Good Laptop for college

[Unforgiven]

My step son has been accepted to Mass Maritime Acadamy (need a pride smiley) and I wanted to get him a good laptop for college as a HS graduation gift. I know AF is the best place for me to ask because of all the brilliant friendly folks here.

His intent is to go into Marine Engineering so I assume he would need to run some CAD/CAM software (AutoCAD) but some of the other majors were running ESRI PC ArcInfo or ArcView. He isn't into gaming much, but I think gaming spec'd laptops (better graphics card, dedicated graphics memory, more memory in general) will probably align better with these types of processor behemoths, but that is why I am here asking. I have only been buying laptops and netbooks with MS Office / Internet access in mind for the last several years, so I am out of touch with the latest and greatest.

Just as a note, I do have a limited budget and would prefer something out of the box. I would love to get him a Porsche, but am really looking for a solid Ford that will do the job for him over the four years (if you get my drift)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, advice, and help.

 

[Shane2943]

What's your budget? That question right there is going to be the largest determining factor in what is recommended.

 

[phatboyslim12]

hey im in your retail market so my price is accurate where you are...

i recently purchaced an Acer Aspire One 722 @ staples for $299.99
if not on sale it will be $349.99
specs include:
AMD Dual Core Processor
4 gigs ddr3 memory
11.6" HD LED screen
10 hour battery life
webcam
HDMI output
wireless N
and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

it is nice and fast, light, and ultra portable.

i recommend this laptop.

i have run cad programs with the 10" acer atom Netbooks with 2 gigs ram, so this should not be an issue

 

[Unforgiven]

What's your budget? That question right there is going to be the largest determining factor in what is recommended.

Ford, not Porsche. I know pretty well spec'd laptops (and I'm talking general use) can be had for around $700. I guess double to triple, so $1500 to $2100.

 

[NYCHitman1]

Ford, not Porsche. I know pretty well spec'd laptops (and I'm talking general use) can be had for around $700. I guess double to triple, so $1500 to $2100.

Sounds like this could be a perfect fit for him (and it's within your budget)

Amazon.com: ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black): Computers & Accessories

Your other alternative would be to go to a site like www.ibuypower.com and have them assemble you a custom build.

 

[Unforgiven]

Thanks for the replies so far, I guess what I am really looking for is if I am really on the right track with my thinking as far as what I should be looking for. Hopefully someone who has used the apps I stated in the OP could reply. This isn't to take anything away from the responses I've received, they have been helpful and have given me ideas. I just want to make sure that if I buy him a laptop, I get him the right one.

 

[karandpr]

anything dualcore and 6GB ram ,7200 rpm HDD and a decent graphics card
i5 + 6GB Ram + 512 MB decent graphics card
if you can just pump the RAM to 8GB


I have used/use all those applications mentioned above at some specific time or the other . (on my c2d 7400 2GB Ram lol .also I have ran cad on 256 MB ram machines but that is another point ).

i have dabbled with variety of CAD and GIS suites for that matter
Btw I still use CAD on my PC

Remember ,all this softwares cost a bomb .so once you get one software running on a PC ,you wont even think of upgrading the software for quite an a long time ( 5 years IMO )

So any recent laptop is good to go

Ofcourse you can use an older version of those suites (Why do they make the same stuff every year any way )

 

[ToastPwnz]

This is what my friend suggested to me for a similar major where I'll be using some CAD software too.

XPS 15z Laptop Details | Dell

 

[NYCHitman1]

This is what my friend suggested to me for a similar major where I'll be using some CAD software too.

XPS 15z Laptop Details | Dell

While I like the changes Dell has made to their XPS series of notebooks, I still would avoid them like the plague.

 

[Martimus]

Personally I'd recommend a higher end HP laptop like something in the Envy product line.

Hands-on with the HP Envy 15 | Crave - CNET
HP ENVY 15-1050NR 15.6-Inch Laptop (Magnesium Alloy)

Your son will need a good fast processor, lots of memory, a good graphics card, and decent disk drive. My suggestion is to not go with a netbook because the small screen makes it more difficult to do detailed CAD drawings.

Oh and if you have to provide the Autocad license, take out a second mortgage!

Amazon.com: AutoCAD 2012 -- Includes a 1 year Autodesk Subscription: Software

With luck all he'll need is the LT version of Autocad...

Amazon.com: AutoCAD LT 2012: Software

 

[Unforgiven]

karandpr, martimus
Thank you especially for your advice. Yeah, I know that the software price is steep. I use ArcView at work and I think it is like $2,000+ a license. I'm hoping for some kind of student pricing through the school or maybe the students are covered under a blanket license through the school. You both have really confirmed my suspicions that it needs to be spec'd more like a gamer.

I never intended to buy him a netbook. That probably couldn't load the splash screen for those apps.

 

[ToastPwnz]

karandpr, martimus
Thank you especially for your advice. Yeah, I know that the software price is steep. I use ArcView at work and I think it is like $2,000+ a license. I'm hoping for some kind of student pricing through the school or maybe the students are covered under a blanket license through the school. You both have really confirmed my suspicions that it needs to be spec'd more like a gamer.

I never intended to buy him a netbook. That probably couldn't load the splash screen for those apps.

Student accounts for Autodesk are available. He'll need to sign up, give them the name of his school, and provide proof he attends that school. After that, he'll have access to around 36 Autodesk products with three year licenses for each one.

 

[finalrevision]

If I were to ever look for a gaming PC, I'd use that one slickdeals.net site... always spotting awesome deals on there.

I currently use a Mac and I'm in college. I love that thing! I'd have to say Apple's laptops are a lot better than their phones.

 

[Unforgiven]

I want to thank everyone for their advice. I am going to look at Dell XPS or Alienware laptops (I get a 25% discount through work on all Dell products). I will bounce the specs off you before I make a final purchase. I will do some personal research of the next few weeks. Again, thank you.

 

[TxGoat]

Hopefully you went with a laptop that has a separate graphics card from the motherboard so that it could be upgraded if needed. Another thought, is to give him a newegg gift card since I'm sure a laptop bought in late Winter will most likely be obsolete and heavily discounted by fall of the same year. Congrats on your son's achievement!