Gateway, gets my vote. That'* what I'm using right now...granted it'* a piece of crap, but hey it'* been going five years so I hand it to it for being a good laptop for me. I also though was smart enough to have a replacement waiting at home...I'm not stupid.

oh ya the school has killer desktop puters all over the place and the ones in the tech/computer buillding are crazy (3.2 ghz pros, 2 gig ram, 21 in lcd, 258 mb video) i would be using them most of the time but this is just for a dormroom/mobile workstation.

While you think your laptop runs AutoCAD just fine, which I'm sure it probably does, you would probably be amazed at how much quicker it could be run. My dad manages the CAD department where he works and he gets a new computer every year or so. (since hes also in charge of the computers) He just got rid of his old computer with dual P4 Zeons, 1.5gb ram, 256mb video card, 80gb 7200rpm hd (not that it matters since everything is stored on the server anyways), and some other stuff, basically something you would think would be plenty fast enough. Now he has one with dual 3.2 Zeons, 2gb ram, a better 256mb graphics car, 160gb scsi hd, etc.... And while his old computer obviously ran it with no problem, his new one is noticably faster. But he also works with some very large drawings so load times are pretty long, and I'm also not sure of which Cad program he uses mainly, I know its AutoCAD but not sure which version.

But yes, a laptop of that speed should have no problem running AutoCAD for most things you would use it for. I just think if I were going to use it for buisness purposes a desktop seems to be a much better choice because you can get one that is significantly quicker and based more for doing that type of work specifically.

Anyways, the laptop you chose looks like a nice choice. Sony'* are typically overpriced compared to other brands of the same speed, although they are nice laptops. I think you'll like the Gateway and you'll probably be happy with the choice you made.

Shawn

Probably. I haven't gotten into the huge details of AutoCAD yet, but I imagine that it being 'just beans' right now is for the most basic of drawings. Initial load is a but slow, but I ain't complaining.

I wonder how it'll be when I get into Solid Edge (v17)...

why didnt you get a new dual core

to expensive with the cost of the sytem its self upgrade ram and i go the 3 yr warrenty. accendental coverage as well. it came out to about alot more that i wanted to spend.