Need some advice, going back to school in the fall and I need a new computer. The software I'll be mostly running is Autodesk Revit/CAD and Photoshop CS5 along with a bunch of other minor programs, but those are the big ones.

Autodesk has these recommendations for system requirements:

Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium edition
Multicore Xeon or i-Series processor or AMD equivalent with SSE2 technology (highest affordable CPU speed rating recommended)
Multiple cores for many tasks, up to 16 cores for near-photorealistic rendering operations
16 GB RAM (Usually sufficient for a typical editing session for a single model up to approximately 700 MB on disk. This estimate is based on internal testing and customer reports. Individual models will vary in their use of computer resources and performance characteristics.)

After working in a firm for the last 5 years, I know that this pretty cheap to do in tower form, but dragging around a tower is not an ideal situation. So just looking for some opinions on solutions for this, maybe cost wise a laptop is out of the question, I really don't know.

4/22/2013 12:41:59 PM

Are you generally going to have network access in class? If so, invest in a great desktop with those specs, then just buy a cheapo laptop with a big display and remote back to the desktop to use the programs. Bonus if you'll have a monitor you can hook up to and can just buy a little netbook or something.

4/22/2013 1:21:26 PM

yea big powerful laptops suck unless you're never going to be more than 5 feet from a power outlet.

4/22/2013 1:23:52 PM

^, ^^,

Yes, the program is actually an online masters with a trip to campus once a month on the weekend. When I'm on site I'll have full network access, but in the meantime the majority of the work I'll be doing at home. Never really thought of the remote desktop idea since the last time I was in school doing this kind of stuff, remote desktop still sucked/unreliable. Nice idea!

4/22/2013 1:28:42 PM

The specs sound good. I recommend W7Pro (don't need ultimate unless you need another language). Get as much RAM as you can. I also agree on building a desktop for this and then remoting back to it as needed.

4/22/2013 1:33:38 PM

I just got a Dell M4700 laptop that would fit the bill for what you need perfectly.

Core i7 quad processor, 16gb ram, 256gb SSD, 1gb FirePro M4000 video, 15.6" 1080p screen.

It weights about 7lbs, but it does actually get 5-6 hours of battery life

4/22/2013 2:18:50 PM

I would never recommend a powerful laptop, when you can have a powerful desktop AND a cheap laptop to remote into the desktop, for the same price.

4/22/2013 2:47:49 PM

Macbook Pro - i7 quad core, 16GB ram, 512GB SSD, 1GB GT650M, 15in Retina, 4lbs with 7 hours battery $2.8k

It's expensive, but it's the best out there.

4/22/2013 3:09:03 PM

I have a lenovo T530 that fits the bill for ~1000. 17" 1920x1200, 16gb ram, 1tb 7200rpm, 128gb ssd, 6-7 hours battery, i7 quad core 2.6ghz, 1gb nvidia 5400m. pretty light compared to my old dell m1705 in the same form factor.

4/22/2013 3:36:52 PM

Dumb question: Will you really need such a computer while you are in class? i.e. I wouldn expect a graduate program to furnish a local lab rather than ask students to lug around heavy laptops/towers if such work is required.

AutoCAD/Photoshop CS5/anything heavily graphic intensive over remote desktop is not recommended. You are relying on the network being good enough to transmit that much data. The higher the resolution (which presumably you'll want), the more difficult it is to get "real-time" data transmission. Try watching a Bluray video at 1080p over remote desktop between two computers on the same local network and report results. Then try it imagining it over a remote network. I realize there's a difference between the FPS you are experiencing over Remote Desktop with a video vs. application, but not the point. Point is not advisable if you need anything graphics intensive.

For the Remote Desktop idea. I did exactly this for graduate school with same deal as you, one Friday+Saturday per month, 8 hours per day. My personal tower was sitting at home while I used my work laptop to remote into the tower. However, I worked with Microsoft Office products only and nothing that was graphics intensive. Only time it ever caused problems is if I was NOT in a classroom / location that didn't have reliable internet access. Again, if you won't need AutoCAD/Photoshop while in class, go with this option.

Summary: I'm in favor of the laptop+tower idea, but not for purposes of running your heavy tower software remotely.

4/22/2013 6:40:49 PM

Okay, so...why are you in favor of that combo if you're hating on remoting?

4/22/2013 9:32:14 PM

I wouldn't do precision visual work like CAD or PS without a high res screen and remoting with that high res is going to have lag.

4/22/2013 10:07:21 PM

^^^, truth be told its a pilot program so nobody is really sure the amount of actual "work" we would be doing in our on campus time. For all we know it could really boil down to present/talk/tweak your stuff in preparation for the next presentation.

get the general consensus that trying to get a kickass laptop is pretty much a waste of money, which is what I kind of expected. Looks like doing the tower/remote desktop option is probably going to get the most bang for the buck.

4/23/2013 3:45:33 PM

I don't think it's a waste of money. I'd rather just spend the money on a nice macbook made to do this kind of stuff and do it anywhere instead of using a possibly laggy and terrible remoting in the few places where you have a fast enough internet connection to even have a chance to do it (hopefully you have really fast internet at home as well).

4/23/2013 4:11:07 PM

Noen how much did that Dell cost you?

4/23/2013 10:53:42 PM

^Didn't cost me anything, but the checkout price on it was ~1550

4/24/2013 11:26:30 AM

Quote :

"I wouldn't do precision visual work like CAD or PS without a high res screen and remoting with that high res is going to have lag."

Could try using remote app with RDP. I got it working. It's much faster than remoting into the entire machine. You're essentially running individual apps in a separate window remotely. It's kind of like unity/seamless mode in VMs but with RDP. I do it on my laptop sometimes for running things on my server/desktop at home.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd941616%28WS.10%29.aspx

[Edited on April 24, 2013 at 2:00 PM. Reason : s]

4/24/2013 1:59:57 PM