Laptop Questions for those who are current - CAD/CAM based

[Zahnrad Kopf]

Hi @Zahnrad Kopf : Better to get it straight from the horse's mouth (i.e.-somebody who is using your particular apps, not me), but supposedly folks are seeing better performance from the Intel i series CPU's for CAD/CAM applications, and as a bonus, they're usually less expensive than Xeon systems. Again, maybe confirm this with your VAR-don't take my word for it.

I can't speak to the Lenovo vs. Dell question, but it sounds like plenty of folks here have had good experiences with both.

Agreed. I think that we're at a point in hardware where we'd likely do okay with any of the choices and it will likely be individual preference and druthers.

On that Dell you reference, can I assume that the SSD is your boot drive?

Yes, but I'll need to put a larger one in. It comes with a 512Mb SSD and my Alienware's boot drive is already using more than that. A 1Tb will fix it with plenty to spare. I've also got 2each 2Tb SSD drives in a RAID config for local data. ( as well as external NAS )

 

[mhajicek]

Why is the number pad disappearing?

I think a lot of people don't use it. I don't. Why have two full sets of numbers? You can always get a USB number pad if that's your jive.

 

[Mtndew]

Why is the number pad disappearing?

Because,millenials probably.
I use the Number pad all the time. Buying a standalone number pad would just take up more space and almost never be in the same spot and position in relationship to my keyboard for muscle memory. It would slide around, shift, etc..

 

[rootsandstones]

That is messed up that some of you get stuck buying a bloated over-priced OS because of 1 application.

What is the alternative? You need to program your CNC machines and all the good CAM's are windows-only. I use Linux at home and I like open source stuff but sometimes I found no alternative...

 

[rons]

What is the alternative? You need to program your CNC machines and all the good CAM's are windows-only. I use Linux at home and I like open source stuff but sometimes I found no alternative...

One manager I worker for said to me once about a project and a supplier. It sounds a little off but he was Chinese and he spoke like this:

They have you by the ball, buddy.

 

[mhajicek]

That is messed up that some of you get stuck buying a bloated over-priced OS because of 1 application.

Machine: $150,000
Software: $24,000
Computer: $3,000
OS: $0 - $150

I'll get whatever OS is needed to run the software I need to run my machine productively.

 

[rootsandstones]

One manager I worker for said to me once about a project and a supplier. It sounds a little off but he was Chinese and he spoke like this:

They have you by the ball, buddy.

I'm with you on this, but I'm looking for solutions not political opinions. Tell me how you're programming CNC machines withouth using Windows. To be honest I didn't research this topic a lot but as far as I know most CAD/CAM is windows only.

 

[Waakzaamheid]

That is messed up that some of you get stuck buying a bloated over-priced OS because of 1 application.

I think my eyes just rolled out of my head.

 

[rons]

I'm with you on this, but I'm looking for solutions not political opinions. Tell me how you're programming CNC machines withouth using Windows. To be honest I didn't research this topic a lot but as far as I know most CAD/CAM is windows only.

I would tell you if I knew. I just let you know that what I'm using is solid stuff. Boots up fast and shutdowns fast. Doesn't communicate with
Mother windows in Washington (or wherever) to keep track of your progress and ship you security patches out the waazoo.

When I moved off windows I used a dual boot machine (linux & windows 98, xp). The reason was that I would have to rely on trusted
windows programs. Comparing the OS's, you wouldn't know if you walked up to a screen which is which. Eventually what you are
using on windows will migrate to something on linux. I use development tools that do the same thing on linux that would cost quite a
lot on windows, $ 3-5k.

Refer to the movie Iron Man. The jet ride with the dancing girls and drinking champagne.
Now I look down and see others taking a bus ride through the desert with no air conditioning,
everybody next to their open Window sipping a paper cup half full of luke warm water.

"Hey fellas, I found a better ride up here".

 

[Waakzaamheid]

Why are you recommending Linux for someone looking for a CAD/CAM workstation if you don't know any CAD/CAM that works on it? Sure Linux is fine for a lot of things but so is Windows.

I really don't think the CAD/CAM developers have much incentive to develop for Linux. I don't think the demand is there.

 

[jaguar36]

In recent years alot of developers have dropped support for linux. NX for instance stopped supporting it in 2019.

 

[rons]

Ok, enough linux. I just like it because a windows app for what I do would cost $5k.

The laptop may look good in the reviews and you buy it. Is the internal fan noise bearable?
With connection speeds so fast and processors in the i7 x generation. I'm at gen 5 and 11.
The fans whirl up so fast on certain workloads and it sounds like Beale AFB. Choose a quiet laptop.

 

[Waakzaamheid]

In my experience, every high performance laptop sounds like a jet engine when they get going.

 

[jaguar36]

Ok, enough linux. I just like it because a windows app for what I do would cost $5k.

CAD software was never cheaper on Linux, in fact it was usually more.

 

[Freedommachine]

Tell me how you're programming CNC machines withouth using Windows.

 

[mhajicek]

View attachment 393182

Picture shows a window...

 

[Freedommachine]

Picture shows a window...

Unintentional irony lol. I guess it is impossible to program without windows

 

[gregormarwick]

In my experience, every high performance laptop sounds like a jet engine when they get going.

Sort of.

My friend has the latest HP ZBook with i9 and Quadro RTX provided to him (not optional, or he wouldn't have it) by his work.

When it has ANY kind of workload happening it throttles like crazy, fans start screaming, everything grinds to a halt. I have seen it ramp the fans up just sitting on the desktop idle.

My slightly older Macbook pro with i9 and Radeon Pro runs circles around it with the same workload. It's so much faster it's a joke, and the fans are quiet enough to not be annoying at all.

 

[memphisjed]

Sort of.

My friend has the latest HP ZBook with i9 and Quadro RTX provided to him...

My slightly older Macbook pro with i9 and Radeon Pro runs circles around it with the same workload. It's so much faster it's a joke, and the fans are quiet enough to not be annoying at all.

The MacBook is impressive, except they forgot the number pad! Also, Radeon pro vs quadro is not a fair comparison...

 

[jaguar36]

Sort of.

My friend has the latest HP ZBook with i9 and Quadro RTX provided to him (not optional, or he wouldn't have it) by his work.

When it has ANY kind of workload happening it throttles like crazy, fans start screaming, everything grinds to a halt. I have seen it ramp the fans up just sitting on the desktop idle.

LIkely what's going on is he's got a bunch of 'security' crap running in the background that his companies IT group requires that wrecks the computer.

I've got basically the same laptop at home and at work, and at home it works great, fans will only come on when its doing something like calculating toolpaths or whatever. At work its a piece of shit. Everything runs much slower and sometimes the fans will just randomly come on. If I look in the task manager there is a full page of just McAfee crap that is running. Also Outlook will frequently be maxing out a core just all the time.