Cheap laptop to run CAD
 

I'm debating getting a cheap laptop to do some CAD for school.
Any of you have a laptop that you run CAD on?

Specifically I'd be running autocad 2006, probably some RS and music and thats it, any brands/models you guys would recommend?

I know absolutely nothing about laptops :(

What's your price range?

And just looking up autocad, please let me know if this is wrong for spec's you'll need.

Intel® Pentium® III or later, with 800 MHz or faster processor, or compatible
Microsoft® Windows® XP SP1 or SP2 (Professional, Home Edition, or Tablet PC Edition), or Windows® 2000 Professional SP4
512 MB RAM
500 MB free disk space for installation
1024×768 VGA with true color
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1
CD-ROM drive
Mouse, trackball, or compatible pointing device

With that in mind, you can get away with a lot under $800.

I'd recommend NOT going with the bare minimums on this one.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Toshiba

That would do you fine for example. it all depends on what brand you want to go with. Personally, I like Acer, while others will curse at it. Dell is also a decent brand. You need to do some shopping around for this, find out what you like.

You also have to make a few more decisions for the laptop. Intel or AMD? Dedicated or Integrated graphics card?

I use an Acer Aspire One to run AutoCAD 2009 and it works fine. I don't do a whole lot of heavy drafting on it but I do review drawings and make revisions with it.

Thx guys, tekdragon, sorry totally forgot to post my budget.
I'm probably looking at a used laptop as I can't afford a new one.
I'd hope to get something decent for $400 or so which is the most I'm
Willing to spend.

Aznrsx, what do u consider heavy drafting? A lot of xrefs, blocks and lots of different layers?
For school its just a project where we have to design floor joists and roof systems
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Oh and as for specs, I honestly don't know shit about graphics cards,
Or the difference between intel and AMD etc..
I know I want at least 1 gb of ram. My deskop has 1.5 and some options on cad
Don't run super smooth, maybe cause its old
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i'm curious, does cad make use of ur graphics card? i always thought it was solely dependent on your cpu for rendering. friends in bcit archi told me it takes HOURS to render their final drawing

ram is probably ur cheapest upgrade, next to a SSD for responsiveness
if your desktop has 1.5Ghz and you know what that feels like, get something similar or faster on a laptop (in the simplest terms). other things like chipset or bus speed will affect the speed as well. best thing to do is ask here or google a cpu chart and compare versions based on 'scores'.

as well, this will have a lot to do with how you set up ur windows. i.e. turn off visual styles on an old machine

Centrino-M 1.7....1 gb ram
30gb HD 4200rpm.

Running it fine

I would consider heavy drafting if there was 10-15 xrefs with each file being referenced around 500KB to 1MB with about 100+ layers. Also if you're doing a lot of 3D work.

Sounds like the work you'd be doing wouldn't take too many resources from your computer. There's a lot of laptops on the market that can handle what you want to do.

If it's taking your friends hours to render a drawing then they must be doing it in 3D. They're probably rendering at a high resolution as well. If it's just line drawings done in 2D then you don't need a powerful computer at all.

Thanks guys, gonna browse CL to see what I can find
Aznrsx, the acer aspire one you're using, how big is the screen?

I'm finding alot of 9"-10" laptops with decent specs for pretty cheap
But Id imagine trying to do cad on a tiny screen would be hell?

ill sell u my broken screen laptop

found here http://www.revscene.net/forums/soo-d...n-t593652.html

for $500 :) the busted area is at the btm right so it doesnt exactly get in the way or u can buy a new screen later on for it for $200 :D

^out of my budget unfortunately