Need laptop recommendations
Need laptop recommendations
(OP)
My Fujitsu C2310 laptop has died, and I'm in the market for a new laptop, and looking for recommendations. The Fujitsu was under-powered for what I'm doing, which includes SolidWorks 2001 Plus, AutoCad, Excel, MS Word, web browser, and email client - sometimes all at the same time.
I'm debating whether or not to make the new laptop my main computer. If I did this, I would hook up external keyboard, trackball, and TWO external monitors. If I can't find a laptop that can handle two external monitors, this will just be my home and travel machine. In this case, I'm not real concerned about blinding speed, but I don't want it to choke on solving mates in small to medium sized SolidWorks assembly models.
I might upgrade from SolidWorks 2001 Plus to 2010.
I'm inclined to go with Windows XP, unless someone twists my arm convincingly in some other direction.
Dell seems to be popular in the engineering community, but I've seen some scathing reviews of some of their "mobile workstations". In fact, those bad reviews were on the Dell web site.
Suggestions? Recommendations?
I'm debating whether or not to make the new laptop my main computer. If I did this, I would hook up external keyboard, trackball, and TWO external monitors. If I can't find a laptop that can handle two external monitors, this will just be my home and travel machine. In this case, I'm not real concerned about blinding speed, but I don't want it to choke on solving mates in small to medium sized SolidWorks assembly models.
I might upgrade from SolidWorks 2001 Plus to 2010.
I'm inclined to go with Windows XP, unless someone twists my arm convincingly in some other direction.
Dell seems to be popular in the engineering community, but I've seen some scathing reviews of some of their "mobile workstations". In fact, those bad reviews were on the Dell web site.
Suggestions? Recommendations?






RE: Need laptop recommendations
FAQ559-986: PC or Workstation for use with SolidWorks?
Also search the threads here, there has been other discussions on this topic.
I would go with Vista 64 bit. The XP OS will be obsolete soon and not supported by SW after the 2010 version.
Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Need laptop recommendations
Laptop specs depends on how full your wallet is.
Skip Vista and go direct to Win7. Whether you need a 64 bit system depends on your models and assys complexity and size. However, a similarly spec's x64 system will cost as much as an x32 system, but will be more scaleable due to added RAM capacity.
RE: Need laptop recommendations
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Need laptop recommendations
Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Need laptop recommendations
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Need laptop recommendations
I'm no fan of Dell, by personal experience. Lots of people use Dell and like them, but lots of people have never used anything else, either, so you might want to look at places such as cadalyst.com for some comparative benchmarks.
Early in the year I used a 64-bit HP laptop and was quite impressed with the speed and quality. Remember the reputation of a given company always follows its true product quality.
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.
RE: Need laptop recommendations
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RE: Need laptop recommendations
Best regards,
Chris Gervais
Application Engineer
CSWP, CSWST
RE: Need laptop recommendations
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: Need laptop recommendations
MTM
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ATC Certified
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http://mtm-cadtutorials.blogspot.com/
Profile
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RE: Need laptop recommendations
RawheadRex, I'm on Win XP SP 3.
Everyone else - thanks very much for your posts.