Help please - college laptop

kingfisherblue

My son is on a BTech level 3 Mecahnical and Design Engineering course. He is eligible for a bursary.

Under the bursary scheme, he can either have a Dell Chromebook 11 3180, BTX paid for completely, or a Dell Vostro 3568 for 50% of the cost. There are no other options available (although I am trying to speak to the college about this).

Chromebook:
http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/chromebook-11-3180-laptop/pd

Vostro:
http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/vostro-15-3568-laptop/pd

Dell tell me that neither will support AutoDesk, specifically AutoCad and Fusion 360, which is the software that he is using. Obviously it isn't worth getting something that won't support the software, but Dell have recommended the Precision series, which are considerably more expensive. Is this just marketing, to persuade me to pay more, or are they correct and neither will support AutoDesk? It seems odd for a specialist college to have a choice of two unsuitable laptops (although I realise that they probaly receive a discount).

We have to decide by next week.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks for takig the time to read.

Heedtheadvice

Firstly I would go for a laptop rather than Chromebook oawing to facility levels

As far as the laptop is concerned:
Autodesk say (for latest versions) win 10 requirement is 64bit. Ensure that what you buy is not 32bit. (He might use a student edition at college? Maybe check that?)
4GB mem (as per base Vostro- currently advertised at £359 by Dell) is minimum, extended memory to 8GB would be advisable. Dell might fit for you.

Apart from the above and given the limitations of the laptop screen size (resolution fine but overall size a tad small for detailed drawings - buy separate external monitor later?) I do not see what the problem really is. Perhaps ask Dell to clarify why they do not recommend?

Given the current offer price by Dell is the college offer worthwhile, is it under the £359 ....and can you choose better laptop from Dell for very little extra? Such as extra memory.....

grumpycrab

Others will clarify but the minimum graphic requirement for Fusion is 512MB GDDR RAM. In low spec laptops (e.g. without dedicated graphics hardware) this memory is pinched from the main memory and in order to be able to "pinch" 512MB you [STRIKE]will need[/STRIKE]should be looking for 8GB of main memory.

kingfisherblue

Thank you both for your replies. My son does use the student version at college. There is no opotion for any other laptop or to add memory etc. College state a price of £407, of which the bursary pay half and I would pay half. The price on the Dell website is plus VAT, so comes out more expensive.

I have an old monitor that he can connect to the laptop for a bigger screen - I can't remember the size, but he can also attach to the TV screen (32").

I'll pass the details over to him so that he can check intot he specs more.

Thank you both for your replies - much appreciated

Johnmcl7

I agree with the comments above, the Chromebook is entirely unsuitable for that use and the Vostro is not powerful enough, it only has an integrated graphics card whereas the CAD packages usually need a semi-decent dedicated graphics card. I assume the college has chosen those two machines as they're suitable for light work which will cover most students' uses.

The Precision series is the workstation range from Dell for CAD work and similar but they're overkill for a student, I'd consider something like this:

http://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptop-and-2-in-1-pcs/inspiron-15-7000-gaming-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-7577-laptop

From what I can gather, the software should run on the consumer geforce graphics cards. This machine is obviously a lot more expensive than the Vostro but the GTX 1050 graphics card is a decent entry level graphics card.

It's definitely worth asking for any other recommendations from the college for PCs with suitable performance.

John

AndyPix

Yep - We had exactly this scenario for one of our travelling engineers.
We normally provide Dell Latitude's but even the 7470's with better spec than that Vostro would only just about run Autodesk.
When i say only just run, i mean the software would start but it was woefully slow and pretty much unusable.
We ended up getting him a Precision 7510 with Nvidia Quadro Graphics card , with 4GB GDDR5 (n16p-q3)


Which runs like a dream.. however was VERY pricey
I agree with the above, surely the college should offer something that is fit for task !!?


I also agree its a great idea to look for recommendations from others doing the same course, or maybe the teachers ..


Good luck with it

kingfisherblue

Thank you.

Unfortunately the college are so far adamant that the choice is from the Chromebook or the Vostro - nothing else. My son has now spoken to his Head of Year to express his concerns about neither being suitable. He has said that he will find out if it is possible to choose another laptop, although my son has already been told that it is not possible.

I don't have pots of money, and don't want to waste any on a laptop that isn't going to be suitable.

kingfisherblue

AndyPix, my son wants to be an engineer. He enjoys it, and is keen to do well. I agree that the college should offer something suitable, but it may be down to money. On the other hand, there's no point wasting it on something that won't do what is required. The above laptops may be suitable for some of the students, but not for those needing AutoDesk. It's something that he's really enjoying at the moment, and obviously I want to encourage him. He's actively seeking work experience and future employment at the moment.

AlSto

Instead of wasting money on the Vostro, perhaps something like this http://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-inspiron-15-5558-i5-5200u-2-20ghz-8gb-1tb-920m-15-6-fhd-w10h-1yr-rtb-wty-mln298/ for £295 would be better.

He can pop an SSD in it for a bit more cash.

May be ok for AutoCAD 2017. Don't know about 2018.

neilmcl

kingfisherblue wrote: »

AndyPix, my son wants to be an engineer. He enjoys it, and is keen to do well. I agree that the college should offer something suitable, but it may be down to money. On the other hand, there's no point wasting it on something that won't do what is required. The above laptops may be suitable for some of the students, but not for those needing AutoDesk. It's something that he's really enjoying at the moment, and obviously I want to encourage him. He's actively seeking work experience and future employment at the moment.

Does he actually need to have access to AutoDesk etc via the laptop or its it really just for day to day stuff and coursework. What do the other students do, surely they're not all running around with top of the range, commercial laptops?

I would advise speaking to the course head to find out exactly what tools your son is required to have to complete the course.

System

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Dell tell me that neither will support AutoDesk, specifically AutoCad and Fusion 360, which is the software that he is using. Obviously it isn't worth getting something that won't support the software, but Dell have recommended the Precision series, which are considerably more expensive. Is this just marketing, to persuade me to pay more, or are they correct and neither will support AutoDesk? It seems odd for a specialist college to have a choice of two unsuitable laptops (although I realise that they probaly receive a discount).

We have to decide by next week.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks for takig the time to read.

None of that software will run on the Chromebook period. It will run on the Dell Vostro, it more than meets the minimum specifications. With the Precision it can be configured with a nVidia Quadro CAD orientated graphics card which comes with custom drivers for software like Autocad and when doing 3D modelling and viewing/rotating/zooming said models it would be a lot faster. However for the level of modelling etc that he'll be doing the Vostro will do the job just fine.