Thinkpads Forum

I have a friend who is looking for a laptop that can handle the use of Sketchup, Vector Works, the Adobe Series (Photoshop, etc), and most importantly Autocad

I was able to get him to look into IBMs because he knows they last longer and they are of higher quality then Dells/Fujitsu's etc but I'm not sure which T series would suite him best.

He is will be a 3rd year at CalPoly and this will be critical for him. He is on a budget, so bang for buck would definitely apply. Of course, if the pros definitely outweigh the cost, there is no reason why a certain model shouldnt be mentioned.

So please...suggestions?!

I happily run MATLAB (DSP work) on my T43 without any problems.
Thinkpads (T41 to T43) have become a de-facto main working machines for engineers in our company - running hardware and software hardcore applications (Orcad, VLSI Win XP tools, software design, MATLAB, ...) so I cannot imagien thinkpad (T series) will not cope with Autocad and similar.
Photoshop ? - get lots of RAM (at least 1 GB), large HDD and you're set. Sure, any laptop's LCD is very far from to be perfect for any but just the most basic image editing, but once coupled with a good external screen - can't see problems...
If the guy used to run several applcations at a time - I can imagine he will benefit from dual-core platform, thus heading to T60 line, otherwise T43 will take care of all said above...

Any T4x laptop can run autocad. Its just at what level do you want to run autocad. To smoothly have no issues what so ever, get a T4xp model. They are meant for workstation apps.

Anything within the high-end portion of the T Series should handle it just fine; I run AutoCAD 2007, Rhino, MATLAB, and my coded Biosimulator on my T43; properly optimized, everything runs smoothly. The p subseries, however, is specially designed for CAD work and workstation applications...especially those involving graphics.

A T41p or better with max RAM and a 7K100 HD will run any release of AutoCAD your friend could want.

That's what I'm presently using for AutoCAD and I feel no need to upgrade for want of a better/faster machine.

Regards,

James

i'll have to do some more research into the "sub p" series laptops since i dont know much about em. thanks for the input so far guys.


anybody else?

It depends on the models you are working with.

If its "just" 2D layout etc. he'll be making, a T43 with an X300 is fine. However, if you are looking to do full 3D models, go for a 'p' model. 1GB RAM is fine for autoCAD. Its not exactly the most bemanding CAD program out there. Doesnt take much space either. Nor do the models. More recent AutoCAD releases have really upped the compression of the files.

If he's looking to work with apps like autodesk inventor, pro/engineer, solidworks etc. he should definately get a 'p' model.