Laptop for Architect

BillieBob

Hey, advising an Architect on buying a new laptop. Would be used for AutoCAD, Adobe Suite, SketchUp and Vectorworks and looking for what would be needed in the requirements? Seems to be roughly Intel Core i7, 4gb RAM, lots of memory and a 17 inch screen needed.

Looking at this from DELL, have been quoted ~€1,300: http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-l702x/pd

Is this overkill or what would be needed?

All feedback welcome, thanks

si_guru

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-m6600/pd

This is what I run for professional tools.

BillieBob

Thanks for that,

What's the difference between the XPS and Precision ranges?

They both seem to have the much the same spec. Is it the graphics card? All I can see is that the Precision computers are 'business built'? Do you know what this means?

ned14

Just got one of the Dell XPS 17's myself. Runs Pro/Engineer & Adobe Suite like a charm.

Went for:
Intel i7
6GB Ram
3GB NVidia GT555M
2 x 500GB HDD

I think the Precision range is built a bit more rugged, and may be more dependable in the long run, but jumping up the extra few hundred € for that reason is a personal choice. The Precision range also comes with better support in the event of any problems. Personally, I couldn't be happier with the XPS. Does everything I need for a lot less.

One thing to note on the XPS. In order to get 4 RAM slots, you have to go for the 3d screen version.

Turbulent Bill

ned14 wrote: »

I think the Precision range is built a bit more rugged, and may be more dependable in the long run, but jumping up the extra few hundred € for that reason is a personal choice. The Precision range also comes with better support in the event of any problems.

Yep, the Precisions comes with a metal chassis and they're sturdy, but not 'rugged' in the sense that they're hardened against drops, spills etc. They also have enterprise support features, useful for a big business but probably not essential for a small operation.

FWIW I think high-end laptops like these are a waste unless you do lots of design work on the move, both from a cost and security perspective. You'll need a docking station, big monitor, backup system etc. for the office anyway, so a powerful workstation and cheaper laptop (with a big monitor for client demos) might work out better.

davey101

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

so a powerful workstation and cheaper laptop (with a big monitor for client demos) might work out better.

Hijacking the thread a bit here but could you suggest one of the above?

Thanks

Turbulent Bill

davey101 wrote: »

Hijacking the thread a bit here but could you suggest one of the above?

Thanks

Not sure if you're looking for the workstation or laptop (or both). TBH I'm not up to date on workstation specs, but I'd look for the best processor/graphics card/RAM combo (in that order) that I could afford. It's pretty much essential to have graphics drivers available which are certified by your CAD tool provider (Dassault do this for SolidWorks, Autodesk presumably do the same for AutoCAD).

Laptop could be anything once it meets minimum software requirements. I'm not an architect but at a guess a client presentation would just use PDFs rather than a live AutoCAD demonstration, hence you only need a big screen (17") for clarity.

gman2k

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

I think high-end laptops like these are a waste unless you do lots of design work on the move, both from a cost and security perspective. You'll need a docking station, big monitor, backup system etc. for the office anyway..

+1

At the moment I run full AutoCAD on a netbook, 1.6ghz processor and 1 gb ram - no issues. The desktop is a 2.8ghz P4 running full CAD.

I used to run AutoCAD on a Pentium 3, 600ghz 512mb ram, small graphics card, again no issues!