Topic: Please help me shop for new laptop and monitor!

[yarnstormer]

Hi all, not a frequent poster here tho I know this is where I should check if I have a puzzling issue with cad.

I am self employed, working from a home office and carrying a laptop to my primary customer's office several times a week. I'm currently running acadlt, revitlt, very lightly using photoshop elements and adobe illustrator. It is likely that I will add on Carlson Survey and possibly upgrade to revit in the future.

Presently, I am using an 17" HP envy laptop that is about 2 years old. Really, it seems ok for what I do but faster is always better.

SPECS:
HP ENVY 17334 TouchScreen Laptop Intel Core i7 16GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive Demo Unit

It's been a good year and I need to spend some money to avoid falling off the subsidy cliff.
Plus, I want an already up and running backup computer with all of my programs installed so I don't lose valuable time if anything happens to my machine. I would make the old computer my travel machine as well.
I have to use a laptop for portability and it has to have a 17" screen and number keyboard or pad or whatever you call it when there is a keypad to the right.

There aren't a lot of shopping choices here. Costco, Best Buy, Walmart, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples. I looked around for a supercharged laptop and this was what I came up with. BestBuy did have some supposedly "built for cad" laptops but they were not 17". I have to purchase this year - ie pretty quick!

So, I bought this computer but have not opened it yet. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-black/6045100.p?skuId=6045100
It was on sale for $300 less when I bought it.

SPECS:
MSI - 17.3" Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 - 1TB Hard Drive + 128GB Solid State Drive - Black

Is there any reason it is not a good choice? My only personal problems with it is I'm not a huge fan of non glare screens and there is no cd/dvd drive which I did not notice when I bought it. Duh. I do have an external dvd drive I can use if necessary. I backup to external drives so I don't burn dvds. Ever.

I'm thinking of also upgrading my monitor in my home office. I would like to get larger one, the best display possible for my old eyes. I want to get a monitor and laptop stand so I can use the laptop as a 2nd monitor and free up some desk space plus raise the laptop to beside the big monitor.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HSJSAQ6/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B01HSJSAQ6&pd_rd_r=a9c22f37-e807-11e7-8a4a-f37621261a75&pd_rd_w=O6Bh9&pd_rd_wg=bMQcY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=Z292RZQ5CH3V1MQJT9HQ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=0d036f2a-db56-478a-b511-f59f2469d474&pf_rd_i=desktop

I know this says "27" is the max but some of the reviews say they have used larger. Hmmm. I would make an adjustable height larger monitor a priority in this case.

The current monitor is an HP 27er. It was about $120. I bought it when I first started working at home and realized that a laptop screen was not going to work all day!
I would spend quite a bit more if the display was significantly better. I certainly think a larger display would be good for revit. 30"? 32"

I appreciate any opinions and suggestions you all might have.

[MickD]

I think what you bought is fine, i7 core and an SSD are the key parts for good performance. I haven't used a PC with a SSD yet but have seen them in action and they are a lost faster on loading files and bootup

[Kyle Reese]

Your current setup is only two years old yet you are already thinking of upgrading?  I'm not sure I see the need given the software you are currently using.  If you are adamant this is going to happen then visit the Xi Computer website and take a look at the laptops they have to offer. 

[Jeff_M]

I have 3 MSI laptops (i7, 17", 16-32gb RAM), although I opted for the machines with larger SSD's, as Windows will eat up much of a 128gb drive. They perform quite well using Civil3D 2016 & 2018 and Infraworks.

[BIGAL]

I would look more seriously at your software, throw away acadLT and look at say Briscad, I am in Australia and have a Civil software sales background, there is lots of stuff now available for Briscad and at nothing like the Autocad CIV3d price. Carlson may work on it.

Once you go to a programmable software base you will never look back, no need for a new laptop, we are talking seconds v's 20 minutes manually to do tasks.

This what we use www.civilsitedesign.com.au

[yarnstormer]

Your current setup is only two years old yet you are already thinking of upgrading?  I'm not sure I see the need given the software you are currently using.  If you are adamant this is going to happen then visit the Xi Computer website and take a look at the laptops they have to offer.

Good points - but I am self employed and need to keep my MAGI low enough that I don't lose my healthcare subsidy. It's always something...

[Crank]

[…] I opted for the machines with larger SSD's, as Windows will eat up much of a 128gb drive. […]

This!

An SSD should be double in size.
My previous PC had all kind of problems with a SSD of 128Gb. It has improved, but at the time many plugins and programs could only be installed on the C-drive.