[zucciniknife]

Next year I will be going to college to study computer engineering at CU Boulder

What laptop would you suggest?

A couple requirements/parameters:

- Ability to run CAD programs etc. competently
- Usage for medium to heavy gaming
- Decent battery life
- Preferred to have an ethernet jack
- 14/15 inch screen size
- More tactile keyboard preferred
- Relatively thin
- Decent storage space
- 2000-2500 USD Budget

I will also be bringing my desktop(in sig).

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to get discounted student software through your college?

 

[LaBestiaHumana]

15 inch macbook pro. It supports windows, and have that gorgeous retina display.

Maybe I'm just an apple fanboy and will get flamed, but it's a solid laptop.

The Razer blades are also pretty solid. They look like black macbook pros.

Edit: Apple gives student discounts. Probably around 200 for that 15incher with retina.

 

[Ryou-kun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBestiaHumana

15 inch macbook pro. It supports windows, and have that gorgeous retina display.

Maybe I'm just an apple fanboy and will get flamed, but it's a solid laptop.

The Razer blades are also pretty solid. They look like black macbook pros.

Edit: Apple gives student discounts. Probably around 200 for that 15incher with retina.

Macbook isn't bad just that it depend if the software that OP is using will work on OS X or Windows.
Sure, he can dual boot Macbook Pro, but what is the point of buying a Macbook Pro just to dual boot it with Windows rather buying a Windows laptop with Windows already installed?

 

[soulwrath]

Yes you get discounts through your university usually for such programs, you can also get discounts from certain brands for laptops also.

CAD programs, gaming

sounds like MAC can be a possibility
you can also try your hand with new lenovo laptops along with msi laptops - just look towards i7 chips with 8 gigs of ram minimal with a 750M GPU - but than again 800 series maybe out

heres a general idea of what i believe you are looking for that runs the programs you want, you may want to add a SSD later (at least that is what i did with my laptop - dropped a 240gb ssd into it)

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/?iPromoID=bannerY510ptechspecs

 

[Ryou-kun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zucciniknife

Next year I will be going to college to study computer engineering at CU Boulder

What laptop would you suggest?

A couple requirements/parameters:

- Ability to run CAD programs etc. competently
- Usage for medium to heavy gaming
- Decent battery life
- Preferred to have an ethernet jack
- 14/15 inch screen size
- More tactile keyboard preferred
- Relatively thin
- Decent storage space
- 2000-2500 USD Budget

I will also be bringing my desktop(in sig).

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to get discounted student software through your college?

Okay, you can wait for Lenovo Y40 and Y50's laptop.
I am not sure if you are in any rush on getting a laptop, but if you aren't in any rush. Then wait for Lenovo Y40 and Y50.

http://news.lenovo.com/images/20034/Y,%20Z,%20C-Series%20and%20LBG%20Monitors%20Spec%20Sheets.pdf

It looks decent for you, and you can choose either 14" or 15".
14" - 2K res while 15" is 2K res or 4K res.

Also ask your professor/instructor what OS would he or she recommend you to use.
I mean, you have to make sure both your laptop and their computer are using the same OS otherwise you either find a way around it or buy another one.

 

[zucciniknife]

From what I've gathered most OS's should be fine(windows usually preferred).

Macs are definitely out, I absolutely abhor the OS. I've heard good things about the new Blade.

I will probably stick to windows and maybe dual boot a linux distro.

I would prefer to get the laptop around the start of first term which is several months away.

What do you need to do usually to get said discounts, provide student ID?

