Recommended SolidWorks Laptops???

[AlecMataloni]

Recently, I've been informed that my team will be switching to SolidWorks for our designing process. I have the software (courtesy of the Wings of Fire Hall of Fame booth =D), but my computer isn't powerful enough to run it.

So now, I'm searching for a laptop competent enough to run the software painlessly. I'm looking into a price range from $800-$1200. Would any of you guys have some suggestions as to a specific model or brand of laptop that works well with this software? If so, feel free to either post it here or PM me as you see fit.

Thanks!

[RyanN]

You'll want to look more towards a business oriented laptop, with either an nVidia Quadro or a AMD FireGL graphics card. They're designed more for the modeling and professional industry rather than the consumer entertainment industry.

Not saying that a GeForce or Radeon card won't get the job done, but the Quadro and FireGL cards are designed for that type of work.

[akoscielski3]

In august i bought myself a laptop, its a Lenovo (IBM), T510. Lenovo now has a new version of this one but they do have other laptops built for your price range. I specifically bought this one to run solidworks, and it is definitely a business/engineering laptop. I bought mine for $1400, on sale :$ . they have sales on their website every so often so if you want to get a good one at a great price wait for a sale (watch on their website or call). Browse the website to get a better idea of the prices and which series that would work for you.
www.lenovo.com

[Tristan Lall]

Are you planning to do the work directly on the laptop's screen, or with an external monitor? (In other words, do serious CAD work at a desk, since you're going to need a mouse anyway; use the fact that it's portable as a reason to move between desks, and only rarely to edit something on the laptop's own screen.)

If you can't acquire a cheap 24 in LCD monitor for CAD work, and thus need to work directly on the laptop's screen, the T510 would be a reasonably good choice if you're planning to use the laptop every day. (With the professional-grade Lenovos, HPs and Dells, you're paying for durability and serviceability.)

If you're just going to be doing CAD occasionally, and doing it without an external monitor, look for a consumer-level media-capable laptop with a Core i5 or i7 mobile processor, a higher-end GPU (though not necessarily a professional-grade one like a FireGL or Quadro) and a big screen (with high resolution). You might want to try this for ideas.

(I personally like my X201 for most things, although I'm doing a lot less CAD nowadays. It's very fast and very portable. But then again, I use it with a docking station and an external monitor whenever possible. It's a bit out of your price range, anyway.)

[Lowfategg]

If you don't mind its size. Price per performance in my mind goes to the Asus G73/G53. Its on the upper scale of your price range, but its hard to find any system with similar specs in its price range.

[AlecMataloni]

Thank you all for your helpful contributions!