I am stuck into a big dilemma

[Ahmed Anan]

Good Evening Experts,
This is my first ever post into a website asking for reference since i am neither a noob, nor an expert.

To get to the point i have three questions that needs to be answered as soon as possible:

Firstly, i want to buy a laptop that is lightweighted; to fit my movements; powerful enough to fit my needs, and not to be used for gaming; just watching movies and listening to music in addition to my study work.
To make it clear, i'm an engineering student. So, i will be working in the upcoming semesters with apps like SolidWorks, for instance. So, in order to fit my needs i felt interested in getting a laptop that would be as cheap as possible, and to meet my desired needs. So, if i bought the new MacBook Air, would it be suitable for working with such apps, and to also work reliably for a couple od years in the future , since i won't play games at all on it ? And, would that Macbook be just fine with its standard edition ? Or, should i get the i7 8GB Rams one ?

My second question is: If the Macbook Air is not suitable at all, what would be its alternative in Windows powered laptops, that is maximum $1350 ?

Thirdly, i am interested in building a custom Pc that would be suitable for both gaming and intensive programs such as SolidWorks stuff and my main concern is: which is the moat suitable cpu i should get ? Is it i5 3570k, i5 4750k, i7 3570k, i7 4750k, or just the ordinary ones without the K ? Or, perhaps the FX 8350 ?

P.S: Please i urge who ever answer my question to include a descriptive answer so that i could rely on it, also, if there is anything unclear please tell me so to add it right away, since i'm in a hurry.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Pinhedd]

Engineer here,

First things first, most CAD software runs on either Windows or Linux. Most CAD software, SolidWorks included, does not run on OSX. If you go the Macbook route, you will have to dual-boot; there is no doubt about that.

Second, you'll want to throw some power behind it, which means getting the best possible processor and at least 8GiB of memory. This also means paying the apple tax accordingly.

Third, don't put so much emphasis on weight. I've been carrying Dell laptops around that are 8-10 pounds for years. You'll get used to it.

Fourth, most engineering programs and CAD programs are designed to run on workstation graphics cards, not IGPs or consumer graphics cards. This means that you'll most definitely want a laptop that comes with a Quadro or FirePro graphics card.

Fifth, check out the Lenovo W530. A lot of my fellow engineers got that while in school. It comes with a professional graphics adapter which makes it very suitable for most CAD programs. It's also quite lightweight.

 

[Ahmed Anan]

Engineer here,

First things first, most CAD software runs on either Windows or Linux. Most CAD software, SolidWorks included, does not run on OSX. If you go the Macbook route, you will have to dual-boot; there is no doubt about that.

Second, you'll want to throw some power behind it, which means getting the best possible processor and at least 8GiB of memory. This also means paying the apple tax accordingly.

Third, don't put so much emphasis on weight. I've been carrying Dell laptops around that are 8-10 pounds for years. You'll get used to it.

Fourth, most engineering programs and CAD programs are designed to run on workstation graphics cards, not IGPs or consumer graphics cards. This means that you'll most definitely want a laptop that comes with a Quadro or FirePro graphics card.

Fifth, check out the Lenovo W530. A lot of my fellow engineers got that while in school. It comes with a professional graphics adapter which makes it very suitable for most CAD programs. It's also quite lightweight.

Hi there,
Thanks for your reply. I actually got some new points from your answer but i still had some questions: You meant to say that the Macbook air is not suitable for me. Right ? Secondly, if i intend to build a custom pc with one of the choices for the processors mentioned above, equipping it with a good Vga card as Saphire 6870 for example, would that substitute the laptop ?

 

[SNA3]

Good Evening Experts,
This is my first ever post into a website asking for reference since i am neither a noob, nor an expert.

To get to the point i have three questions that needs to be answered as soon as possible:

Firstly, i want to buy a laptop that is lightweighted; to fit my movements; powerful enough to fit my needs, and not to be used for gaming; just watching movies and listening to music in addition to my study work.
To make it clear, i'm an engineering student. So, i will be working in the upcoming semesters with apps like SolidWorks, for instance. So, in order to fit my needs i felt interested in getting a laptop that would be as cheap as possible, and to meet my desired needs. So, if i bought the new MacBook Air, would it be suitable for working with such apps, and to also work reliably for a couple od years in the future , since i won't play games at all on it ? And, would that Macbook be just fine with its standard edition ? Or, should i get the i7 8GB Rams one ?

My second question is: If the Macbook Air is not suitable at all, what would be its alternative in Windows powered laptops, that is maximum $1350 ?