 

[soulwrath]

usually you get verified through your universities email address

 

[zucciniknife]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulwrath

usually you get verified through your universities email address

Ahh, ok

 

[navidrvl]

Since u would be gaming a lot and prefer a slim laptop this would a excellent choice for u ,It also has the SteelSeries Programmable keyboard. This one just came out!

http://usgaming.msi.com/Product/2014/Notebook/GS60-Ghost/

 

[ShortySmalls]

If you don't want to spend your whole budget, the laptop in my sig Y510p i paid $950 shipped for it brand new, and i think it meets all your requirements, it will play BF4 maxed at playable FPS and the i7 will and 8GB of DDR3 will run Autocad fine (My highschool auto-cad class we used older gateway desktops with like dual cores and 2gb of DDr2)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1038682-REG/lenovo_59406636_y510p_i7_4700mq_8gb_1tb_8ss_windows_8_1_15_6.html They bumped the price up like $70 but they went to dual 755M's instead of 750m's

My battery last 3-4 hours using chrome and skype/irc

And yes your college does discount software most of the time, my college has a DreamSpark Premium account for students (all Microsoft software ever made free) but nobody knows who the administrator to activate your account is... and i go to a state technical college....

EDIT: Your student ID works at places like bestbuy that offer student discounts but most places online for students require your student email to be verified. My college keeps student emails open for 5 years after graduation

 

[zucciniknife]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortySmalls

If you don't want to spend your whole budget, the laptop in my sig Y510p i paid $950 shipped for it brand new, and i think it meets all your requirements, it will play BF4 maxed at playable FPS and the i7 will and 8GB of DDR3 will run Autocad fine (My highschool auto-cad class we used older gateway desktops with like dual cores and 2gb of DDr2)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1038682-REG/lenovo_59406636_y510p_i7_4700mq_8gb_1tb_8ss_windows_8_1_15_6.html They bumped the price up like $70 but they went to dual 755M's instead of 750m's

My battery last 3-4 hours using chrome and skype/irc

And yes your college does discount software most of the time, my college has a DreamSpark Premium account for students (all Microsoft software ever made free) but nobody knows who the administrator to activate your account is... and i go to a state technical college....

EDIT: Your student ID works at places like bestbuy that offer student discounts but most places online for students require your student email to be verified. My college keeps student emails open for 5 years after graduation

Ok thanks shorty, I'll probably try to find something with a bit better battery life

 

[TheReciever]

I would advise looking at some of the members of NBR and how modular you can make the y410p

additional power states, shutting down two cores for additional battery life and/or putting it to a lower watt consumption plus using the IGP when you dont need it.

Though thats only if you want to lol

Also they have higher capacity batteries than when they were initially released, not by much but its something to consider

 

[ShortySmalls]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zucciniknife

Ok thanks shorty, I'll probably try to find something with a bit better battery life

hmm, probably going to be a stretch to get much more battery life and still keep such a powerful laptop.

 

[Ryou-kun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortySmalls

hmm, probably going to be a stretch to get much more battery life and still keep such a powerful laptop.

There is one way to get that, but I believe some of the user might hate it.

That is getting a Macbook Pro 15 Retina or wait for 2014/2015 model that I am assuming it'll have IGZO Display and NVIDIA Maxwell.

To me, Macbook Pro is probably the only laptop that is powerful while maintaining a good battery life compare to most PC laptops.
You can do dual boot for Windows 8 if you want.

If the Op wants it...

 

[DuckieHo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryou-kun

To me, Macbook Pro is probably the only laptop that is powerful while maintaining a good battery life compare to most PC laptops.

That's illogical since MBP use the same hardware as PC laptops....

Same CPU, same RAM, same storage, same chipsets, equivalent displays in terms of power consumption....

 

[zucciniknife]

Definitely not going with apple. Some of the newer lenovos look pretty good. You guys might hate me for this, but I do think that the Razer Blade 2014 has some very attractive specs even with the price.

 

[TheReciever]

While it is minimalistic and can draw a crowd for that type of appeal. I just cant see it as a functional machine with its limited ports

I know its not available in the U.S. but the msi ge40-2oc is pretty nice as well

nevermind, the price is pretty outrageous in the U.S., it was 1000 in S. Korea without OS

 

[zucciniknife]

Ok, if you think of anything else let me know. Are you referring to the visual output ports on it?

 

[Lee17]

If he don't mind 17 in : http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-aorus-laptops-ct-95_51_462.html

If not, don't look at it

 

[TheReciever]

You might be interested in the W230ST

Its 13.3 inches though, 1080p screen, i7, 765

The Auros X7 is an excellent machine, but has horrible timing with mobile maxwell around the corner