Computer advice.

Silverzone

Silverzone

4,312
Well, I am looking for a laptop now that will be good for college, and I think I have settled on getting a mac. Bad thing is that I don't know anything about macs so I really don't know what to get. I will be using this laptop for AutoCAD, and other school things. any ideas?
 
AutoCad is a fairly intensive application. You'll want something powerful to run it. College requires ultra mobility, so you want something less than 4 lbs. Plus, you're probably not loaded with cash if you're in college, so you'll want something cheap. For AutoCad you want a big screen.

Unfortunately those characteristics are incompatible.

You can get one of the following three:

Cheap
Powerful
Mobile

Which do you want?
 
I guess I would go for powerful. The cost is a factor, but I have a pretty good job so during the summer I can afford it, and mobility is something I can sacrifice. So yeah, powerful really.
 
Keep in mind that the entire MacBook family – the MacBook and the MacBook Pro – all use Core Duo 2 processors, and there isn’t a huge difference in speed between them. You’re primarily paying for screen size and video cards.

From what I’ve read, AutoCAD will run well on any MacBook in Boot Camp, provided you max out the RAM. Remember that Boot Camp is not an emulator – running AutoCAD in Windows on a MacBook is exactly like running AutoCAD in Windows in a similarly-specced PC, so basically if you’re currently running AutoCAD on a P4, it should feel faster on a MacBook.

If you’re going to be doing lots of 3D work, you might want to consider a MacBook Pro, because the regular MacBook has an integrated graphics card. However, everything I’ve read has indicated that the regular MacBook should be more than sufficient for “student work”.

I’ve never actually used AutoCAD, so take everything I say with a grain of salt – I’m going off of others’ experiences.

[edit]: Oops, didn’t see your last post. If price isn’t a huge factor, then definitely go for a MacBook Pro. 👍
 
Sage
Keep in mind that the entire MacBook family – the MacBook and the MacBook Pro – all use Core Duo 2 processors, and there isn’t a huge difference in speed between them. You’re primarily paying for screen size and video cards.

From what I’ve read, AutoCAD will run well on any MacBook in Boot Camp, provided you max out the RAM. Remember that Boot Camp is not an emulator – running AutoCAD in Windows on a MacBook is exactly like running AutoCAD in Windows in a similarly-specced PC, so basically if you’re currently running AutoCAD on a P4, it should feel faster on a MacBook.

If you’re going to be doing lots of 3D work, you might want to consider a MacBook Pro, because the regular MacBook has an integrated graphics card. However, everything I’ve read has indicated that the regular MacBook should be more than sufficient for “student work”.

I’ve never actually used AutoCAD, so take everything I say with a grain of salt – I’m going off of others’ experiences.

[edit]: Oops, didn’t see your last post. If price isn’t a huge factor, then definitely go for a MacBook Pro. 👍
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Eh, I totally overestimated my price range. Mac Book pro is a bit out of my range right now. I think I can afford the $1500 dollar one with some help from my parents. Thanks for the help!
 
Silverzone
Eh, I totally overestimated my price range. Mac Book pro is a bit out of my range right now. I think I can afford the $1500 dollar one with some help from my parents. Thanks for the help!
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I think your best bet is to buy a Macbook with 1GB or more of RAM.
 
Silverzone
I think if I end up settling on the Mac I will get this one. It will suit me good. I have one more question though, is AutoCAD mac compatable?
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AFAIK, no. You'll need Windows and Boot Camp. I don't know how Parallels is going along with their hardware-accelerated virtualization, but it might be something to look into.

Also, don't forget about Apple's educational discount. You can save a lot of money by taking advantage of it.
 
However, I'd say stay away from IBM. I didn't have luck with them on my last go-around. I'd try sony, maybe dell, Asus had some neat models...
 
danoff
However, I'd say stay away from IBM. I didn't have luck with them on my last go-around. I'd try sony, maybe dell, Asus had some neat models...
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I've looked at Dells before and actually three of my freinds have a Dell. They are good laptops 👍.

standard235
Best laptop I've ever used was an Acer. Core 2 Duo with some Geforce mobile graphics thing.

Blazing fast.
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Acer's are nice. My freind had an old Acer PC that lasted forever and was pretty good for an old machine.
 
My school has like 40 Dell laptops, well, my middle school did anyways.

Only 1 of them had any problems. It had a faulty wireless card inside.
 
Steer clear of Compaq laptops. HP are fine, Asus are fine, Sony are fine, I'm quite a fan of Fujitsu Siemens and I've yet to meet somone who has had a problem with a Samsung.

You may well beleive that HP and Compaq are one and the same, this isn't quite true, when I got my last Compaq (less than a year ago) Compaq laptops were as they had been before the takeover as a result they were kitted out with some of the worst and most fiddly Bioses ever, my laptop has caused me no end of grief and most Compaq laptops still use similar motherboards and the same horrible Bios.

If you really want an alternative Operating System partition the hard disk and install Ubuntu Linux, a dual boot gives youthe best of both worlds. Windows compatibility, Linux usability and stability.
 
Flame-returns
Steer clear of Compaq laptops. HP are fine, Asus are fine, Sony are fine, I'm quite a fan of Fujitsu Siemens and I've yet to meet somone who has had a problem with a Samsung.

You may well beleive that HP and Compaq are one and the same, this isn't quite true, when I got my last Compaq (less than a year ago) Compaq laptops were as they had been before the takeover as a result they were kitted out with some of the worst and most fiddly Bioses ever, my laptop has caused me no end of grief and most Compaq laptops still use similar motherboards and the same horrible Bios.

If you really want an alternative Operating System partition the hard disk and install Ubuntu Linux, a dual boot gives youthe best of both worlds. Windows compatibility, Linux usability and stability.
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Really? I bought my V4000 over a year ago, and I've only had one problem with it, which was the wireless card. Mine is covered in HP logos, though; and when I looked it up it's basically an HP Dv4000 painted silver. I'd reccommend a Compaq, but just make sure it's a post-takeover model (they all are now).

If you're going to be using it at College, you really really really want something portable. You think you'll be fine with a 3.5kg one, but once you've carried it around all day you'll be wishing you got something smaller. It's not as though it's going to arrive with really useless specs. I've never used autocad, but for the stuff I use (pro desktop) you don't need anything above 1gb of ram and 128mb of graphics. For just under £1000 you can get something like this Sony which seems to have pretty good specs and a reasonable weight. Perfect balance ;)
 

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