Thirdly, i am interested in building a custom Pc that would be suitable for both gaming and intensive programs such as SolidWorks stuff and my main concern is: which is the moat suitable cpu i should get ? Is it i5 3570k, i5 4750k, i7 3570k, i7 4750k, or just the ordinary ones without the K ? Or, perhaps the FX 8350 ?

P.S: Please i urge who ever answer my question to include a descriptive answer so that i could rely on it, also, if there is anything unclear please tell me so to add it right away, since i'm in a hurry.

Thanks for your time.

Salam Alykom Ahmad ,

Since you are dealing with Solid works , you will be needing a Workstation note book for professional work , and with Alot of RAM available , and most important a good fhd screen and a very durable Notebook and most importantly you will need a 4 cores CPU as well to take care of the rendering you are going to do.

Here is your best choice :

The Lenovo ThinkPAND W530 workstation notebook , the best and most durable :

here is the Notebook configuration screen :

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w530/

now be sure to add the following :

1- Dont change the CPU is ok a quad core "you know it from "QM"
2- Change the GPU from Quadro K1000M to Quadro K2000M m that would make it 1420$ if you can do it if not ,
3- Change the Screen into FHD 1920x1080 , it will be 1320 $

this is you perfect workstation for your professional work .

If you can add Both K2000M AND FHD 1920x1080 then the best , if NOT , K2000M , if not , FHD 1920x1080

If you ask me get the Thinkpad it is an amazing machine , and Only ""thinkPad" not any lenovo , this was IBM note books and Lenovo Bought them. and they are VERY Durable ..

here is how :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cvi00OZDM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuX8PE0mj4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7_-kQIB-MA

---------

in time you can add SSD and more Ram this is upgradable to 32G of Ram for professional work .

Avoid Mac Air they are toys not for proffesional 3D work

this is a quad core heavy Rendering machine with 3D card dedicated for Engineers. and you will notice the idfference once you start to use it.

Salam Alykom , and Ramadan Mubarak .

Edit : as for the Desktop PC , Please tell me what is your budget on it.

 

[Ahmed Anan]

Good Evening Experts,
This is my first ever post into a website asking for reference since i am neither a noob, nor an expert.

To get to the point i have three questions that needs to be answered as soon as possible:

Firstly, i want to buy a laptop that is lightweighted; to fit my movements; powerful enough to fit my needs, and not to be used for gaming; just watching movies and listening to music in addition to my study work.
To make it clear, i'm an engineering student. So, i will be working in the upcoming semesters with apps like SolidWorks, for instance. So, in order to fit my needs i felt interested in getting a laptop that would be as cheap as possible, and to meet my desired needs. So, if i bought the new MacBook Air, would it be suitable for working with such apps, and to also work reliably for a couple od years in the future , since i won't play games at all on it ? And, would that Macbook be just fine with its standard edition ? Or, should i get the i7 8GB Rams one ?

My second question is: If the Macbook Air is not suitable at all, what would be its alternative in Windows powered laptops, that is maximum $1350 ?

Thirdly, i am interested in building a custom Pc that would be suitable for both gaming and intensive programs such as SolidWorks stuff and my main concern is: which is the moat suitable cpu i should get ? Is it i5 3570k, i5 4750k, i7 3570k, i7 4750k, or just the ordinary ones without the K ? Or, perhaps the FX 8350 ?

P.S: Please i urge who ever answer my question to include a descriptive answer so that i could rely on it, also, if there is anything unclear please tell me so to add it right away, since i'm in a hurry.

Thanks for your time.

Salam Alykom Ahmad ,

Since you are dealing with Solid works , you will be needing a Workstation note book for professional work , and with Alot of RAM available , and most important a good fhd screen and a very durable Notebook and most importantly you will need a 4 cores CPU as well to take care of the rendering you are going to do.

Here is your best choice :

The Lenovo ThinkPAND W530 workstation notebook , the best and most durable :

here is the Notebook configuration screen :

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w530/

now be sure to add the following :

1- Dont change the CPU is ok a quad core "you know it from "QM"
2- Change the GPU from Quadro K1000M to Quadro K2000M m that would make it 1420$ if you can do it if not ,
3- Change the Screen into FHD 1920x1080 , it will be 1320 $

this is you perfect workstation for your professional work .

