[pmangels17]

A couple points on CAD computers:

1. A workstation graphics card is definitely better, but I have been doing just fine on full robot assemblies and more with a gaming graphics card (specifically 2 nVidia GT750M's each with 2GB memory). Gaming cards might be cheaper than the high end workstation cards, and will be more easily available in most laptops and pre-built desktops. Also, in my experience, integrated graphics just doesn't cut it, but the last time I used integrated graphics to CAD was with an Intel HD3000 chip, and it was terrible.

2. Having a desktop workstation is nice if you only ever plan on working in one spot, but I always preferred to be able to take my work home or wherever, and for that, laptop portability is awesome if you can justify the extra cost. It is also nice to have flashy CAD models you can hold up on a laptop in the pits to show to judges and other visitors (We used Solidworks eDrawings on an iPad, which can also be done, and that year we won the Quality Award at both regionals we attended). Also, even though I prefer a laptop, I never CAD without a mouse, and having a number pad is also really nice for dimensioning parts.

3. Definitely get an SSD or a hybrid drive. My laptop (stupidly) came with a 5400 rpm SATA drive that I didn't replace, and I find it is responsible for every bottleneck I've had so far with my computer, including CAD problems.

For reference, I have a 15" Lenovo IdeaPad (which I love) with a quad-core i7 (clock speed 3.something), dual nVidia 750M graphics cards, 8GB RAM (could maybe use 12), and a 1TB hard drive. I have had no problems other than the previously mentioned read speed issue when running Solidworks, Inventor, and Creo, often two at the same time.