Home office?

I'm thinking I can get more done at home (I used to work at home and loved
it) and am trying figure out what to buy. I will be designing with
Solidworks but also need MS Office. My assemblies aren't large - maybe 20
parts tops.

I'm considering a laptop but I'm just not convinced mobility is necessary.
I'll pay a bit more for the convenience though.

Any suggestions on the latest, greatest, and cheapest? I'm old and tired
and just don't have the desire to keep up computers. I'm not really
interested in building something. Dell? What model?

TIA.

 

What is your budget?

 

I got a brand new Dell M70 off of e-bay last year for $1300. I bumped
the memory up to 2gb (it had 512mb) and am using it at this precise
moment to do what you ask. It doesn't have the hi-res display (1600 x
1200 IIRF) as that option nearly doubles the cost. Look on e-bay or
the Dell refurb list for options. It does have the nvidia quaddro
video adapter, so it could drive a much higher resolution external
monitor.

I've just about maxed out the hard drive, but I can get a 80gb fast
notebook drive for $100 nowadays. That should keep me for another
year ;>

If I was using this at home, I would buy one of the docking stations
and use that in conjunction with a real keyboard, mouse and big
honking monitor.

Good luck,
===========================================================================
Chris

 

I 2nd the Dell laptop choice, and moved exclusively to a Dell
Inspiration 8000 laptop when I bought SolidWorks 2000 years back. It
still functions well, though it is merely a backup in case disaster
ocurrs at this point. Unless some power issue comes up with massive
assemblies, I don't see a need to leave the m60-m70 laptop for a
desktop. If you like to do a lease-purchase, Dell will sell you a
brand new spankin' M90 for a few hundred clams a month.

Since then I've upgraded to the Dell M60, 1.7 ghz, and have maxed the
memory and a fast hard drive, and it is now 2+ years old and still a
work horse that I can move around reliably. I have a friend doing
medical hardware design, who still works efficiently on his M50 at his
home office and the company he does most of his work for, and their
vendors.

I just do not let the M70 on the Internet, except for critical updates
from Microsoft, if I really think I need them. This issue is just me,
though, as most people set up adequate firwalls and anti-malware
programs. Those programs can slow down SolidWorks, though.

I personally let my MacBook Pro do all my Internet work (&
incendentally use it for SolidWorks on the road now, too, as they've
finally made the move to the Intel CPU).

Bo

 

if you're after a dell, try the 380.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=380tmin&s=bsd

3.0~3.8ghz p4 (not dual core)
nVidia fx540
2gb ram (min)

these systems run pretty good.

 

$2,500

 

Thanks Chris.

 

In addition, if you look for the Special Deals on the Dell website, you
can sometimes find Refurbished, or "last year's" models for very
attractive prices.

Bo

 

Don't forget the new M20, lower end laptop workstation. Better price
point, and it sounds like the work load isn't too heavy.
I'm not building anymore computers either!

 

I ended up with an M70.
Second flat monitor
Docking station

About $3,300.

Thanks all.