If you can add Both K2000M AND FHD 1920x1080 then the best , if NOT , K2000M , if not , FHD 1920x1080

If you ask me get the Thinkpad it is an amazing machine , and Only ""thinkPad" not any lenovo , this was IBM note books and Lenovo Bought them. and they are VERY Durable ..

here is how :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cvi00OZDM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuX8PE0mj4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7_-kQIB-MA

---------

in time you can add SSD and more Ram this is upgradable to 32G of Ram for professional work .

Avoid Mac Air they are toys not for proffesional 3D work

this is a quad core heavy Rendering machine with 3D card dedicated for Engineers. and you will notice the idfference once you start to use it.

Salam Alykom , and Ramadan Mubarak .

Edit : as for the Desktop PC , Please tell me what is your budget on it.

Salamo Alaykom,
First of all, i would like to thank you for your answer. Secondly, i've just checked the benchmarks for the Nvidia Quadro k2000m and i was shocked to see that it has a very low score compared to the gtx models. Moreover, i'm thinking of either 2 options: one either to get the macbook air for a direct personal use, and to build a powerful pc with a range of $800 to $900 Max. , or just bring a powerful laptop that would rather be more reliable to me ?
So what do you think of that !?

Thanks.

 

[SNA3]

Good Evening Experts,
This is my first ever post into a website asking for reference since i am neither a noob, nor an expert.

To get to the point i have three questions that needs to be answered as soon as possible:

Firstly, i want to buy a laptop that is lightweighted; to fit my movements; powerful enough to fit my needs, and not to be used for gaming; just watching movies and listening to music in addition to my study work.
To make it clear, i'm an engineering student. So, i will be working in the upcoming semesters with apps like SolidWorks, for instance. So, in order to fit my needs i felt interested in getting a laptop that would be as cheap as possible, and to meet my desired needs. So, if i bought the new MacBook Air, would it be suitable for working with such apps, and to also work reliably for a couple od years in the future , since i won't play games at all on it ? And, would that Macbook be just fine with its standard edition ? Or, should i get the i7 8GB Rams one ?

My second question is: If the Macbook Air is not suitable at all, what would be its alternative in Windows powered laptops, that is maximum $1350 ?

Thirdly, i am interested in building a custom Pc that would be suitable for both gaming and intensive programs such as SolidWorks stuff and my main concern is: which is the moat suitable cpu i should get ? Is it i5 3570k, i5 4750k, i7 3570k, i7 4750k, or just the ordinary ones without the K ? Or, perhaps the FX 8350 ?

P.S: Please i urge who ever answer my question to include a descriptive answer so that i could rely on it, also, if there is anything unclear please tell me so to add it right away, since i'm in a hurry.

Thanks for your time.

Salam Alykom Ahmad ,

Since you are dealing with Solid works , you will be needing a Workstation note book for professional work , and with Alot of RAM available , and most important a good fhd screen and a very durable Notebook and most importantly you will need a 4 cores CPU as well to take care of the rendering you are going to do.

Here is your best choice :

The Lenovo ThinkPAND W530 workstation notebook , the best and most durable :

here is the Notebook configuration screen :

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w530/

now be sure to add the following :

1- Dont change the CPU is ok a quad core "you know it from "QM"
2- Change the GPU from Quadro K1000M to Quadro K2000M m that would make it 1420$ if you can do it if not ,
3- Change the Screen into FHD 1920x1080 , it will be 1320 $

this is you perfect workstation for your professional work .

If you can add Both K2000M AND FHD 1920x1080 then the best , if NOT , K2000M , if not , FHD 1920x1080

If you ask me get the Thinkpad it is an amazing machine , and Only ""thinkPad" not any lenovo , this was IBM note books and Lenovo Bought them. and they are VERY Durable ..

here is how :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cvi00OZDM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuX8PE0mj4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7_-kQIB-MA

---------

in time you can add SSD and more Ram this is upgradable to 32G of Ram for professional work .

Avoid Mac Air they are toys not for proffesional 3D work

this is a quad core heavy Rendering machine with 3D card dedicated for Engineers. and you will notice the idfference once you start to use it.

Salam Alykom , and Ramadan Mubarak .

Edit : as for the Desktop PC , Please tell me what is your budget on it.

Salamo Alaykom,
First of all, i would like to thank you for your answer. Secondly, i've just checked the benchmarks for the Nvidia Quadro k2000m and i was shocked to see that it has a very low score compared to the gtx models. Moreover, i'm thinking of either 2 options: one either to get the macbook air for a direct personal use, and to build a powerful pc with a range of $800 to $900 Max. , or just bring a powerful laptop that would rather be more reliable to me ?
So what do you think of that !?

