A friend friend of mine is planning to get a laptop(new or fairly used) this month but he doesn't want to buy a laptop that won't have the capacity or ability to support all the programmes he wants to mainly run on the laptop.

He has no experience on laptop specifications neither do I, He's planning to Learn AutoCAD 2D&3D, graphic design, web design, programming and a few computer related stuffs so he needs a system that can accommodate all the programmes mentioned above but doesn't know the minimum requirements he need and what to look out for when buying a laptop.

Advises on the minimum specifications and price range for both new and fairly used laptops are really needed. Thanks in anticipation.

PS: Are there any special features a system needs to run these programmes?

It all depends on his budget.

Processor speed of 2Ghz above (this is cause of AUTO CAD), 250GB HDD Minimum, 4GB Ram minimum (2GB can still work but 4GB would be better), battery life of minimum 2Hours, Intel Dual Core above (NEVER get an AMD Processor), 1GB minimum Dedicated Graphics.

Now this does not mean that others wont work but this is what i feel should be the list of what he should get.
But if he has the finance, then go for something higher like a CORE I3 - I7, With 8GB RAM, 3Ghz Processor, Nividia GxForce Graphics, 1TB HDD.

AUTOCAD AND PROGRAMMING SOFTWARES are heavy... well for me i use a 1.67Ghz, 2GB Ram, Intel Core duo 2, 320HDD and 1Gb dedicated graphic memory and it wokes fine for me (i do Graphic designs, web design, programming, even animation) but i wont advice that because of AUTOCAD.
I Hope this helps. based if he has the money for something higher, why not... he can go for it

Thanks so much man, grevotech I really appreciate the time you took to type that.
Is there a way to check all the above mentioned specs on a fairly used system like in the setup when buying? I think the specs of a new one will be on the pack or something.

Any laptop with above 1.5ghz, above 2gb ram and above 100gb hard drive can run those stuffs. This craze of dedicated graphics makes people to waste their money unnecessarily. You only need dedicated when you want to run VFX or video producing/rendering.

Go to YouTube and see low spec laptops even playing GTA V at medium settings

computerboy:
Any laptop with above 1.5ghz, above 2gb ram and above 100gb hard drive can run those stuffs. This craze of dedicated graphics makes people to waste their money unnecessarily. You only need dedicated when you want to run VFX or video producing/rendering.

Go to YouTube and see low spec laptops even playing GTA V at medium settings

Maybe for gta5 alone, and besides it requires mods which causes the game to run on extremely low settings. Dedicated graphics is not a bad idea.

Oluwaseunsodiq:
Maybe for gta5 alone, and besides it requires mods which causes the game to run on extremely low settings. Dedicated graphics is not a bad idea.

It's not a bad idea my guy. I sell laptops and a few times I've seen people stressing their budget to get a laptop with dedicated graphics card when they actually don't need it.

What I'm saying in essence is, get it if you have the money. But if it's all about gaming, I've played a lot of games and I've not seen a game an integrated Intel hd 4000 cannot play of course with a good ram size.

computerboy:
Any laptop with above 1.5ghz, above 2gb ram and above 100gb hard drive can run those stuffs. This craze of dedicated graphics makes people to waste their money unnecessarily. You only need dedicated when you want to run VFX or video producing/rendering.

Go to YouTube and see low spec laptops even playing GTA V at medium settings

That's because gta v is optimised for that ( Pes included)

SuperSuave:
Thanks so much man, grevotech I really appreciate the time you took to type that.
Is there a way to check all the above mentioned specs on a fairly used system like in the setup when buying? I think the specs of a new one will be on the pack or something.

Yeah Right click on My Computer on desktop and go to Properties. You would see it there. Open My computer you can see the HDD. For Graphics u can just run CMD and type Dxdiag and then go to the display section but you can get all details from The properties of "My Computer"

computerboy:


It's not a bad idea my guy. I sell laptops and a few times I've seen people stressing their budget to get a laptop with dedicated graphics card when they actually don't need it.

What I'm saying in essence is, get it if you have the money. But if it's all about gaming, I've played a lot of games and I've not seen a game an integrated Intel hd 4000 cannot play of course with a good ram size.

seriously you read my mind my advice get a good laptop but of course if the reason why u need the laptop is to play game then u will definitely need dedicated graphics card otherwise don't break your pocket because of dedicated graphics card because if what you want is all you mention above then 90% of the time you will never use that dedicated graphics card the only thing I don't do on my laptop is auto card which i am not into but others ... programing , graphics etc it's flawless and no dedicated graphics on it

Quite a number of nairalanders have given a good suggestion and advise on this topic my point is what's your friend budget 40k, 50k,70k,80k,100k.
If he or she actually intended to use the laptop for autocard its professional advisable he or she goes for Core i3,Core i5,Core i7 laptops the second thing to consider is the laptop memory harddisk size and finally the dedicated graphic memory size.

Example as this wouldn't be a bad idea Core i5 2.50GHz speed, 500GB Harddisk size, 6GB DDR3 memory, Webcam, Bluetooth, Wifi, DVD/RW+ "15.6" inches wide screen finally the dedicated graphic memory should be either 1gb or 2gb dedicated graphics memory.

You can reach me via this number for assistance i can be of good help 08023900627,08092390033.
Thanks
David.

Thanks for your contributions.

The guy doesn't have much money, he's looking to spend 40 to 50k. Is it possible he gets a system that can run the above mentioned programs and has 1GB dedicated graphics memory?

davidadenrele
femarse
computerboy
grevotech
Singapore1
Oluwaseunsodiq

SuperSuave:
Thanks for your contributions.

