i got my left over money from college, and want to buy a good laptop, i was thinking on an alienware m14x, or a macbook pro

but im not a computer guy, so i would need suggestions on choosing a laptop

budget would be from $800-$1400,

thank you

Never buy either of those, terribly over priced. Unless you are an apple fanboy. What are you looking to do with it?

what are you trying to do with it?

well, i would love one that would be fast, also one that you could play games without problems, and one that could use solidworks and doesnt not slow down, basicly to design using solidworks or autocad

So an al around fast laptop, meaning Processor, graphics, SSD, and memory. Hold on a bit I'll look for one.

Before considering a Mac, make sure all your software applications that you want to run, can run on osx. Or use bootcamp, dual boot, and install windows xp/7 on the mac as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152258

Should work pretty well. But it will get a bit hot being a quad core in a laptop. 8gb ram would keep lag down when doing cad. GT540 for graphics on games and cad. 640gb hard drive and you could throw an SSD in for a huge performance boost.

This computer passes all requirements for Solidworks 2012-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214412

If it runs glitchy, be sure to upgrade video driver to newest version when using Solidworks.

if you want a little more speed and still under $800, check this out-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214415

Core i7 line, pretty nice!

would this ones be good,

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Steel+Gray/2821558.p?id=1218354577585&skuId=2821558

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+XPS+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+17.3%22+Display+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive+-+Silver/2817237.p?id=1218353394481&skuId=2817237

This computer passes all requirements for Solidworks 2012-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214412

If it runs glitchy, be sure to upgrade video driver to newest version when using Solidworks.

if you want a little more speed and still under $800, check this out-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214415

Core i7 line, pretty nice!

Neither of those have a dedicated graphics card = fail. You need a dedicated card to do gaming.

would this ones be good,

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Steel+Gray/2821558.p?id=1218354577585&skuId=2821558

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+XPS+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+17.3%22+Display+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive+-+Silver/2817237.p?id=1218353394481&skuId=2817237

Hp and dell are meh. And those displays arent a very high resolution. The msi one I recommended would be good. I hate a 1920 x 1080 res

This computer passes all requirements for Solidworks 2012-

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834214412

If it runs glitchy, be sure to upgrade video driver to newest version when using Solidworks.

if you want a little more speed and still under $800, check this out-

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834214415

Core i7 line, pretty nice!

Neither of those have a dedicated graphics card = fail. You need a dedicated card to do gaming.

No.. not if you do Cloud Gaming which is what i was talking about earlier.

It is a very nice technology that allows a user to save money on the requirement of upgrading hardware over time to keep up with gaming technology.

You could a laptop purchased 5 years ago with this service and 10 years from now, it would still be plenty fast.. Minus the requirement for Solidworks...

I'm money conscious, just trying to find the best deal for the price.

ok thanks guys, ill just have to wait until i am able to use the money, i barely deposit today'

This computer passes all requirements for Solidworks 2012-

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834214412

If it runs glitchy, be sure to upgrade video driver to newest version when using Solidworks.

if you want a little more speed and still under $800, check this out-

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834214415

Core i7 line, pretty nice!

Neither of those have a dedicated graphics card = fail. You need a dedicated card to do gaming.

No.. not if you do Cloud Gaming which is what i was talking about earlier.

It is a very nice technology that allows a user to save money on the requirement of upgrading hardware over time to keep up with gaming technology.

You could a laptop purchased 5 years ago with this service and 10 years from now, it would still be plenty fast.. Minus the requirement for Solidworks...

I'm money conscious, just trying to find the best deal for the price.

I'd never buy a laptop without a dedicated card, just bad idea in my opinion. Even with solid works and cad it would suffer from the intel 3k.

according to Solidworks' website it passes.. and not the minimum requirements either.. the recommended requirements.

according to Solidworks' website it passes.. and not the minimum requirements either.. the recommended requirements.

It would work but not smoothly. He wants to do gaming too, I would have a lot more confidence running my own dedicated card. I've been through the whole computer stage and I've built many desktops and laptops. I know my stuff.