Thanks.

lol mac air is a low ulv 1.8 ghz dual core and it has no dedicated graphic chip.. I gave you 2,5 Quad core i7 with Hyperthreading.

and you are not shocked , you are looking at Games 3D benchmarks ... we are talking professional here not games

and the MAC Air is a TOY , VERY SLOW ... and has no Graphics at all but the HD 4000 which is NOTHING.

please stop being shocked at games ok ? you are buying a professional workstation dedicated to accelarate Engeneering 3D programs not "GAMES"

and there can be no powerfull machine for 800% thats an entry level machine , especially for 3D work and study ...

Mac Air is a SLOW MACHINE ... VERY SLOW .

if you want a notebook for gaming tell me .. I will point at one with GTX ... but dont mix the two ...

if you want a separate machine I can try my best to give you everything you need within Budget.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Arguing about which "store brand" is better quality can be quite humorous as most of them are made in the very same factories. Lenovo doesn't "make" a laptop .... HP doesn't "make" a laptop, Toshiba doesn't "make" a laptop.....

The vast majority of laptops on the market (94% in 2011) are manufactured by a small handful of Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturers (ODM), although their production bases are located mostly in mainland China. Major relationships include:

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple

As you might have guessed by my name, I am a practicing engineer. Not one of the computers in our office uses a workstation card....GeForce cards simply do a better job. Yes, a gaming machine does in fact make an outstanding AutoCAD machine. Worksttaion cards simply provide no advantage for what we do in fact it is a disadvantage. Surprised ? see the results:

AutoCAD 2D http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-4.html
AutoCAD 3D http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-6.html
Inventor http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-7.html

OTOH, if you use rendering, workstation cards are invaluable.
Maya http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-8.html
Solidworks http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-10.html
Lightwave / Maya http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-12.html

So pick the type of card that matches what ya gonna do applications wise. To address the varying needs if the profession, our state professional society formed a relationship with a Clevo supplier several years ago. While no longer a formal relationship, most engineers I know who use laptops, still buy custom built lappies.

http://www.lpc-digital.com/notebooks.html

 

[SNA3]

Arguing about which "store brand" is better quality can be quite humorous as most of them are made in the very same factories.

The vast majority of laptops on the market (94% in 2011) are manufactured by a small handful of Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturers (ODM), although their production bases are located mostly in mainland China. Major relationships include:

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple

As you might have guessed by my name, I am a practicing engineer. Not one of the computers in our office uses a workstation card....GeForce cards simply do a better job. Yes, a gaming machine does in fact make an outstanding AutoCAD machine. Worksttaion cards simply provide no advantage for what we do in fact it is a disadvantage. Surprised ? see the results:

AutoCAD 2D http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-4.html
AutoCAD 3D http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-6.html
Inventor http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-7.html

OTOH, if you use rendering, workstation cards are invaluable.
Maya http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-8.html
Solidworks http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-10.html
Lightwave / Maya http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-12.html

So pick the type of card that matches what ya gonna do applications wise. To address the varying needs if the profession, our state professional society formed a relationship with a Clevo supplier several years ago. While no longer a formal relationship, most engineers I know who use laptops, still buy custom built lappies.

http://www.lpc-digital.com/notebooks.html

he is talking about 1300$ budget and was comparing to intel HD4000 in Mac Book Air.

besides he asked for a protable one .. he was looking at a MAC AIR.

the GTX notebooks are heavy and Expensive ...

True you might went to CLevo , but Clevo are desktop replacement and heavy and not durable , let one fall on the rocks and see what happens to it.

any ways he asked for both portability , and Engineering work . I gave him the best answer to his question , I know the GTX performs well , but this was not the issue here , he moved from one Criteria to another.

from Light and durable and MAC AIR like .. to a GTX heavy Notebook ..

have a nice day

 

[bryonhowley]

The way I see it if the software you are going to be using runs on Windows your best bet would be to get a Windows based laptop.

Firstly if any of your software is on optical media then choosing a Macbook AIR means having to get a USB DVD drive just to install it as it does not come with any optical drive.

Second you can not add any ram what so ever as the ram is not replaceable/expandable.

Thirdly as some have said the Macbook Air is really just a toy nothing more.

For a $1300 budget you can get a really powerful Windows PC with no real problems what so ever. The real problem with Mac laptops now is there is really no expandability at all anymore even the Macbook Pro you can't add ram to it as it built into the motherboard so if you choose the 8gig version that is all the ram you can have.

OS X as a OS I really like but the prevention of any expansion for me anyway is a no go.