Laptop for an Architect?

BillieBob

Hey all, 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

overshoot

a 1gb graphics card would be good too (id say it has it though for that price). as an architect the i7 is definately worth the money but i picked up a similar spec toshiba to what you have mentioned for €1000 18months ago (not a second gen processor though obviously).

an i5 is also would also easily do the job, but if you do rendering the i7 is a good investment. shop around though, better value out there

Overheal

I'd be thinking 8GB RAM not 4.

The XPS 17 is an Entertainment laptop not a work laptop. 3D Glasses? I haven't yet heard of any mainstream professional CAD program that uses it. I would hold off on throwing money at that feature.

A laptop is the required body? Desktop would give him far more practicality.

The Dell Precision series is designed for Engineering and Architect Professionals. The GPUs on these things can be configured with up to 4GB of dedicated GPU memory (for those keeping score at home, that's up to 4GB of GDDR5 in Nvidia's Quadro series GPU. Quadros are made for Professional applications. Specifically, Rendering Models and other such things. You really aren't getting the most from a gaming card for professional work) That would be in addition to your Standard RAM for running the OS.

http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/precision-laptops?cat=precision-laptops&view=standard&isredir=true

These have a Touchscreen optional feature. A pretty good investment. Best Investment though, Is a Desktop, and a Wacom Cintiq touchscreen, which is not only touchscreen, but has an extremely pressure-sensitive screen, making artwork in Sketchbook and other illustration apps incredibly natural and sexy. Even the Precision laptop, and any Tablet or Touchscreen PC you find, will only have a 1-level pressure sensitive screen (The Cintiq has 2048 levels of sensitivity). Which is fine for CAD but doesn't do much for your art. Wacom pens are a thing of beauty in themselves, even on the most basic $80 slates: pressure-sensitive, wireless, and battery-free.

http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/Cintiq/Cintiq24HD.aspx

As you can see it's really easy to spend 5-10 grand on a really top-line solution but if you're an Architect and you make lots of money, this isn't exactly a frivolous purchase.

If nothing else I would suggest nothing less than a Dell Precision laptop with a modest configuration, which will still set you back over a grand but would be money well spent.

BillieBob

Thanks Overheal, my mistake was actually quoted for 8gb RAM see below:

Dell XPS (€1,150 ex VAT) – from quote

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
44 cm(17.3") HD+ WLED True-Life (1600x900) with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
1TB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Dual HDD - (2x500GB)
3GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M Graphics Card
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)

Dell Precision (€2,079 ex VAT) – example from Dell Website

One Intel® Core™ I7-2720QM (2.20GHz ,6MB cache ,Quad Core™)
English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64Bit OS)
44cm (17.3") UltraSharp™ FHD (1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit LCD Panel
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
750GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
NVIDIA Quadro 3000M with 2GB GDDR5
8X DVD+/-RW Drive Slot Load

Certainly the Dell Precision seems to be more like what one would use in an actual office but what explains the large difference in price between the two? I’m not great on computers (so sorry if you’ve already answered this question) but they both seem to have much the same capabilities so why is there such a difference in price? Is it how the Precision is actually built (e.g. relating to the motherboard used and such things) and would one actually notice this difference when using it on a day to day basis?

Unfortunately price is a large concern where this architect is concerned as has been hit by the downturn like the rest of that profession! So mobility of laptop is needed over a desktop in case of having to look overseas for work....

Overheal

the biggest changes are the physical build of the chassis, which is solid, sturdy, and very easily maintained: all of the major components can be accessed by just removing the bottom panel unlike most laptops which require you to disassemble most/all of the internal components to reach the criticals. Even in comparing the body of the XPS to the Precision, you would tell the difference. Just like - go into a shop and compare a Macbook Pro, to an HP G6. It will take you all of 5 seconds to determine which is more likely to break.

The other factor is the Quadro. Quadros are again, designed for Professional, not Gaming, applications. They are much better suited for CAD, their features are built around it. Whereas a Geforce card is built around rendering DX11 Content, 3-Dimensional Shading, Anti-Aliasing, Antisotropic Filtering, and Game Physics. None of which you will see in those applications: it's a pure waste of silicon. It's great if you want to play Battlefield 3, but not if you want to render a blueprint. Again you will see far more performance from supported applications than you will with a geforce card.

exclusive Quadro technologies: http://www.nvidia.com/object/advanced-technologies.html