Laptop for Mechanical Engineering major is needed. Will this work?

[Jokes On You]

I will be a freshman at the University of Washington in the fall. I am planning on going into Mechanical Engineering and therefore will need a laptop that suits my needs for programs similar to CAD/Solidworks. I'll probably play some games here and there but I want to focus on school first.

Must-Haves:
-i7 processor
-At least 500GB of hard drive
-8GB of RAM is OK, but I would prefer 16GB
-Windows 8.1
-I don't know much about graphics cards, so I'll let you figure that out

Here is the laptop I am currently looking at:

http/www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-7737/pd?~ck=mn

There is a 15.6" version but it doesn't come with a DVD drive, which may come in handy. I would probably buy the 16GB version but it will put me over-budget. I would be willing to sacrifice hard drive for more RAM but I can't seem to find a version like that anywhere. Also, I may or may not buy another monitor just to have a bigger monitor if-needed.

i guess my question is if this laptop would be good for CAD/Solidworks and if I could get a better deal on this laptop elsewhere. Or, are there any recommendations for a different laptop?

 

[iceblitzed]

I will be a freshman at the University of Washington in the fall. I am planning on going into Mechanical Engineering and therefore will need a laptop that suits my needs for programs similar to CAD/Solidworks. I'll probably play some games here and there but I want to focus on school first.

Must-Haves:
-i7 processor
-At least 500GB of hard drive
-8GB of RAM is OK, but I would prefer 16GB
-Windows 8.1
-I don't know much about graphics cards, so I'll let you figure that out

Here is the laptop I am currently looking at:

http/www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-7737/pd?~ck=mn

There is a 15.6" version but it doesn't come with a DVD drive, which may come in handy. I would probably buy the 16GB version but it will put me over-budget. I would be willing to sacrifice hard drive for more RAM but I can't seem to find a version like that anywhere. Also, I may or may not buy another monitor just to have a bigger monitor if-needed.

i guess my question is if this laptop would be good for CAD/Solidworks and if I could get a better deal on this laptop elsewhere. Or, are there any recommendations for a different laptop?

you can buy the insipirion 17 7000 laptop and one of these external dvd drives for about 30$ - http/www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1403119064&sr=1-1&keywords=dvd+drive+external