<p>Any architecture students out there, what kind of laptop do you have?</p>
<p>I know graphics cards and processors are important to run rendering programs such as Revit, V-Ray, 3DS in addition to programs such as Ecotect, Rhino, AutoCAD, Adobe Suite, Sketchup.</p>
<p>I want one for under $2000. I was looking into the Dell XPS 15 which seemed pretty good and considering the price is cheaper than my better options. I just need it to last me my 5 years. My other options were the HP EliteBook or Sony Vaio but haven't done much research. Or the Dell Precision m4700 (which has a slightly better graphics card) but to me it seems like a lot more money and too professional for just school. When I graduate I'll get a laptop like that. Also it is too bulky, not as transportable, and honestly not as good looking as the others. I like the MacBook for the look and don't mind spending the money but don't really want to use bootcamp to run windows.</p>
<p>Do you think one of these laptops will be good for 5 years for what I need to do with it? Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Since youre an architecture student and gonna run the above mentioned softwares, You will need a laptop with good specs and GPU. I would suggest not to buy a MacBook because you will get lesser specs for your money.
Dell precision you said is more bulky and expensive. So i would suggest Go For Dell XPS…Just compare EliteBook and XPS and choose what suits you the Best.I like the XPS more</p>
<p>For programs like AutoCAD, you don’t want a GPU that’s meant for media and gaming.
I would strongly recommend looking at the Lenovo W530. It uses a Nvidia Quadro K1000M or could configure it with a Quadro K2000M. The Quadro chips are meant for CUDA work so it will work well with CAD.</p>
<p>My daughter is an architecture student (2nd year) and uses a Lenovo Thinkpad T420. Unless you’re studying in some avant garde California school that does not believe in paper drawings a Lenovo W530 would be an overkill in many ways for the first couple years at least, and by the time you really need it if you buy now it would be 2-3 years old. </p>
<p>She runs most of the programs mentioned above and assuming we’re not doing Burj complexity buildings the T420/430 is fine. Keep in mind the laptop will be going back and forth to the studio so a W530 may be a bit too big/heavy.</p>
<p>We use Dells at work and I have not been impressed with them. Let’s just say they do not age well. HP, not a big fan either. </p>
<p>Rendering is where the CPU/GPU earns its keep. Regular wireframe stuff is not too bad on any decent laptop, but rendering, textures, and the like… Even on the school’s Uber-Mac’s it takes quite a while to render complex stuff.</p>
<p>Depending on the amount of parental paranoia, a back-up mini desktop loaded with the software needed may not be a bad idea…</p>
a Lenovo W530 would be an overkill in many ways for the first couple years at least, and by the time you really need it if you buy now it would be 2-3 years old. </p>