Best Laptop under $2500 for Civil Engineer Grad

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  paperkut on 02/05/2016 - 23:29

  +1

  In the building industry myself and my SP3 has been a godsend in doing drawing markups.
  Revit and Autocad is fine for my i5 125GB model although it does run smoother on a desktop. You´ll have an office PC most likely anyway if you´re working for a company, so you'll probably only use your own device for CAD stuff when on site or working from home. Mine does get uncomfortably hot every now and then for no reason so I rarely use it flat on my lap (eg in bed), although not sure if that still happens with the SP4s.

  If you´re keen on only spending close to $2500, my advise is to get the i5/256GB model and add on the type cover + dock and maybe a good mouse.

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  plmko on 03/05/2016 - 00:42

  +1

  Import a Vaio Canvas from the US, the Surface is a toy compared to it.

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  Diji1 on 03/05/2016 - 01:27

  I'd be looking at a 13"-14" convertible from one of the Lenovo Yoga ultrabook lines (or Dell XPS or HP Envy) and for $2500 you are going to be able to afford a lot of processing power and a very expensive looking device.

  Make sure you get a 1080p (Full HD) or higher res screen with IPS, 256 SSD disk and 8GB RAM minimum. Find a review of the laptop that tests brightness and make sure it's at least 350 nits brightness which will get you into the league of a Surface since you seem to like that device.

  I would try and find the differences in performance of the programs you want to use when they are using i5-6300U & i7-6700U versions (by googling) as in some cases the performance differences are minimal but the i7 draws more battery power.

  I'm partial to the Yoga line as I like tent mode but you cannot remove the keyboard which may not be suitable for you. Google tent mode if you dont know what that is, it makes convertibles able to be used just about anywhere and I'm a huge fan of it. Usually they also convert into tablet configuration as well :)

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  frondono on 03/05/2016 - 11:41

  I don't think you would need to worry about getting it for your job, as your employer should provide you with the necessary equipment to do your job. I'd probably get something with the best gpu like a dell xps.

  http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…

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  klaw81 on 05/05/2016 - 07:20

  Speaking as a professional drafter with a number of years in this kind of thing…..

  If you're just reviewing drawings, or extracting information, a small touchscreen can make sense. If you're actually producing drawings on Revit or AutoCAD, using a small screen is utterly painful and will kill your eyes. And if you want Revit to run smoothly and quickly, you're going to want something with a discrete GPU.

  There are only a few devices that combine a 2 in 1 form factor and discrete GPU, and the best of them is probably the Surface Book.

  If you're going to be producing drawings, I'd suggest a more conventional laptop with a 15" screen, quad core CPU and a more powerful GPU. Something like the Dell XPS 15 would be great, but they're usually a bit too expensive. The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 has similar processing power in a less compact frame for $1000 less. Or any number of gaming-style laptops will have the performance you need. Just make sure it's a Nvidia GPU - Revit doesn't like AMD cards.

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  morini on 05/05/2016 - 08:27

  Depending how important portability and touchscreen is for you, I wouldn't go with a SP4. As klaw81 said you'll hate the small screen if you're doing drawings and you will need to have money set aside for a monitor and dock, in addition to a keyboard cover and all the other things you have to tack on to a purchase. I wouldn't recommend Dell though unless you get second hand - they are great computers but a bit high on the $:! ratio.

  Think about getting a Metabox/Clevo laptop. You should be able to get a very powerful one with say 15" screen, dedicated GPU and quad core CPU for ~$1500-1700 and still afford a good big monitor, spare battery/charger, or whatever else you might need. Examples: N150RD, N150RF, or N170RD/RF. http://www.metabox.com.au/store/Gaming-LaptopsIf you truly have $2500 to spend you could possibly get a Surface 3 (non-Pro) or Android tablet with whatever you have left over (and maybe depending on what you do you could even use that for showing clients your drawings, because you don't need as much processing power to show a rendered image).

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  Drifta on 20/05/2016 - 17:08

  As above - if using it for Autocad, solidworks etc go for a larger screen without the 2in1 factor (I used to have a x230T convertible and it was good for uni notes etc so unless you want to do that avoid it). You will most likely want to use a mouse for precision. Unless you plan on hooking it up to a larger Monitor when working on that stuff. I have a lenovo X260 - i7 500gb SSD, 16gig ddr4 ram, integrated gfx on a 13inch (i think) but use it with a docking station hooked up to a 24inch monitor with a decent logitec mouse and mechanical keyboard and it suits me well. also the dual 3 cell +6cell additional battery lasts me a whole day (8hrs) without needing a charge when mobile.

  Dont worry about work too much - At work you will be most likely using the desktop they provide or they should provide a decent laptop.

  P.S I study mechatronics eng/comp science and in my 5th and final year.