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Hey Guys, I Need a Laptop

#21
I can personally recommend Asus. These run quiet and cool, and are sturdily built. Lots of models to choose from. They're not the absolute cheapest option, but not up there either.
 
#22
Fer whatever this is worth... I bought a Toshiba about a year and a half ago. Paid around $600. Had blue screen crash issues from day 1, sent it back to them 3 times, after the 3rd (and the same recurring issues) they said the warranty expired and they refused to do anything further. I bought the laptop for travel only, and used not even 40 hrs the entire time I owned it. So, I basically threw $600 out the window. Just bought an asus netbook for $250. I won't be recording any music on it, but I'm incredibly happy doing all the little things on it. Internet, movies, writing, pictures, etc. Completely outperforms the Toshiba for all those things, and not a single issue yet.
 
#26
I run Autodesk Civil 3D at work all day long and my computer has 10 gig ram, quad core processor, a top of the line video card and is completely optimized to run Civil 3D and nothing else. It still lags and crashes at least once a day. Have fun finding that in a laptop that isn't massive.

Also, I should note that if you are going to be running Civil 3D or AutoCad 2010 (or newer), the 32bit versions aren't stable, so you want to make sure you have a 64 bit version of Wondows 7.

lowsound
 
#27
Any school with an engineering department worth their weight will have labs pre-loaded with all the software you need and then some. Unless your uni specifically says to get a laptop that can run those programs, save your money and back by using the engineering labs whenever possible and buy a laptop to cover all your other classes.

In which case I'd recommend Asus, Samsung, Lenovo, or Fujitsu in that order. The most intensive programs you should have to run on your laptop are SAS and Photoshop.
 
#28
SoonerMatt said:
Any school with an engineering department worth their weight will have labs pre-loaded with all the software you need and then some. Unless your uni specifically says to get a laptop that can run those programs, save your money and back by using the engineering labs whenever possible and buy a laptop to cover all your other classes.

In which case I'd recommend Asus, Samsung, Lenovo, or Fujitsu in that order. The most intensive programs you should have to run on your laptop are SAS and Photoshop.
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This is true, but sometimes it is nice to be able to work on your stuff at home.

lowsound
 
#30
Lenovo user here... Do yourself a favor and get a refurb of whatever you get...

and you say no gaming ... but those programs take up a lot of resources... sometime they are more taxing than gaming.

that being said... build a desktop ... oh look someone beat me to it...

and Linux FTW ... im lazy and use ubuntu if im not doing work stuff.
 
#31
turbo chicken said:
Lenovo user here... Do yourself a favor and get a refurb of whatever you get...

and you say no gaming ... but those programs take up a lot of resources... sometime they are more taxing than gaming.

that being said... build a desktop ... oh look someone beat me to it...

and Linux FTW ... im lazy and use ubuntu if im not doing work stuff.
Click to expand...

A lot of CAD programs only work on Windows and they take a whole bunch of resources.

lowsound
 
#32
I actually have run AutoCAD 2010 on my family's desktop with 1 GB of memory and a 2.2 GHz processor. It wan't the most reliable or fun time, but it worked. It is a 64 bit, but is still running the original XP install.

As far as number of cores goes, are they as good about dividing up data handling as say the Cell in a PS3? I understand they are different architectures and everything. How would say a 2.0GHz quad core i7 compare to a 2.3GHz dual core i5?
 
#33
I have a Dell Precision M6400 (quad core, 8gb memory) laptop that has no problem running Solid Works, AutoCAD and high resource hogs.

The pricetag was about $3000 but considering that I have had it for 3 years already and it still blows away most current desktops, that comes to $1000 a year.
 
#37
HP laptops are consistently rated as the least reliable.

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Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails -- Engadget

I think they only stay in business because they have deals with brick-and-mortar stores. I'd consider Asus, and I prefer shopping at Newegg. There's a 15" Asus laptop for less than $400, or you can pay more for compactness.
 
#38
fdeck said:
HP laptops are consistently rated as the least reliable.

Invalid Link Removed

Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails -- Engadget

I think they only stay in business because they have deals with brick-and-mortar stores. I'd consider Asus, and I prefer shopping at Newegg. There's a 15" Asus laptop for less than $400, or you can pay more for compactness.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of that, but it surprises me to see Toshiba being highly ranked.

I'm figuring on 15" or so since smaller ones generally don't have numberpads.
 

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