Looking for laptop for work to run solidworks

cranked

Honorable
Apr 28, 2012
5
0
10,510
1. What is your budget?
Not unlimited, but it's for work so we are willing to spend a little to get something nice.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Best fit for the application, running solidworks well. We are currently still on 2009, but will upgrade at some point.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Bigger screen is better, but I am thinking about buying a large desktop monitor to plug into when at the office.

5. How much battery life do you need?
Would mostly be used in the office so this isn't a huge concern.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
No games, solidworks only.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No preference other than who has the best price and is a reliable vendor. Buying in the USA.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Would be nice to not upgrade for a while.

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.
Nothing specifically other than high quality and a reputable manufacturer with good customer service (if that still exists)

13. What country do you live in?
USA
 

cranked

Honorable
Apr 28, 2012
5
0
10,510
Just wondering if anyone has any good suggestions. I was thinking maybe a Dell M4800 with:

I7-4800MQ (not sure how much performance you gain going to the I7-4900MQ for $200 more, doesn't seem worth it)
16GB ram (2x8)
FirePro M5100 (Again not sure if the Nvidia card upgrades are worth the cost K1100M($100) or K2100M($225))
Is it necessary to upgrade the battery?
That all comes to about $1800 which isn't too bad.

Then you can go to the M6700/M6800 which seems like the only real difference is the screen size for another $400-600 and you get the option to go with a more expensive video card, which I don't even know if I need as I don't know much about the differences.

Any thoughts?

Thanks