Laptop recommendations for autocad

[WesleyDB]

So recently been on the job hunt after a long time, realised I'm missing out on alot by not being able to use autocad, decided its something I'd like to teach myself in my spare time.

These are the system requirements was wondering what laptop or desktop (prefer laptop) you guys would recommend, also where would be the best place. I'm from Durban.

System requirements for AutoCAD 2021 including Specialized Toolsets (Windows)
Operating System	64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 8.1 and Windows 10. See Autodesk's Product Support Lifecycle for support information.
Processor	Basic: 2.5–2.9 GHz processor Recommended: 3+ GHz processor Multiple processors: Supported by the application
Memory	Basic: 8 GB Recommended: 16 GB
Display Resolution	Conventional Displays: 1920 x 1080 with True Color High Resolution & 4K Displays: Resolutions up to 3840 x 2160 supported on Windows 10, 64-bit systems (with capable display card)
Display Card	Basic: 1 GB GPU with 29 GB/s Bandwidth and DirectX 11 compliant Recommended: 4 GB GPU with 106 GB/s Bandwidth and DirectX 11 compliant
Disk Space	7.0 GB
Network	Deployment via Deployment Wizard. The license server and all workstations that will run applications dependent on network licensing must run TCP/IP protocol. Either Microsoft® or Novell TCP/IP protocol stacks are acceptable. Primary login on workstations may be Netware or Windows. In addition to operating systems supported for the application, the license server will run on Windows® Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019 editions.
Pointing Device	MS-Mouse compliant
.NET Framework	.NET Framework version 4.8 or later

 

[saor]

What kind of work are you going to use autocad for? Presumably if you're just drafting you can get away with a much lower spec pc that if you're doing a lot of 3d stuff.

 

[RedViking]

Why do you want to use Autocad?

What industry?

What is your budget for the laptop?

Technically you would want a workstation. But it is a lot more pricey than a "gaming" notebook.

However if you just planning to draw 2D lines with that ancient software a good gaming notebook will be fine.

 

[saor]

Why the hell do you want to use Autocad?

What industry?

Was also curious. Can understand it for drafting, but for anything 3d I'm not sure why anyone would use it.

 

[RedViking]

Was also curious. Can understand it for drafting, but for anything 3d I'm not sure why anyone would use it.

Well... It has "3D" tools.

Sorry OP. It's none of my business what you do with the software or what software you work on. But if you planning to build a career, Autocad is ancient, even for its modern features.
The industries are moving on to better designing and collaboration.

Look at other Autodesk products as an
example;

Inventer
Fusion
Civil
Revit

Information Modeling is the future.

But without knowing what it is you want to do and what you hope to achieve it is difficult to make suggestions.

 

[garyc]

This is the sort of work that the Dell Precision and HP ZBook are made for.

 

[RedViking]

This is the sort of work that the Dell Precision and HP ZBook are made for.

Although it might be way overkill. Depending on the budget and what exactly it is OP is planning to draw.

Something like a Dell G5 should even be more than enough.

 

[WesleyDB]

I'm a tradesman ( fitter and Turner) so it will be for mechanical Draughting of machine components. Also for 3d modelling of the components. Reason why autocad is i find I get asked that question alot, not sure if the companies are just generalising the word to be autocad to mean any drawing software. Is around 12k-15k enough or am I dreaming at the price?