new computer

hello!

Im currently an interior design student,

my computer decided to blow up so now I'm on the hunt for a new one!

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations? Im looking for a laptop. my teacher rec. an HP but I'm unsure of which type I should get. Im still a student so I would like to use it for my everyday use along with school work.

 

thanks!

Welcome to CADTutor!

 

This has been discussed many times, try the "similar threads" below, or perform a search.

Most recently AFAIK:

 

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?64358-If-you-could-build-your-dream-CAD-box....

Lenovo is worth looking at as far as laptops go. What kind of budget are we talking here? I ask because the two main things I tend to recommend are: 1) get as much RAM as you can possibly afford and 2) try to get a system that comes with a dedicated graphics card rather than an onboard graphics chip. Are you partial to Intel or AMD or don't you care?

Soooo many to choose from. In laptops the #1 rule is not to get an integrated video solution. Especially stay away from Intel video solutions! I cannot stress this enough. If you have to get an intregrated video make sure it is at least and nVidia or ATI based solution (might be the only choices). 2nd, what is your budget? Yes you can get a $300 these days but these are mainly for surfing and typing/excel work. If this is to last for a while I would try to shoot for a $800 to $900 range. This can really get you a nice unit that will last for years. If you go Intel make sure it is either a core i5 or i7 and that it has a 4 digit number after it as these are the new Sandy Bridge based units. For AMD make sure it is at least a Phenom based unit.

 

A few to look at imho...

 

Acer Aspire AS5755G-9471 - $899

Win 7 64-bit

Intel core i7-2670QM (quad with HT = 8 threads)

4gb ram (needs more here)

nVidia GF GT540M 1gb

500gb hdd

 

Dell XPS 15z - $899

Win 7 64-bit

Intel core i7-2430M

6gb ram

nVidia GF GT525M 1 gb

500gb hdd

 

good luck

 

(oops I need to read posts before posting mine it seems, good points from Remark)

If you want a laptop,buy from the beginning one with 4 GB of RAM or more and 2 GB Graphics Card,rather then upgrade it later.

For the moment I think it's enough,especially you are a student and probably you aren't willing to invest very much in your computer...

For school, you might definately need (or want) a laptop.

 

I recommend a 14" screen, longer battery life.

 

Memory, as much as affordable. HDD, 100 g or more.

Graphics card, as noted above.

 

Built in Wi-Fi for on campus communications.

 

Have fun!

Do Not Get an HP or Compaq. my Compaq, my brothers, HP, and about 8 other people I know that bought an HP or Compaq laptop experienced serious problems from day 1.

They stuff their computers with so much useless junk it barely runs. even the workstation-end or business-end systems still have quite a bit of junk in them.

The other problem is with their laptops- poor thermal management: stuff runs far too hot, electronics that run hot don't last long. Pretty much everyone including my own Compaq laptop had something hardware break in 8 months, with a major hardware failure (in my case it was graphics) within 2 years. My dad paid $1200 for that laptop when it was new, I occasionally used it and kept it in perfect condition, yet it broke after 2 years. it's unacceptable. It's ok for stuff ot get old, but requiring a costly full replacement within 2 years is not acceptable. HP & Compaq has serious quality issues and they like to cram their computer with many useless programs.

 

If you can get an Mac, get a Mac. if you what you need can't run on a Mac (not even booting into windows), Lenovo, Sony, Samsung or Toshiba are good brands. Laptop, Netbook. which do you like?

Laptops have comfort and speed, but they're heavy (up to 10 lbs) & shorter battery life, averaging 2-3 hours.

Netbooks are small, lightweight, extremely portable, and most of all, very inexpensive. their disadvantages are low power and small size.

 

I have a netbook for college, it's very useful but my main complaint is the small keyboard. not that there's much that can be done about that, my preferred typing keyboard is big, bulky, heavy, and quite loud. It may be the best keyboard ever made but it's not intended to be portable. Well not portable by today's standards. back when the keyboard was made a laptop weighed a lap-crushing 90 lbs. The other is the crippling Windows 7 Starter that is Windows 7 but it sucks even more (i don't like 7) that is easy to get around with a handful of 3rd party tweaks, programs and quite a few hacks.

I like the netbook though, it's extremely portable, very light (2.5 lbs), the 10" screen is quite small but fine for note taking or web surfing and the best part is, battery life. up to TEN hours! And it only cost me $200. What a deal!

 

My previous portable, the Compaq, was a 15" laptop. It had a big screen, loads of features, and is very fast if you manage to remove all the HP-installed crap it came with. Downside was its was quite heavy, and couldn't run for more than 2 hours without plugging in. it was basically a small desktop that had a battery in it so you can move it around without needing to turn it off. But unplugged it couldn't run very long so you're constantly looking for an outlet.

 

Apple/Mac is the 3rd option. You have money, don't mind switching OS, and you want something that just works. Macs do just that. They work. They never need a defrag or system maintenance, they don't get viruses (well they do but its rare), they don't get error screens like Windows computers, they are always blazing fast, and even the Mac Book Air ($899) is considerably faster, more powerful, more reliable than any similar-priced PC Laptop or netbook. My brother has a iMac. his computer has similar specs to my PC. We got each of our computers at similar times. But while my computer has had problems and needs regular maintenance, my brother's Mac never had any issues, still faster than my PC (even though I have 3X more RAM and 4X more graphics power), and guess what, it works.

No point spending alot on a powerful laptop if it doesn't work then you need it to.

Students should rely upon the recommendations of their respective schools or professors when it comes to purchasing a laptop to be used primarily for their studies. Keep in mind that AutoCAD for a PC and AutoCAD for Mac are two different animals.

The Dell 15z I quoted above is way better than the base Mac book air that is similar in price. To even say that a 1.6 core i5, 2gb ram and Intel HD graphics is better that what I posted is just silly.

I have a couple of things I'd like to clear up.

 

Do Not Get an HP or Compaq. my Compaq, my brothers, HP, and about 8 other people I know that bought an HP or Compaq laptop experienced serious problems from day 1......

 

.....If you can get an Mac, get a Mac. if you what you need can't run on a Mac (not even booting into windows), Lenovo, Sony, Samsung or Toshiba are good brands. Laptop, Netbook.

This is contradictory to the list of ODM's in the laptop industry. There is a small handful of ODM's that create most of the parts that the OEM's use. In other words, the brands don't vary much under the hood.

 

Netbooks are small, lightweight, extremely portable, and most of all, very inexpensive. their disadvantages are low power and small size.

I will never justify a Netbook to anyone who's running a CAD application. I'm not saying AutoCAD won't work, I'm just saying a Netbook should be strictly used for the very, very basics of computing needs. It doesn't make sense to even own a Netbook anymore now that the Core i3's have appeared - extremely low power consumption with very good performance.

 

My $0.02 worth.

This is contradictory to the list of ODM's in the laptop industry. There is a small handful of ODM's that create most of the parts that the OEM's use. In other words, the brands don't vary much under the hood.

 

Do the ODM's build to customer specs or do the OEM's just take what the ODM produces? I don't know the answer but I would assume the OEM's specify what they want built and there would be differences in the final product.

 

Where I work we provide silicon wafers to semiconductor manufacturers and although the prime wafer is all made with pure silicon, even the wafer is different for each manufacturer and the processing on the surface is done to exact specifications for each customer and so no two customer's parts are identical. I would assume it works the same way for the ODM's making computer parts, some OEM's will have tighter process controls and better specs on materials than others, etc.