Student Laptop System Requirements for Engineering and Design

[Anonymous]

I'm helping my son purchase a laptop for college and think we have come up with 2 senerios. I've done a fair share of research with being somewhat of a computer tech, so I understand the processor/graphic card differences but not how they work with this type of software. However, the options we are looking at are already costly so wondering if this is overkill.

He is pursuing a mechanical engineering degree and his lab professor is instructing the students to have their own system to run the software rather than depending on the labs. Currently he is looking to run AutoCAD and Inventor (simultaneously). Solid works has also been mentioned but not on the table currently.

We are looking at Dell because we can get a better employee discount then with HP - Dell M2800, Intel i7-4810MQ Quad Core 2.80GHz, 3.80GHz Turbo w/ 6MB 47W graphics 4600, 15.6" Ultra Sharp FHD (1920x1080) display, 16GB Ram, AMD FirePro W4170M w/ 2GB GDDR5 memory graphics card, 256 GB solid state HD, Win 7 Pro, 3 yrs support - $1840

Or, Dell M4800, Intel i7-4910MQ Quad Core 2.90GHz, 3.90GHz Turbo 8MB 47w, w/graphics 4600, 15.6" UltraSharp IGZO UHD (3840x2160) display, 16GB Ram, NvidiaQuadro K2100Mw/2GB GDDR5 graphics card, 256 GB solid state HD, Win 7 Pro, 3 yrs support - $2540

Is there anyone who can tell us if we are on the right track or if we are spending money when it's not necessary? He's not into gameing or any of that type of need. General college needs and engineering software should be the extent of what he will be running.

Thank you!

Chris Brown 

[JDMather · Accepted solution]

Inventor uses DirectX, so I would recommend best game card.

SolidWorks used OpenGL, so I would recommend the Quadro - if - I was only running SolidWorks.

I run SolidWorks just fine on a GeForce, the only problem is no RealView (pretty real time render graphics).

By running the GeForce (or other game card), you can put the money saved into RAM and a SSD for the OS and MCAD software.

Must have MS Excel for both Inventor and SolidWorks.

I recommend a minumum 17" screen with full numerica keypad, and a second monitor for stationary desk use in dorm room.  (You couldn't pay me to try to run MCAD on a 15.6" screen.)

A 3D Connexion device (student discount at journeyed.com) is nice to have.

I would have posted this question in the Inventor forum rather than here.

I assume you know that you can get AutoCAD, Inventor and Autodesk Analysis software for free from http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity

Will probably get SolidWorks for free from the school as well.

I would get Win 8 if installing now as Win 10 is not supported by SolidWorks and AutoCAD (Inventor 2016 is supported).  This should change within the next month with Win 10 support.  I am running without issue on Win 10, but I already had these softwares installed before I updated to Win 10.

[Anonymous]

What about new Dell XPS 17 inch laptop? Can it be a good option for designing? And what about Apple's MacBook Pro? I am second year designing college student. Please suggest me a good laptop from this student laptops available on internet. Thanks.

[tonykakkar2018]

Students who are studying engineering need a laptop that is designed specially for them. They need a laptop that can handle the demands of engineering and has the specs needed to run different programs.

Laptop configuration for engineering students should have a high-quality display, including color accuracy and brightness, as well as an excellent keyboard with key travel distance. The laptop should also be able to handle any kind of program - from CAD to video editing.