Laptop For College

[Mandeemoo007]

Hey guys, so a little update on my life, I've graduated high school and am going to college in Rhode Island for architecture. I am getting a new laptop probably Monday, the 7th. I've narrowed it down to three laptops and want your input. In case you do recommend a laptop to me, I don't want a Macbook and I need it to be really powerful so I can use all of the programs that I need, while also not being $3,000.

 

1. Dell XPS 15 - $1,974.99

 

This laptop I'm a bit iffy on just because I haven't done a lot of research on it. Its a nice price, I just don't know if its an actual good laptop or not. It has a Core i7, 1 TB SSD, and 16 GB of memory.

2. Lenovo ThinkPad P50 - $2,505.60

 

So I know that ThinkPad's are really good for architecture and a lot of people that I have seen around campuses use these. The price is pretty high, and with some accessories, I'd be getting really close to the $3,000 mark and I wasn't planning on paying that much for a laptop. But I do get an Intel Xeon processor with 32 GB of memory and 512 GB SSD.

 

3. Microsoft Surface Book - $2,034.05

 

I'm leaning towards this laptop the most because it is really nice looking, and is 25% off on Amazon so I'm saving $700. This laptop is also a tablet and has a pen which is a staple in the Surface lineup but I think I would really use it in architecture for drawing and taking notes. The only thing that worries me with buying this laptop is that there are a lot of bad reviews saying how shitty the laptop is but they are all from a year or so ago, and some recent reviews say that the laptop works really well and they don't have any complaints. I would be getting a Core i7, 512 GB SSD, 16 GB of memory, and NVIDIA GeForce graphics.

 

Those are the laptops that I'm looking to get, so I'd like to know your opinion on them and which one you think is best for architecture in college. Just a reminder, I'm most likely getting the laptop this coming Monday, the 8th.

[Gator]

I was in your position last year. I went with the Lenovo Yoga 710. However, I think your looking at the wrong specs. Laptops are a different game than gaming PCs. You only mention the memory, ram, CPU, and GPU, which don't matter much unless you're looking into gaming with it. The 710 that I chose has an i5 and GeForce card but I don't really use them since it's mainly used for chrome and other light applications. I would look more towards battery life and comfort features such as backlit keys (a must imo), touchscreen capabilities, orientation capabilities, etc.

[frosty]

Honestly, those laptops are MORE than what you need. The DELL XPS series is good but a bit over-specced for a college student (we use them at work for some our development team).

 

From personal experience with Microsoft Surfaces, we have about five at work that the Directors use and they have an array of issues usually. For one they use their own custom Windows for Surface which isn't very good and from what we can see conflicts with applications at random. It's honestly not worth the hassle.

[delirium]

I mean what programs would you have to run with these? autocad and some 3d modeling programs? Your choices seem a bit overkill for just that...

[Mandeemoo007]

I mean what programs would you have to run with these? autocad and some 3d modeling programs? Your choices seem a bit overkill for just that...

 

You really think its overkill? My college gave me a checklist of specs I should have for my laptop a Xeon or Core i7 processor, minimum 8 GB of RAM, and 500 GB of hard-disk space.

[Divine™]

i think the number 2 choice would be good because my older brother who go's to orgeon has that same laptop and he go's for Game Designing and stuff like that and he thinks that the laptop itself is good for stuff like that

[Veggie]

Dell xps is pretty nice imho.

[mikejohn]

I Think you should get a P50 workstation as it is the best option for a architecture student.... rest is your choice i don't think Microsoft surface book will be a good option. for more suggestions check https://laptopjar.com/best-laptops-for-college-students/

[FLuiD]

You really think its overkill? My college gave me a checklist of specs I should have for my laptop a Xeon or Core i7 processor, minimum 8 GB of RAM, and 500 GB of hard-disk space.

 

i dont really know a lot about laptops right now, but any solid cpu with 6-8 cores sounds like it would be far more useful for you rather than a little boost to 4 core performance. However, I also don't know the programs you will be using and if they are optimized for higher core counts. Maybe check if there are any solid Ryzen laptops out, a R5 1600 or 1700 would be perfect. One last thing, I saw the laptops you are looking at are like 2 grand, seems a little overkill lul