I'm looking for at least 16 gb ram and preferably quad core intel i7. I need it to at least be able to run solidworks and photoshop together with no problem. What else should I look for in a laptop? I'll take recommendations for specific laptops.
Budget up to $1500
C7S
Dual Core and 4GB of ram is more than enough to smoothly and reliably run both Photoshop and solidworks at the same time in addition to 20 open tabs in Google Chrome and open Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Powerpoint presentations. 16GB is overkill and at that level, it really doesn’t matter what laptop you buy because they will all be overkill.
AutoCAD and Solidworks require 2GB but at least 4GB is recommended for them. Photoshop is not a software any engineering major would use.
Also, schools do not give you Solidworks for AutoCAD for your personal computer since those are programs that cost thousands of dollars. You will use them for 1 class, 1 semester, once per week, in your 2nd or 3rd year of college. The computer labs on campus should already have these programs installed for use in labs and homework’s. At least in my school, which is a top 25 engineering school, Pennsylvania State University, no one had these programs installed on their personal computers because of the cost of the software and license.
In engineering, you will only use your personal computer for Microsoft word, Powerpoint, and your web browser to look up definitions in Wikipedia or google math problems or watch youtube videos during class. Depending on your major, you might possibly use Excel, Matlab, Visio, or Visual Studio.
To better answer your question. If Windows based, I recommend a Toshiba or Sony 15”. If Mac based, I recommend a Macbook Pro 15”.
joelius24
anything thin and light that has a good gpu. do not buy hp