Chief Delphi - Computer for Inventor

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Re: Computer for Inventor

Quote:

Originally Posted by iCurtis (Post 962886)

A little background, RPI offers a Thinkpad package to incoming freshman every year. This past year we got the W500, the previous year was the T61p, and previous years were also from the T60 line.

Have a lot of your friends broken theirs? On the flip side of the coin, I've only seen someone have a hardware issue once (and it was a senior, so the laptop had been around for 4 years). 1276 also had a pair of Thinkpads donated in 2007 from the early 2000s, when one of our sponsors upgraded to new ones. They still worked great!

I was under the impression that Thinkpads had a reputation for being some of the hardiest laptops around. Is this not the case?

They are definitely physically durable, I'm just incredibly abusive :) The border for the LCD screen cracks pretty easily and the battery latch can get worn down. But the hardware is generally rock solid. My only issue was an electrical problem a few of my friends claimed they had before, static buildup or something.

anyway, get a W500 you'll love it, preferably at RPI with a gigantic warranty. I might go solid state on the drive once I can afford it.

Re: Computer for Inventor

Many people here, and that I've met in real life have told me that Thinkpads were some of the best quality laptops out there. I've had a Z61t for the past three years, and it's horrible. Granted, it's not their high-end line, but the thing would break every couple weeks, and different components too. The hard drive will break and BSOD my computer every so often. Power cord comes loose. Battery randomly died after a year of use. The OEM CD drive stopped working. The speakers started giving me so much feedback that I couldn't hear anything I was playing (probably due to some bare wire picking up external noise).

But as I mentioned before, this was a middle-class line. They're high-ends could be much better, and it seems like I am a very small minority.

Re: Computer for Inventor

Batteries normally last only about 12-18 months with extensive use.

Re: Computer for Inventor

"Asus G73JH, end of story. For the money its the best mix of performance and price. I run inventor on this laptop and it screams."

^^^This.

We purchased two of these this year to become our new design laptops and shuffle down the rest.

They held up great and were able to handle our complete robot assembly, as well as some stress simulation work.

I would highly recommend for a cheaper level inventor laptop.

Re: Computer for Inventor

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcoren22 (Post 963055)

I will add onto my comments in more detail about this laptop.

The large screen (17.3") makes it much easier to work on parts while doing other things or editing two things at the same time. A larger workspace is always better.

Full-size backlit keyboard makes it easy to enter dimensions or work in the dark. Also, unlike a IBM stinkpad, the Ctrl key is in the right spot on the keyboard (don't ask me how many times I have hit the Fn key looking for the Ctrl key). ;)

Super fast CPU (Core i7), graphics card (DX11 support), and lots of ram mean you can open and edit large or complex assemblies without lag. Nothing comes close to its spec in its price range.

The only annoying part about it are touchpad buttons, but your going to want to use a mouse anyway. The battery life is a bit pitiful too. If you can accept its size and weight it makes a perfect portable workstation.

Bestbuy carries a cut down version for $1200, or you can get it decked out for around $1650 at xoticpc.com.

Re: Computer for Inventor

I'll add my vote in for Asus. I recently purchased a G51J Asus laptop from NewEgg. Aside from the fact that NewEgg is phenomenal (I received my computer the day after I ordered it), it just great for Inventor and CAD in general. (games too, of course) I really wanted to have the 10 key numpad, because I use it all the time when CAD'ing. I did a ton of research, and went with this Asus because it really was the best "bang for my buck". Not to mention Asus has a great warranty on their products. The screen's huge, resolution's great, it's durable, and powerful. I love it. :D

Re: Computer for Inventor

So, I have run inventor on at least 8 different computers, and here is what I have learned:

1) Get a desktop, a CAD computer only needs portability if you plan on taking it home, plus you can get much better performance for cheaper.
2) Its a system effort, the best CAD computer I have worked on is my current at work computer, it only has 2 GB of RAM, a moderate graphics card, and a pretty ok dual core threaded processer. But the mix of relatively good everything makes it a beautiful combination that can handle massive assemblies and all of inventors important features.
3) Use XP on a windows machine, I can't stress the difference between my home computer running vista and my work computer running xp. I can't speak for Windows 7 yet.
4) Specifically look at the graphics card you use, I don't know a lot about this, but certain medium strength graphics cards seem to work great. Someone who knows more about graphics cards can probably elaborate.
5) Optimize the program. You can play with graphics options inside inventor if you know what you are doing (or have some time on your hands).
6) The bigger the assembly, the more RAM you want. My boss had 8 GB like 2 years ago. Which is pretty crazy for then among normal users.