Mark Bolton,
My concept of organizing computer buying is to derive the hardware from the software and this means having the new system run the most demanding software as well as necessary.
Among your uses, Sketchup would seem to the the most demanding. And, Sketchup is particularly tough- I've never seen a computer that can run large files really well as it is recalculating all those polygons and textures while single-threaded (only using one core), you actually need a high CPU clock speed and good graphics card. I use a system with a 3.8GHz Xeon, 24GB of ECC 1600 RAM, and a 2GB Quadro 4000 and my Sketchup performance is terrible- waiting, waiting, crashing, and waiting. I'm working on a 109MB file at the moment and it's almost unusable. I have to turn off every layer except in the small area I'm working and often that's also in monochrome view. A large screen is essential too as it saves zooming, rotating, and panning the model, which takes all the computer power.
Really, you're much better off with a desktop, but if you need the portability, I'd recommend a Dell Inspiron 17 5000 series. Dell make good laptops and I think there's a great advantage having a 17" screen.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17...17-5748-laptop
There are touch screen models, getting up near your maximum budget..
There are some good deals on Lenovo (7.7.14), also good work computers >
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...6&page-index=1
Notice the $599 Z710 which has an i5-4200M @ 2.5 / 3.1 GHz.
All of these will have the Intel HD4600 integrated graphics which is actually very good for 2D, but not really acceptable in 3D when using large files. A system with a dedicated graphics card is almost essential for 3D CAD.
I've never had a laptop, but have been thinking about having it lately and this would be a used Dell Precision M-series, like an M6600 or M6700. These have 17.3" screens and often have fast i7 processors, Dell Ultrasharp panels. and very good Quadro mobile graphics cards. These can have performance as good as a desktop workstation and can run programs such as Revit, Maya, Solidworks, 3Ds, Adobe CS- anything- and made to run long hours at full bore. However, they were also $4-6K new and can still be quite expensive used. It's worth having a look if only to see the kind of laptop intended for solid 3D CAD use. Here's a completed sale on an M6600>
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fast-Dell-Pr...p2047675.l2557
If you can use a desktop, that is a much better option for this kind of work and you might consider a used Dell Precision T5500 or T7500 and a 24" monitor. These Precisions are specially designed for this work, with great graphics memory, and disk subsystems and are beautifully made. Sometimes these are very reasonably priced and you then add new components to the performance level you expect. I have a 2008 T5400 that I bought in 2010 for $500, upgraded with a second quad core CPU (that I bought for $125, original cost $1,600), added a used Quadro FX4800 1.5GB (bought for $150, originally, $1,300), increased from 4 to 16GB of RAM- (about $130) and added Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit- (Ebay $70) with an HP 2711x monitor, it's been absolutely reliable, running about 18 hours per day for 4 years. Also, it's worth a far better percentage of what I invested than if I'd paid the $7,000 it would have cost new. Just a thought, but desktops are much more flexible, and will have better performance and the option of any size screen.
Alan Caro
HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 >[Passmark system rating = 3923, 2D= 839 / 3D=2048]
Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit >[Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]
2D, 3D CAD, Image Processing, Rendering, Text > Architecture, industrial design, graphic design, written projects