Laptop for Uni and CAD

JamesA1995 · 23 Jan 2013 at 08:11

Hi guys,

I'm going to be doing a degree in energy/environmental engineering, starting September.

Looking at my course I saw I'll be doing 2D/3D CAD and some programming using C.

So my question is what laptop would be best suited to me? Ideally I'd like good portability, decent battery life and basically able to smoothly perform 2D/3D CAD. I will be using the laptop for music, web, movies and typing up reports and presentations as well as the CAD.

Thanks guys.

Bromhead · 23 Jan 2013 at 08:46

My friend's an architect and he uses CAD/photoshop a lot, I've known him for years and when he went to university he used a laptop, but really struggled and needed the raw power a desktop could give.

CAD is a pretty heavy program, especially when you want to render stuff. I understand the need to be portable, but I think you might struggle to render projects on a laptop.

I'm sure others can chip in, but from my friend's experience I would see if desktop is an option?

kitkat9933 · 23 Jan 2013 at 11:08

It totally depends on your budget. If you want anything decent, your looking at £1500+ for a laptop for those requirements.

iv-tecman · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:40

A laptop for a student is a great idea, until you mentioned CAD.

Sadly that'll need a VERY good CPU and good amount of memory and you'd need a decent GPU truth told. But your CPU will need to be good depending on what you intend to render..

I'd be looking at a small form PC if I were you, or a high spec gaming laptop, as even though you don't want to game, they come with great CPU, good memory configs and a decent GPU.

Clevo might be what you need, but depends on how much you've got to spend ideally.

JamesA1995 · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:25

Maybe I could get a mac mini? I5, 8gb Ram, HDD and SSD? And then a cheapo laptop for word, notes and powerpoints on the go?

After checking the AutoCad website, Mac Mini 4.1 is supported and its £400-500, so this seems to be the route will go and perhaps just use my tablet for taking notes or a very cheap laptop

FredFlint · 24 Jan 2013 at 03:32

I think you would be ok with any mid to high end laptop. CAD application only get slow when you are working with big projects. You could have a look at a Dell Precision M4700/M6700 Mobile Workstation as they have CAD cards. I would just get a laptop that has a good CPU and 4 ram slot and a mid to high end GPU.

drakioned · 24 Jan 2013 at 09:32

JamesA1995 said:
good portability, decent battery life and basically able to smoothly perform 2D/3D CAD

These are not compatible goals, you can either have good portability and decent battery life, or the ability to smoothly perform CAD. It also rather depends on your idea of smoothly.