, I am on second power supply but that can happen. It still has original cpu, motherboard, case and optical drives. Onboard sound and NIC still work too.

You can get a bad computer from anyone, even Apple has a warranty and for some reason a "Genius Bar"

I had my original LCD go out and it was 2 weeks out of warranty and they (Dell) replaced it. Sure parts have gone out, I am on second power supply but that can happen. It still has original cpu, motherboard, case and optical drives. Onboard sound and NIC still work too.

Yeah, that was another thing that happened. We had to buy a power supply. I tried a generic one from radio shack because I wanted it quick. It said it was supposed to work with the laptop. Had the right model listed. It would power up the laptop, but not actually charge the battery. Had to take that back, get a new one from Dell. Then 4 months later the mother board has 429 sectors gone bad. It's just irritating.

Then 4 months later the mother board has 429 sectors gone bad. It's just irritating.

The MB had bad sectors? I think you mean hard drive and those can go too. My original 40gb one is out too but it still is working, I have OSX Tiger installed on it

Last place I worked at had their IT person tell them that Dell used "proprietary parts" that could not be replaced with off the shelf items

Statements like this me question people and their abilities.

You are correct. The hard drive had 429 sectors bad. I'm not the computer guy. We have a guy that comes and works on ours, and is very good, and I'm confusing what he told me. My bad.

I really don't even understand the difference. Except I guess the mother board is the board with all the chips mounted to it. No?

Anybody have any thoughts about the sony E series?

The IBM L series I like the idea of. Less emissions and green. I'm all for that. Not sure if it amounts to much. I'm not a hippie or something, but I've had health problems due to metal toxicity and now allergies, so, I've become kind of a "keep your space clean" type of person. They run at the 5400 speed though. Is that really bad?