Hello
Starting in September a professional degree in CAD/CAM, I am looking for a cheap laptop to use Catia and Solidworks for the 6 months that my university training will last.
I find Thinkpad w530 really affordable but the year of release (2012) puts me off a bit. Are these PCs, which were the reference of their time, still performing in 2020 for the current versions of CAD software?
https://www.cdiscount.com/informatique/ordinateurs-pc-portables/lenovo-thinkpad-w530-2447-core-i7-3720qm-2-6/f-1070992-len0887619170139.html#mpos=0|mp
Thank you for your answers:)
- W7 or 8: you have to start by making the switch to W10 so the beginning of probable potential problems;
- 8GB of RAM is the minimum to run W10 with 2-3 office apps so I can't even imagine with CAD software
- 240GB of SSD: it's just enough to install W and software, you need another disk for the data
You would have to define your maximum budget (500€ given the configuration you have spotted?).
The question of cheap machines comes up regularly on this forum, there are a few addresses of sites offering quality refurbished equipment, one of the most recent: https://www.lynkoa.com/forum/solidworks/utilisation-pc-dell-e6540-pour-solidwork but I haven't seen a laptop in the workstations.
3 Likes
Hello
I'm finally going to wait until the start of the school year to see if a laptop is really essential to me since I can run these programs properly on my tower.
Thank you for your answer and the link, it will help me if in September I have to dive back into it.