Sep 17, 2015, 03:42 AM
Sup chaps,
I'm in the market for a laptop that I'll take to uni with me for my mechanical engineering course. Initially I was considering an ultrabook such as the Zenbook purely because of the outstanding battery, portability, and design, but I may end up having to use CAD/Solidworks software which the Zenbook won't manage. Also, I won't really be able to game or do much meaningful development for Limelight, which is something I want to do in my spare time.
So, I've been looking at more powerful options. My current top picks are:
- ASUS N550JK 15.6-inch i7 2.5GhZ, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB HDD (no SSD), 850M GPU, 4 hour battery (£750). Gets hot under heavy load but otherwise OK. HDD will need an upgrade. Most powerful without overpowered. Gorgeous aluminium design.
- Toshiba Sat Pro i5 2.2GhZ, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 930M GPU (£599)
- Toshiba SP i7 2.4GhZ, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 930M (£680) - i7 is worth it but HDD is a shame.
- Acer aspire i7/940M £630 (loads of available configurations that vary in price and power)
- Zenbook. Really weak but gorgeous - very expensive for the power you get but 6-9 hour battery life and very light.
The ASUS is the most powerful option there with its 850M GPU, and its battery is reasonable. The design is also sleek as hell. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm still not sure if I want ultra-portability or power that I can use for CAD/gaming.
If it helps any, here's my entire notepad list of what I was considering. Warning, it's a bit messy:
I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. Cheers lads.
I'm in the market for a laptop that I'll take to uni with me for my mechanical engineering course. Initially I was considering an ultrabook such as the Zenbook purely because of the outstanding battery, portability, and design, but I may end up having to use CAD/Solidworks software which the Zenbook won't manage. Also, I won't really be able to game or do much meaningful development for Limelight, which is something I want to do in my spare time.
So, I've been looking at more powerful options. My current top picks are:
- ASUS N550JK 15.6-inch i7 2.5GhZ, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB HDD (no SSD), 850M GPU, 4 hour battery (£750). Gets hot under heavy load but otherwise OK. HDD will need an upgrade. Most powerful without overpowered. Gorgeous aluminium design.
- Toshiba Sat Pro i5 2.2GhZ, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 930M GPU (£599)
- Toshiba SP i7 2.4GhZ, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 930M (£680) - i7 is worth it but HDD is a shame.
- Acer aspire i7/940M £630 (loads of available configurations that vary in price and power)
- Zenbook. Really weak but gorgeous - very expensive for the power you get but 6-9 hour battery life and very light.
The ASUS is the most powerful option there with its 850M GPU, and its battery is reasonable. The design is also sleek as hell. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm still not sure if I want ultra-portability or power that I can use for CAD/gaming.
If it helps any, here's my entire notepad list of what I was considering. Warning, it's a bit messy:
I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. Cheers lads.
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