The guy doesn't have much money, he's looking to spend 40 to 50k. Is it possible he gets a system that can run the above mentioned programs and has 1GB dedicated graphics

Give him my contact to chat me on whatsapp. There's a deal I'll give him. Contact is in my signature

SuperSuave:
Thanks for your contributions.

The guy doesn't have much money, he's looking to spend 40 to 50k. Is it possible he gets a system that can run the above mentioned programs and has 1GB dedicated graphics memory?

davidadenrele
femarse
computerboy
grevotech
Singapore1
Oluwaseunsodiq

like I said the only program I have not run on my laptop is auto cad that is because I don't use it or have any use for it am not in that line my system uses integrated memory as against the craze of dedicated memory but if he has the money let him buy dedicated memory laptop otherwise settle for something near it
good processor speed
4 gig of ram
320 to 500 HDD or ssd

computerboy:
Any laptop with above 1.5ghz, above 2gb ram and above 100gb hard drive can run those stuffs. This craze of dedicated graphics makes people to waste their money unnecessarily. You only need dedicated when you want to run VFX or video producing/rendering.

Go to YouTube and see low spec laptops even playing GTA V at medium settings

Hello Computerboy. I plan to purchase a laptop for graphic design training. The laptop will be for graphic design only and will not be used for gaming (I don't play games at all), and other activities such as video editing. Please, do I still need a laptop with dedicated graphic card or a computer with good processor without graphics card will do since the system will not be used for gaming?

jiorhemen:

Hello Computerboy. I plan to purchase a laptop for graphic design training. The laptop will be for graphic design only and will not be used for gaming (I don't play games at all), and other activities such as video editing. Please, do I still need a laptop with dedicated graphic card or a computer with good processor without graphics card will do since the system will not be used for gaming?

Software have changed over the years and developers require crazy specs for their software's... you'll need a dedicated laptop. whether i5 or i7 doesn't matter. but 2gb dedicated can serve you if your budget is low, otherwise go for 4gb dedicated

computerboy:


It's not a bad idea my guy. I sell laptops and a few times I've seen people stressing their budget to get a laptop with dedicated graphics card when they actually don't need it.

What I'm saying in essence is, get it if you have the money. But if it's all about gaming, I've played a lot of games and I've not seen a game an integrated Intel hd 4000 cannot play of course with a good ram size.

Have you heard about xplane?

computerboy:


Software have changed over the years and developers require crazy specs for their software's... you'll need a dedicated laptop. whether i5 or i7 doesn't matter. but 2gb dedicated can serve you if your budget is low, otherwise go for 4gb dedicated

Thanks very much for your response. I appreciate

computerboy:
Any laptop with above 1.5ghz, above 2gb ram and above 100gb hard drive can run those stuffs. This craze of dedicated graphics makes people to waste their money unnecessarily. You only need dedicated when you want to run VFX or video producing/rendering.

Go to YouTube and see low spec laptops even playing GTA V at medium settings

Abi oo.....I taya for Nigerians ehnn....dem go dey find dedicated graphics for simple thing like photo editing. Several games will run flawlessly on integrated graphics sef. Like u said above, Only time ull need a GPU is for advanced video editing, rendering and maybe animation.

computerboy:


It's not a bad idea my guy. I sell laptops and a few times I've seen people stressing their budget to get a laptop with dedicated graphics card when they actually don't need it.

What I'm saying in essence is, get it if you have the money. But if it's all about gaming, I've played a lot of games and I've not seen a game an integrated Intel hd 4000 cannot play of course with a good ram size.

Intel HD graphics is seriously underrated when it comes to gaming. From HD graphics 4000 and above is quite OK for gaming.

phazotron:




Intel HD graphics is seriously underrated when it comes to gaming. From HD graphics 4000 and above is quite OK for gaming.

Lol... that was 2016 comment. Truly Intel graphics can't run any game now with most games demanding 4gb graphics as minimum requirement. Even Adobe software's are demanding high spec laptop now... For now I'll advise anyone to buy at least 2gb graphics if they want to acquire any computer skill just to be on safe side

computerboy:


Lol... that was 2016 comment. Truly Intel graphics can't run any game now with most games demanding 4gb graphics as minimum requirement. Even Adobe software's are demanding high spec laptop now... For now I'll advise anyone to buy at least 2gb graphics if they want to acquire any computer skill just to be on safe side

Please between Hp 8440p and LG Xnote which is more better for use in things like graphic designing, programming and video editing??

computerboy:


Lol... that was 2016 comment. Truly Intel graphics can't run any game now with most games demanding 4gb graphics as minimum requirement. Even Adobe software's are demanding high spec laptop now... For now I'll advise anyone to buy at least 2gb graphics if they want to acquire any computer skill just to be on safe side

Its not a 2016 comment. I played NFS rivals smoothly last year without lag on Intel HD graphics 520. It all depends on if you want to play games with the full resolution and all the graphics settings turned on. If you want to play at max. Resolution and all the graphics settings turned to the max, then ull need a dedicated graphics card for that. However, if you're contented with playing at low to medium settings Intel HD graphics will still work for u (the recent ones though.)

phazotron:



Its not a 2016 comment. I played NFS rivals smoothly last year without lag on Intel HD graphics 520. It all depends on if you want to play games with the full resolution and all the graphics settings turned on. If you want to play at max. Resolution and all the graphics settings turned to the max, then ull need a dedicated graphics card for that. However, if you're contented with playing at low to medium settings Intel HD graphics will still work for u (the recent ones though.)

we're saying same thing

computerboy:


we're saying same thing

No. Wat u said was u can't run current games on Intel HD graphics which isn't entirely true