I need a laptop good for an architecture student

junasaka

Commendable
Jan 17, 2017
2
0
1,510
1. What is your budget? 1500$

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? if we are talking for the screen maybe 15 inch at least

3. What screen resolution do you want?
a really good one
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? i dont understand the question i just need a new laptop

5. How much battery life do you need?
battery is very important like 8 hours no charge or more
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? no games

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? architecture student so i have some serious programs like auto-cad, Photoshop, sketch up etc
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? again a big one cuz the CAD

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
i want to buy it in a store if not ill just ship it from italy
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? hopefully some 5 solid years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer ? arent those the same?

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
i dont know maybe Id prefer dell but no brand i dislike
13. What country do you live in?
a lost one Albania
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
i would like for my laptop not to be heavy and somehow stylish. Dont have a great knowlege of laptop qualities thats why i nned your help. I got lost in all the information you find in google


I hope this can help people find their ideal notebook.

Additionally... you should also consider what support options are available in your area. If say you buy something abroad, will you be able to have it fixed near where you live? Does the warranty apply? How quickly do local accredited technicians fix laptops? the warranty does not apply but i believe i have places to fix problems
 
Solution
When I consulted, I used a laptop with Autocad on it when I travelled. You will benefit from a separate, dedicated GPU card, and you will of course need plenty of storage space. As a student, though, I'm not sure you will be pulling from a large database of blocks, reference drawings, etc., so I don't think your storage will need to be purely SSD. Lastly, I would definitely stick with an Intel chipset. RAM will be important for smooth 3D work, so I'd recommend 16GB

For screen size, it's definitely a personal choice. An absolute minimum for CAD should be 15.6", but if you are going to be using this as your regular computer for CAD work, I would seriously consider a 17" screen, despite it's increased size and weight. Regardless...

George Mulligan

Estimable
Sep 20, 2014
43
0
4,610
When I consulted, I used a laptop with Autocad on it when I travelled. You will benefit from a separate, dedicated GPU card, and you will of course need plenty of storage space. As a student, though, I'm not sure you will be pulling from a large database of blocks, reference drawings, etc., so I don't think your storage will need to be purely SSD. Lastly, I would definitely stick with an Intel chipset. RAM will be important for smooth 3D work, so I'd recommend 16GB

For screen size, it's definitely a personal choice. An absolute minimum for CAD should be 15.6", but if you are going to be using this as your regular computer for CAD work, I would seriously consider a 17" screen, despite it's increased size and weight. Regardless, you'll want resolution a minimum of HD (1920 x 1080).

I would recommend these specs:

1. Discrete GPU
2. Intel chipset
3. 256 or 512GB SSD for OS and program drive
4. 1 TB HD for storage
5. 16GB RAM

It is hard to find a great CAD laptop with your budget, but the closest I found is the HP OMEN 17, which is a bit over your budget...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7AB4DB1769

To get closer to your budget, I would sacrifice some SSD space, hoping you don't intend on adding too many programs...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7AB4DB1768
 
Solution

junasaka

Commendable
Jan 17, 2017
2
0
1,510


What if I change my budget? maybe up to 2000$?

 

George Mulligan

Estimable
Sep 20, 2014
43
0
4,610
Well, I really think the $1,700 machine will suit you well.

They make the HP Omen 17 model with more memory and a larger SSD, but I'm honestly not sure you'd get any bang for the buck (the 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD+1TB HD version is selling now for $2,100). Up to you.

Also, be careful when shopping around...you'll notice that the NVidia Quadro and AMD Firepro "workstation" graphics cards will add cost, but they are optimized for certain applications that run OpenGL. Autocad runs DirectX, so it is likely that you'll not get any benefit from those higher priced machines. The only real thing you would want to aim for is highest clock CPU and perhaps even more RAM if you're doing a lot of intense 3D work on large models. (which would be unlikely as a student).