Am I looking impossible setup?

I need a laptop with hi durability, good batterylife (about 5-6 hours office use) and very good performance on 3D-modeling and engineering.

Is this too much for a one laptop. I will carry it with me very much at the school and between my work, so I prefer 13"-14" display. I own extra monitors at home and work so it really doesn´t need a bigger screen.

I have searched some advice here and found couple very good but I still would like to know if there is extra options. Next models have been on my mind last days X301 and T400

Correct me if I am wrong but I have seen following cons and pros with those models

T400:
(+Good to run autocad mayan or solidworks??)
-Doesn´t have display port, only VGA. ( Does it really makes the big difference between VGA and DVI or HDMI?)

X301:
+Very light
+batterylife
+display port
- a bit expensive
(- bad performance compared to T400?)

So briefly I can say that laptob would be always by my side and it has to tolerate (hopefully not) little damage caused by normal life. But still because of the work I do it should run fluently autocad, solidworks etc..

And I am now using new macbook 13" laptop (got still 2 months left) but would need little more performance and windows base because I am used to work with it. One option is of course to buy 15" MBP and it could be very good option with windows alongside. Weight still just 2,5 not so bad but compared to X301 very much and to T400 pretty much.

What will happen to prices during these 2-6 months? what about the setups of Lenovo computers? I can still hold to august with old laptop if I have to. What are your opinions? Is there value for waiting or not so much matter.
Next laptop I am planning to buy should hold up at least 4 years.

Thank you in advance

 

fill in the faq itd be easier to answer

thanks

 

Without knowing your budget, I'd bet the Sony Z satisfies 99% of what you're looking for perfectly.. check it out!

 

Yeah, the Sony Z-series would be a perfect fit for you, although it is quite expensive (around $2000) Your next best option is the Lenovo T400. The battery life is pretty good with the 9-cell (around 9 hours) and only for around $1000. Check it out.

 

Dear Pac,
You seem to have made a good choice in the W400. Order it with the heavy duty battery. Then run tests on the insuring that you have a margin.

Renee

 

Ok, I still add this one here.

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General Questions

1) What is your budget?
around 2000$

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
13"-14"

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
inside European union. propably from germany.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I have only had two Fujitsus but need something more durable.

5) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
I heard Lenovos are built to last so thats why I am typing here.

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
-yep. everyday with me

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games or types of games?
Very little. Two times a year basic strategygames like C&C 3

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
The more the better. at least 5 hours of office use.

9) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
-I propably need to try the keyboard and touchpad before buying but it wont be a problem to order from web.

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Win XP showed up good and Vista also ok after configuration. No matter between these.

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
a. WXGA – 1280x800 or occasionally 1280x768; For people who like big text and icons that are easy to read. Less stuff fits on the screen, which translates into more scrolling.
b. WXGA+ – 1440x900; A modest bump over WXGA. Text and icons are a bit smaller. A little more stuff fits on the screen.
c. WSXGA+ – 1680x1050; The middle ground. Again, text and icons are smaller than WXGA+, and more stuff fits onto the screen. Good for having applications open side by side, like a web browser while playing a video.
d. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Very small text and icons, that can be hard to read. Lots of stuff fits on the screen, which means less scrolling. Good for applications that require a high level of detail like CAD or Photo Editing.

WXGA+ or WSXGA. You tell me if WSXGA is too much for that little screen!

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
-LED and matte display. But glossy can be suggested too.

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
-First performance and specs then design

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
-About to buy now but can hold on 6 months if needed.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 80GB to 500GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
-I want fast to use laptop so SSD would be good but need about 150 gb of storage. I own extrenal usb mass storage so not so important to have big hard drive. Indeed if laptop uses turbo memory then SSD also not so important.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
-DVD and CD burner.
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Ok. hopefully this helps. A bit same data as I wrote already. But thanks for the responses already. I looked up the Sony Z-series option. Not so bad idea at all. But what you think about of its DDR2 memory and glossy display for graphic use? Pretty slow hard drive indeed.

 

w400?? where can i get one?

 

Probably meant the W500.

I would tend to recommend this as well.

The W500 has a FireGL GPU and is thus far better suited for Engineering Applications (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, etc.) than the T400. DisplayPort is also included on the W500.

I realize there is a size/weight penalty (and you lose LED), but if Engineering graphics performance is important, it probably is your best option.

Unfortunately, I do not know of ANY 13 or 14" laptops with workstation grade GPUs (FireGL/QuadroFX).

 

i'd get the W500.

thinkpad support and thinkvantage software suite is great .

thinkpad has nice keyboard layout
has powerful gpu (ISV-certified) and memmory
long battery life with extended battery, although im not sure it will reach 5-hour. it might do 5-6 if you put it on integrated graphic mode.
great wireless
yes, it is very well design, with internal frame instead of exoskeleton. which makes it very rugged. shock mounted harddrive.
edit: ah forgot to add, very little junkware! my x300 comes with only norton (uninstalled, just the setup file were given), office trial, and google picasa. that is all i can remember on top of my head! very easy to remove.

Z-series is a nice laptop although i dont think it is well suited to cad work

 

Ok. Thank you by so far. Maybe I will take a close look with W500. I tought that already and was about to buy one but then came to toughts if there is still more ergonomic model available.
If we are going to 15" displays I see MacBook Pro very good option having also average batterylife. Also it has a great specs and it is lighter than W500 and can be run with windows also. Of course W500 has Open Fire GL for 3D-work but does it make it that much better. The price would be pretty equal with macbook pro. Why there is no W500 with LED panel?

 

If you want to run Engineering apps, I would highly recommend the w500 over the MBP (FireGL card, higher resolution, Windows, etc.). The Mac has a prettier display, but the T500 has higher resolution. Battery life won't be a problem with the W500 (especially if you switch to integrated graphics when on battery).

I'm not sure why Lenovo doesn't offer the W500 with an LED panel. It just seems they haven't yet made the full switch to LED (x200, W500, and W700 are CCFL only, and most other models still have a CCFL option [probably dominates in topseller models]).